Hi Rachel
Very good tip on knife defence... I appreciate it very much, and I
will train like you recommend me.. of course I already practiced some
exercices about flow and sticking to the attacking hand very similar
to those you say me... I already have the "Fundamentals of Knife
Disarming" DVD and I will watch it a lot, I had tried the techniques
from it and some works to me meanwhile another not... I think it's a
matter of personal preference and movement... LOL... of course I have
to train more about Systema's movements and spinal alignment but I
feel more free in my movements... BTW I rolled a lot yesterday at
home and it's very nice... thanks and I'm wait your other tips...

Sincerely

--- In systema_group@yahoogroups.com, "rkxyz" <rkxyz@y...> wrote:
> Hi John,
> My first tip would be to watch the "Fundamentals of Knife
Disarming"
> DVD which contains some great drills, or start saving your money to
> buy this DVD if you don't already have it. I wish I had more money
> for Systema DVDs but I watch the few I own over and over again and
> there's always something new to be found. The DVDs are a good
> investment. If you have enough space in your home, you can watch
the
> DVDs and try the drills with a friend. Or if you're lucky enough to
> own a laptop, you can watch and practice in the park.
> My other tips are from Systema class. I think it's best to start
with
> defense against basic slashes and thrusts in slow motion. So
whoever
> is wielding the knife must be committed to maintaining the same
> speed. It's tempting, when attacking with the knife, to start slow
> and then move in fast for the slash or thrust that is supposed to
> draw blood (or at least, mimic the attempt to draw blood). After
all,
> the knife moves quickly through air, but not as quickly through
> flesh. But to maintain reality in a practice environment, the speed
> of the attack should be consistent. Once you start working at
faster
> speeds, "speeding up" won't be an option because, as Arthur Sennott
> describes in his essay on Slow Sparring, "you cannot go faster than
> you can already go." Of course, the advanced practitioner will
> respond to a speeded-up attack by speeding up as well. But to learn
> Systema fundamentals, I think it's best to maintain consistent
speed,
> whether its fast or slow, it should remain the same throughout the
> attack and not change abruptly at a certain point.
> Another tip I have about learning defense from knife attacks is to
> start with basic slashes and thrusts before moving into complicated
> knife moves such as characterized by the FMAs. This tip is similar
to
> the one above. If your partner starts to slash at you slowly with
the
> knife, you should practice a defense against the slash at the same
> speed. But if the speed changes at the last minute, I know, as a
> novice myself, that is is difficult to make that last-minute
> adjustment. It's the same with the kind of knife attack. If your
> partner slashes slowly at you, but when you start to slowly defend
> against the slash, they suddenly change to a thrust or stab, it can
> be really tricky to adapt your own movements as suddenly as theirs.
> Again this advice is for novices, not advanced practitioners. My
> advice is to work on one kind of knife attack for each drill and
> then, as you get comfortable, you can ask your training partner to
> make the knife movements more complicated, change direction, change
> speed, move the knife from one hand to the other, stab with one
hand
> and punch with the other, etc. We do all these variations on knife
> attacks in class and it can be frustrating. I think one of the most
> vexing was when my teacher stabbed me with the practice knife with
> one hand, and as I moved in to disarm, he quickly withdrew the
knife
> and starting attacking me with the other hand. I saw the extent to
> which I was focussed on one hand or the other, rather than the
entire
> body!
> That leads very well to my last tip, which is to start off learning
> defense against the knife with committed attacks. In the drill
above,
> my teacher was not as committed as I expected him to be. I thought
> he'd continue to attack me with the knife and continue to move
> towards me. When he drew away, I became confused, then he started
> attacking me with the other arm, and finally after getting a bit
> dinged up, I learned not to focus on both arms, to just move in and
> prevent him from withdrawing, and to take him down before he had a
> chance to 're-set' and attack again. But it certainly wasn't easy,
I
> think I did it correctly only that one time and incorrectly, oh,
> maybe a hundred times! Such is Systema class!
> Anyway...about committing to the attack. Your practice partner has
to
> play the role of someone who wants to do you harm and typically,
this
> desire will be almost as strong as the desire for self-
preservation.
> Of course, this is not always the case. There are some
> very "professional" criminals who know how to protect themselves as
> well as they know how to hurt others. But violent attackers aren't
> always as concerned about their own safety as ordinary people are.
> And so your partner must committ to the knife attack and he must
> accept that such an attack has repercussions. Fear of committing to
> the attack is widespread in all martial arts. After all, when I'm
> attacking my partner, I know he's going to do something to me and
> that something might be painful. It's easy to fall into the pattern
> of attacking tentatively, then drawing away immediately to avoid
any
> discomfort. But it's not fair to your partner. As Martin Wheeler
told
> our class, an attacker is trying to get closer to you, not get
> farther away. I have encountered more than a few classmates who
draw
> away rather than completing the attack, and I always feel foolish
> chasing them around. After all, if someone is drawing away from me,
> they are temporarily, at least, not as much of a threat. If an
> attacker changes his mind and wants to run away from me, why should
I
> stop him? Instead of chasing such classmates, I've learned to lock
> them up so they can't draw away, mainly by "entering in" or using a
> snake-like movement of my arm to sort of twist them closer to me.
But
> it's still a challenge to work with non-committed attacks. So I
would
> suggest you encourage your partner to truly committ, even if you
must
> start off by having him hyper-extend the knife arm to make sure
that
> he is entering your personal space as a real attacker would be
> inclined to do. If your partner is having trouble committing, make
> sure to be gentle with him and help him to overcome his fear of you.
> Well, that's a rather long post. Just to summarize, to begin
learning
> Systema knife defense, work at slow, consistent speeds against
> committed attacks which are simple slashes or thrusts. As you gain
> skill, you can start working against variations in speed,
complicated
> knife movements, and attackers who "draw away" (though they should
> still continue the attack, as my teacher did in the above example,
by
> drawing the knife hand away and attacking with the other hand.)
> Well, I hope that helps. As I always mention, I'm just a novice
> myself. I started Systema training just a year-and-a-half ago. I
> sincerely hope that I can help others just venturing down the
Systema
> path, in the same way that the old-timers helped me when I was a
rank
> beginner. Maybe other more experienced group members will have some
> advice for you. Meanwhile, good luck and *Vsego nailuchshego* (best
> wishes),
> Rachel