(3rd and final part of my recap of the Systema Masters in NYC)

Saturday

Mikhail asked us why we did the crowd work with eyes closed
yesterday. Many answered awareness, sensitivity, trust, etc. He said
all were right, but not the exact answer he was looking for. Finally
someone answered "fire." MR asked how many of us had been in a real
fire. I was surprised when about 10 people raised their hands.
Mikhail said that when there is smoke, people drop to the ground and
crawl. He gave some survival tips: put damp cloth on face, plastic
bag over eyes, and if there is no liquid, pee on cloth if no liquid
("often we have to pee in these situations anyway," he quipped.)

Mikhail said, "We never do stupid exercises – not enough time to show
all we know." I remembered what he had said yesterday: that the
drills aren't arbitrary but based in real war and survival situations.

In the morning, we worked with the stick. Each of us took one, and
Mikhail led us through some strengthening exercises. He said you
needed strong hands and wrists to punch well. He had us bending our
wrists over the stick, as if trying to snap the stick in half,
downward, and upward. I found this to be good stretch for wrists, and
it brings blood to hands. He asked us to move around, squat, sit,
roll, all the while doing these wrist-strengthening exercises with
the stick. Also propping the end of the stick on the floor and
lifting the body by pulling the hands up the stick.

Since everyone was so impressed with the stick video, and Mikhail
said he's show some better work. He also said he and Vladimir are
competitive since they both started at the same time, but I don't
think is quite true – Mikhail has been training since the age of 5!

I know that we did a lot more with the sticks in the morning, but I
can't quite recall anything further. My memory isn't perfect. All I
can say is that if you were there, I invite you to write your own
review and maybe you'll recall more than I do.

Mikhail then hit a volunteer with the stick, which looked quite
painful. The guy was certainly very stoic about accepting these
strikes. Mikhail also showed how to take the pain away. It was quite
interesting. He pushed the tip of the stick into the stomach of the
volunteer, which is where he had been hit. Then he kind of stirred
the muscles with the stick, which dissipated the pain.

He also demonstrated with a guy who I think had very little Systema
experience. He had asked how to relax. I can't recall the exact
details of the demonstration – I think the guy grabbed the end of the
stick and Mikhail manipulated the other end to kind of shake him off.
The thing I remember clearly is how tense the guy was. When Mikhail
shook him off, he leaped up and down, landing with a hard thump on
the ground. I have never seen anyone land so hard. It was like a
breakfall using the feet instead of the hand. He was 'slapping' the
floor with his feet and I was not sure why. I asked someone next to
me and he said it was probably his previous training that had
schooled him to land so hard.

Mikhail told an anecdote of stick instructor who had never been hit
by a stick. Mikhail offered to hit him, and he demonstrated how hard
on the volunteer, striking him soundly, but being an experienced
Systema student, he took the blow well. When he hit the stick
instructor in the same way, he fell to his knees in pain. When he
stood up, he said that he wasn't going to teach that BS anymore!

The stick provided the means for the simplest demonstration of the no-
contact work that I've ever seen. Using just the fists, people tend
to disbelieve the no-contact work: "the guy is tanking," "it doesn't
work on non-Systema people," "he's just waving his hands around." How
many times have we heard or read such criticism about Mikhail's work?
But no-one could say there's anything mystical or hocus-pocus about
Mikhail's stick demonstration. The student who attacked him drew back
when threatened with the stick. For obvious reasons, he wasn't about
to run right into a sharp, pointy object. By waving the stick
strategically, Mikhail showed how to control an opponent without
touching him. The same principle would easily apply to knife work and
on Friday, Mikhail encouraged us to respect the knife and jump out of
the way if threatened with it.

Mikhail also did a sword demonstration that segued from his stick
demonstration. I noticed that the guy who demonstrated with him did
reach for the sword a few times, which could be a very dangerous
proposition with a real blade.

Vlad took over in the afternoon and first led us through some
interesting conditioning exercises. We did pushups, leg lifts, sit-
ups, and squats in the following way: with maximum tension, with no
tension at all, sort of wiggling up and down, and with a "spring"
action. He also led us through different breathing patterns. I found
that doing the exercise with tense muscles, especially the squats,
helped my joints realign. Tensing the legs as hard as possible while
doing a squat is so helpful rusty knees. I now do squats this way
frequently, as I think the benefits are substantial.

