Our warm-up exercises were as always 15 pushups, leg-lifts, sit-ups
and deep squats, reversing the in/out breathing pattern after 5 of
each, also doing 5 without breath but at the same speed. This is hard
for me to do, my tendency is to do the exercises faster, and I
usually can't do it without inhaling. As on Wednesday we practiced
rolling as part of our warmup. Edgar showed us how to rotate our
shoulders, and change which side we land on mid-roll. We roll on one
shoulder or the other, so it's not a true somersault. My classmates
are accomplished rollers, but Edgar had to twist my arm to get my to
roll—literally! Seriously I did find it easier to relax into the roll
when he makes it uncomfortable for me to do anything but roll. This
is hard to put into words, but it's a teaching method that I find
helpful in learning Systema. I remembered to exhale as I rolled, and
that helped a lot with relaxing my spine. Edgar demonstrated diving
forward into a roll and let us try that on the mat. He held an arm
out at waist-height and we lined up to dive over it. Well, the guys
did. I just slowly leaned over his arm with my arms extended and
allowed him to tip me into a diving roll. I wish I could have
practiced the rolling a bit more on the mat, but we moved into the
yielding exercises. For that we practiced walking straight into our
partner while they escaped by swiveling their hips, then two people
walking straight into one person, then the whole class in a melee of
walking into each other and some light-hearted references to Penn
Station at rush hour. Living in such a crowded city, I think we all
did quite well on the yielding exercise.

Edgar spoke a little bit about breathing, in probably the longest
verbal instructions he's given us in my six weeks of classes. He
reminded us not to stop breathing especially during rigorous or
taxing drills. For example, if someone startles you, a sharp intake
of breath is a typical reaction. Likewise, during exertion most
people start to breath faster. He drew a comparison to Eastern
meditation where breath is regulated, and emphasized the use of
breathing in Systema. You are supposed to breath audibly before
exertion, not during. I did find it easier when I remembered to
exhale when my partner took me down or when practicing a roll.

We started with some legwork, which is really my first exposure to
kicking and avoiding kicks. Our partners walked towards us while we
kicked them, on the shins or kneecaps, or tried to trip them, and
they had to escape or avoid our kicks.

We also practiced the sort of wave-like movements of the hips and
arms that characterizes Systema. The flying center of gravity that we
are all trying to obtain. Instead of brushing aside the attacking
arm, Edgar asked us to try a figure eight movement: intercept on the
inside of the attacker's arm, but quickly "weave" your arm over his
to get into a joint lock or disarming position.

I had a really helpful partner for much of Saturday's class, he had
been taking classes at Fighthouse for about 4 months, and explained a
lot of the drills we worked on, always demonstrating the movement. I
am grateful that he took the time to coach me.

One thing I had trouble with is the "sliding" footwork of Systema.
It's a little bit like ice-skating, I think. I limp a little bit on
my right leg, and so when it came to avoiding an attack by swinging a
leg underneath the attacking arm and sort of sliding/pivoting into a
position behind our partners, I could only do it on my right side.
That's because I am still hesitant to put my full weight on the right
side of my body, so I can only swing the right leg and pivot on the
left one, not the other way around. I'm going to pay another visit to
my orthopedatrician on Monday. But I should push back my carpet and
practice that movement on the floor at home, maybe in socks. Perhaps
a trip to the ice rink would be helpful!

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel