set and unset work

There are a lot of "set" drills in FMA....hubud, cadenas dos manos , sombrada, the modules of Bram Frank, etc. I do them with my students...a lot. Both sides have set roles and movements. We also do the kind of drilling we did last night, which is unset, or partially set.  I.e., working at 50 % pressure, one person opens with an attack, it is blocked, he traps, and continues until he lands a significant blow. The defender can parry as he pleases, but can not counter.  This lets the attacker focus on flowing until he lands a hit, but since the parries are not predetermined, this forces him to stay in the moment.  Now put an implement, knife, cell phone, travel wrench, cane, in the mix (use protective gear, and practice weapons).  Suddenly trapping makes more sense...why hit with the rear hand when the lead has a force multiplier.  We do the same with Tony Blauer material, ie flinch to spear to ?????with a cell phone sub in hand...I think that the set drills are a good way to acquire skills, and practice them, but you also need to step outside them, and unset drills are a good bridge to totally free work.