One thing that attracts many to the martial arts is the opportunity to play. For nearly all adults, there is not much opportunity to play.

An article recently appeared in The Athletic that delves into why Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become so popular. The article focuses mostly on women in BJJ and their experiences on the mat.

She was initially drawn to BJJ by the prospect of learning some form of self-defence, but after the first few classes it was something else that kept her hooked: the sense of play. She did not have that anywhere else in her adult life, and she loved it. It felt like she was on a playground every time she was on the mats. (Emphasis added by me)

I often encourage a sense of play in my private lessons by mixing up concepts from different drills. For example, an off the shelf drill involves a mixture of abanico corto and palis palis. Whether to use them depends on the angle of attack. Abanico corto is better for high-line attacks. On the other hand, palis palis is best used on lower-lined attacks. I often randomly mix up the angles of attack. The students love it.

But not every student is into “play.” Some folks love the strict drilling of Okinawan/Japanese martial arts or similar traditional arts.

So for my readers, what do you prefer? Drilling or playing? Or a combination?