Drills

Drills are a great introduction to the fighting arts. An introduction is stressed for they are good in teaching fundamental principles of martial systems and effectiveness but they are not reality. To achieve reality you have to go beyond the drills. 

Drills require reciprocity, i.e. the uke-tori relationship, that fosters learning and repetitive practice but you have to start at some point by resisting the drill. Resisting the drill means you have to leave the box that contains the drill and introduce chaos by beginning an ever increasing resistance to the pattern and rhythm of the drill. 

The fight and violence don't follow drills, drill patterns or drill rhythms. You never know what you will be encountering in a fight or a violent attack. To assume that your drills will work is to provide false sense of practicality. 

Use drills to get the novice into the student stages. Use them intermittently to inspire but always, always provide unpredictable resistance if you want your uke-tori to achieve some semblance of reality based skills. It is easy to learn the patterns and rhythms of the drills but is is difficult to make them work once in insert chaos and resistance to the drills. 

It also benefits when the drills are then challenged by changing the responses of uke-tori so that you are exposed to the challenges of both social and asocial physical violence. Train your mind, body and spirit to work with the challenges of nature, life and true violent behaviors along with other less physical conflicts.