He's playing to his strengths. Which right now is the grappling. Wrestling Kaiju wasn't entirely orthadox but it's easier to get leverage up close after you've cracked their skull with a knee and an elbow. This absolutely would not fly in a real drift test and maybe that's what he's avoiding.

Anything other than the brawling that kept him safe back before all this mess. Which isn't conductive to improving but- issues. man. Issues.