Vlad asked us to do a simple avoidance exercise: one partner swings
or thrusts the stick, the other avoids, staying close, laying a hand
on the partner with the stick whenever possible. The thing to
remember with this exercise is that, no matter how slowly your
partner may be swinging the stick, you cannot reach for it, because
it can really hurt if it hits your arms or hands. Your body is better
equipped to handle the pain of a strike with the stick; rather than
smashing your fingers, better to let it land on your shoulder (of
course best of all is to avoid altogether).

We did this both slow and fast, and then Mikhail asked pairs of
students to come to the center and demonstrate their stick avoidance.
I guess about half the class got up to demonstrate, one pair at a
time, and Mikhail offered feedback. I told my partner if he wanted to
demonstrate, just tap me on the shoulder, but he didn't think it was
necessary and neither did I. I'm not one to draw attention to myself
unnecessarily, but it was only in retrospect that I realized that
getting critiqued on my movement by Mikhail would have been a good
reason to draw attention to myself.

Vlad had us hit each other with the sticks, to all the muscular
parts. My partner wasn't hitting me very hard. This is the perennial
pattern of my Systema training: most men don't hit me hard enough. I
understand that they don't want to hit a woman. But the instructor
generally notices such light hits, and then comes over to illustrate
that I can take it by hitting me so hard I practically fall over.
This is to show the guy that I am no wilting flower. In this case, I
went to Vlad and asked him to hit me to show my partner the proper
intensity. He hit me painfully hard on the arm, which not only hurt,
but also left a stinging, burning sensation on the skin.

"So the hit should be enough to make you move?" I asked, and Vlad
said Yes, exactly.

After that, my partner was willing to be a bit more adventurous. He
pointed out that Vlad had used a downward shearing motion with the
stick and that generated a lot more pain. This was a good tip and I
shared it with the two guys next to us.

Mikhail spoke a bit more towards the end of the seminar. He told a
funny anecdote about flashy movements: when going to bed with your
wife, do you jump in the air, fly around the light bulb a few times,
then descend and go to bed? Of course not – she'd probably kick you
out of bed!

We also practiced gun draws, a kind of reprisal of Friday's knife
draws. Mikhail told us that you don't have to draw immediately; the
draw should be invisible. With his amazing sleight of hand, he
reached for gun so opponent does not see it. He told us that not even
the shoulder lifting should be perceptible. Then we did a drill where
you put your arm on your partner's shoulder as soon as you see the
movement to draw. It is very difficult to draw in such a way as to be
undetected by your partner.

Denis talked a little bit about what had been described to him
as "Samson exercises" or Biblical training. Apparently descriptions
of physical training are found in the Bible, exercises like carrying
a donkey and other forms of strengthening and conditioning. Mikhail
said that when the rest of the world was still apes roaming in trees,
in the cradle of civilization, martial arts were being developed. I
am curious about these Biblical references. I could not find them in
a searchable annotated Bible, but I'm not as familiar with the Bible
as many people are, so it will take a bit more research to find these
references.

The final demonstration was massage. Mikhail showed the 'tapping'
massage with cupped hands that Vlad had also demonstrated in
Charlotte. Mikhail's hands were a bit more cupped than Vlad's; Vlad
had used two fingers. Mikhail said it was like reflexology. Pressure
points on the hands and feet correspond to internal organs. He had
Martin lay on his back and Mikhail applied the massage, spending a
long time on his face, but tapping all parts of his body with his
cupped palm. He said that the lips and eyes would feel big
afterwards. As he proceeded with the massage, he asked Martin how he
felt. "Deeply relaxed," Martin often answered. He said he felt heavy,
relaxed, and disembodied. When Mikhail had completed the massage,
Martin said it was like his eyes were floating two inches above head,
and he had the "big eyes and lips" feeling that Mikhail had described
earlier. He said it was like his eyes, lips, and nose were protruding
to drain out the tension. Martin said it was like this one time he
had been ill and couldn't eat for 5 days, then when he returned to
training after 5 days without food, he resolved a multiple attackers
situation in seconds, rather than minutes as usual.

When Martin finally sat up, said "it's like everyone's in my
bedroom!" He described the feeling as not in the future, not in past,
but entirely right now.

That was the last bit of work demonstrated and it seemed to me the
seminar was over far too quickly. I had such a wonderful time
training, learning from Mikhail and Vlad, enjoying their witty
remarks and amazing demonstrations, not to mention going out for
dinner and drinks afterward. It was a special week for NY Systema and
I'm glad I had the chance to be a part of it. Thank you, Mikhail,
Vlad, Edgar and Peggy, Martin, Kwan, Frankie, Frank A, and all who
came out to train with us on such short notice. It was my privilege
to train with you all and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to
everyone who attended.

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel

(thus ends my recap of the Systema Masters in NYC)