Outstanding writeup as alays, Rachel!

Thanks very much and have a fantastic holiday!

Cheers,

Jay

--- rkxyz <rkxyz@...> wrote:

>
> Our last class before Christmas was very small, only
> 3 of us showed
> up. Denis asked us what we wanted to do. He usually
> gives us a choice
> but has a general idea of what we need to work on.
> Today he opened
> the floor for suggestions. I rarely offer a
> suggestion when he asks
> us. I'm happy to work on anything. I also have this
> feeling that the
> things I'd like to work on are the things that are
> easiest for me, so
> better to work on other things. But I do have some
> favorite topics,
> such as groundwork, working with just the legs, and
> against the wall
> or other confined spaces. My mom likes to work with
> knives and has
> demonstrated proficiency with this topic in
> particular. Denis asked
> if we'd like to work with swords instead. I
> suggested that we do both
> and so we all agreed.
> To warm up we did these very hard pushups with each
> person holding a
> knife. One lays on their back with hands raised, the
> other holds
> their hands and gets into pushup position, then the
> person on the
> floor lowers their arms and the person above sinks
> down as if they
> were doing a pushup. This is very hard without even
> holding the
> knife, which added an extra challenge. Then we did
> the same thing
> with the person above sideways (perpendicular)
> rather than above the
> person on the ground. Then, in the same position, we
> tried to stab or
> slash each other, difficult because of the
> constriction of having to
> link hands.
> Denis brought us some wooden practice swords which
> were a little more
> realistic than the lighter wooden ones in that they
> were slightly
> heavier and had a hilt and pommel, rather than being
> just a loosely-
> shaped piece of wood. Of course they were nowhere
> near as heavy as a
> real sword. I was expecting some instruction on how
> to hold the sword
> or wield it, but except for a brief comment from
> Denis not to let the
> tip of the sword drag on the ground, we just plunged
> right into the
> topic. Just as we often do with knives, we started
> by pushing our
> partners while they remained in place and yielded
> just the body part
> being pushed, then we did the same thing while they
> stepped, and
> finally we stabbed and slashed at them with the
> swords while they
> avoided. Then we practiced counter-offence by using
> the sword to
> defend against our partners' attacks and return to
> them. This was
> unlike anything I've ever done in Systema class
> before. I always
> figured with swords, you had to spend a long time
> learning to draw
> and hold the sword properly, and that a beginner
> wouldn't start
> sparring until mastering the basics of
> sword-fighting. But we took a
> Systema approach to our sword-work and just dived
> right in. To make
> it more fun, we had two, and then three, people,
> attack one person as
> they used their sword to defend and counter-attack.
> I quickly found
> the principle of constant movement to be the key in
> avoiding the
> three swords as they slashed at me. I was most
> successful in avoiding
> when I stepped "through" the sword after I used it
> to block an
> attack, just as Edgar taught us to step through the
> "holes" left by
> your attacking partner when you manipulate them.
> It's kind of like
> the "hair-combing" method of passing off a blow, by
> "brushing" your
> arm back and over your head and stepping through. So
> it was less of a
> block with the sword than "passing" the attacking
> blades off with my
> own sword and then moving through the hole. It was a
> challenge with
> three attackers, and I found myself moving all over
> the room to avoid
> them, trying not to get distracted by looking at one
> person's blade
> but rather keep all three within my peripheral
> vision, keeping an eye
> on their shoulders, rather than the blade itself, to
> see the movement
> before their swords entered my space.
> Edgar and Denis also took their turns with the three
> students
> attacking them with swords. I was very impressed
> with the way both of
> our teachers evaded the sword and maintained a
> position of advantage
> against the three of us. Denis in particular evaded
> us with ease but
> Edgar was also quite skilled in gracefully foiling
> the three slashing
> swords. I know that both of them have many years of
> martial arts
> experience and that they have probably studied a
> sword art, but I
> also think that Systema in itself prepares you to
> fight with any kind
> of weapon, and that the principle of constant
> movement will always
> serve you well when faced with multiple attackers.
> We then spent the remainder of class working with
> knives in close
> quarters. We stood side by side with our partners,
> shoulders
> touching, and then one person attacked the other
> with the knife.
> Edgar explained to us that you have to feel the
> attack first, with
> your shoulder or your arm, rather than waiting for
> the knife to
> arrive in your personal space. An important part of
> Systema--maybe
> all martial arts, but I've never studied another--is
> to feel the
> attack before it happens, using perception and
> sensitivity, and move
> before the knife is pressed against you. Of course
> this isn't always
> possible, and that's why we also work on freeing
> from holds, grabs,
> and chokes, but whenever you can, move before you
> end up in such a
> vulnerable situation.
> We also did this exercise side-by-side facing in
> opposite directions,
> and with our eyes closed. Then we tried the same
> thing back-to-back,
> which is a lot more difficult. You have no choice
> but the feel the
> attack, as you cannot see what's coming. Closing the
> eyes actually
> didn't make a big difference with the back-to-back
> exercise because
> your perception is most dependent on feeling, not
> vision.
> Then we did the same exercises in chairs,
> side-by-side, and side-by-
> side facing opposite directions. Here the chair can
> be a useful
> accessory, as you can use the back of it to apply
> pressure to the arm
> or to the hand as your partner attacks. The idea
> with the exercises
> above was only to disarm the knife or foil the
> attack, but we next
> moved into more vigorous applications as the three
> students sat on
> the couch. The one on the end was the attacker, the
> one in the middle
> the bodyguard, and the one on the other end the
> target. The attacker
> tried to stab or slash at the target, who just sat
> there pretending
> to be a dumb celebrity, and the person in the middle
> had to defend
> them. We switched this around so the target and the
> attacker were
> sitting in different places on the couch.
> To make things interesting, Denis asked my mom and I
> to remain on the
> couch and we'd defend against knife attacks as a
> family. Edgar
> attacked my mom and the third student came at me. We
> were actually
> very effective as a team and were able to use the
> attackers against
> each other to take them down. I was using my legs a
> lot as I've
> found, with your back against the wall, that if you
> simultaneously
> draw in the attacker in and kick their support out
> from under them,
>
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