Although I was unable to train during this seminar because of my bum
leg, I did attend Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday classes, arriving a
little bit late, but still in time to take some interesting training
notes as well as photographs. This review is different from any
others I've done because, for the most part, I did not participate,
as well as because I took the photographs. Normally I do not have a
chance to take such detailed notes, so please keep that in mind when
you read the following: I was an observer rather than a participant.

Visit http://www.fighthouse.com/systema/diary.html for an illustrated
version of this review.

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel


Thursday-Sunday 2008 Seminars
with
Adam and Brendan Zettler
Fighthouse NYC

Notes and photos by Rachel Klingberg

>> Click for photos and reviews of seminars with Mikhail Ryabko and
Vladimir Vasiliev, October 26 and 27 2008
>> Click for photos and reviews of Gunpoint Supremacy Seminars with
Konstantin Komarov, November 9-11, 2007

Thursday

I arrived late.

The first drill was push/yield and return the punches.

Then grab/escape and return to strike.

"Your foot should move first."

Then grab/escape and respond with two punches, and reminding everyone
to punch from a short-work "comfortable" position, with straight
fists, no haymakers.

"Be precise," he said, showing the spots, on the neck and upper body.

At this point they broke for five pushups, leg raises, and squats.

Then striking with takedowns. First, stepping back to evade, then
just touching with the fist to evade the incoming strike, keeping
arms up and loosely at a 90 degree angle, but

not like a tight boxer's fists. Move the feet first.

Staying close, no hyperextended strikes, keeping foot moving.

Then a marvelous demo by Brendan of 'finding the tension' from
a 'comfortable' position to break posture and affect the takedown.

Also was demonstrated 'stirring the joints' exercise making sure
shoulders are loose, tension evaporated through constant movement.
Your partner stands there and gently rotates

the shoulders, and the hips, seeing how it affects the partner's
body, trying to use the full range of motion and see which movement
releases the tension and where the body

becomes stuck.

This made me aware of my own injury and how painful it is to stand.

Adam showed how to absorb punches, "inhale, then exhale right away,
so it doesn't go too deep." He advised us to drop and do a slow
pushup if the pain is bad.

They ended with a warrior drill walking towards each other than
pushing or punching once. Brendan said this is a great drill for
street fighting as it gets you used to

exchanging blows. It's also good for tempering fear. He said to
strike/push to the face as well. They did the same but walking past
each other — not so easy, up to five and down

again. Then 5-5-5 pushups, leg raises, and squats.

Brendan also showed 'swimming' through the punches and lading a few,
using the forearms to wave away the punches, which seemed to relax
everyone and accustom them to the feeling

of contact.

They resumed grab-and-escape with takedowns, which they had begun
earlier, but this time emphasized the slow sparring game, which is
always a treat to watch. Then another 5-5-5.

Q&A Session

Q: About the warrior drill, how do you get accustomed to accepting
strikes, other than just doing it over and over again?
A: Don't work with fear. Take a pause if you or your partner become
fearful of strikes.

Q: Should you hold your arms up all the time for striking?
A: Tense the fist only when you make contact. Don't tense the
shoulder — there's kickback!

Q: Working with big heavy guys?
A: Often big guys have weak knees. Keep moving. Try the hip/shoulder
combo for a tense guy. See your own tension, then you can find it in
your partner.

Q: Recommended exercises for lower back tension?
A: Very slow leg raises are great for lower back tension.
The 'stirring the joints' partnered exercise from the beginning,
especially with old injuries. Unlock your knees and

drop down slightly. Breathe, of course. If you don't breathe, you'll
never relax.

Saturday

Regrettably I could not attend Friday evening to observe as the
doctor advised me to rest my leg or put the walking cast back on.
Perhaps someone who was there on Friday would

share a few thoughts?

It was about an hour in when I arrived. They were working on
preventing knife attacks by targeting the knees to "stop" the partner
with the legs. More of a prevention than a

disarm; warned us to work lightly.

The hard part is that after a few swift kicks to the kneecap, most of
us will become unwilling to approach our partners. A&B were careful
not to demonstrate past that point. I

thought to myself, it's 80% timing and footwork, 10% precision.

They also showed how to work against the ankles, using the heel and
toe to kick to lower leg muscles, hitting the calf, making the person
take a step, then locking the ankle.

Then some short work warning us to "be careful."

Then putting it all together, punching, locking ankles and knees,
working against slow grabs and punches.

Not moving the feet is a common mis-step.

We broke for lunch.

Stick work began in the afternoon. First, swinging the stick
horizontally/circularly, and sampling evading and yielding.

The work was done slow. "Invite him in," they advised us, showing how
to target the ears, eyes, and temples, short, invisible work, sort of
clapping the face, is a way to

describe it.

They moved onto thrusts with the stuck, putting together the earlier
exercises against the knee joints, stopping the partner coming in
with the knife.

Three dimension stick work using both ends, swinging horizontally and
vertically, while the other person simply escapes. "Work slow and
keep breathing," was their advice.

These same stick-swinging evasion drills were done with one person
kneeling, moving slowly from kneeling to sitting to low squatting,
rolling if necessary, to avoid the stick.

To be okay in any dimension, even midway through a roll, is a high
level of skill.

It was hard for me to watch this because it's such a fun drill.

One part hit the other with the sticks — one person raised the arms
above the head. "Don't tense up. Release with the feet," they
demonstrated striking each other in the stomach

and chest. I thought this would be great for my tension from the
injury, so I stood up. My classmate struck me in the stomach. Our
sticks are light and I am well padded, but it

stings. I had to pause the brush off the pain. I asked him to strike
my right leg since it is tense from doing to work of two. Next it was
my turn to strike him. He's

well-tempered to pain and took the blows on the calves, thighs, and
butt quite well. I struck him in the stomach, first horizontally,
then three-dimensionally, shearing

downward. Though he was admirably stoic, I suggested that, with a
downward shearing strike into the lower stomach, he should drop his
hips and release the pain so it doesn't get

stuck. I also struck him lightly in the ribs and the side of the neck
to relax him. I rolled the stick over his shoulder blades and neck
muscles to relax him. That is always

enjoyable. Afterwards, I felt much better. Thanks, buddy.

After the striking with sticks, back to absorption, moving in and
out, behind the stick, always moving the feet to evade first.

One of them told an anecdote about yielding with the chain, and how
with proper relaxation, you can catch the chain around your neck and
step in such a way as to yank it right

out of the other person's hands.

I noticed that it's difficult not to grab the stick for this final
drill.

During the last five minutes, I saw one of my classmates getting
frustrated because her partner would not commit. I got up to
demonstrate how the stick could be dynamic even

after the takedown is attempted. In other words, if your partner does
not succeed the first time, don't treat it like a drill that has to
be re-set. Continue to try to get them.

Because of my bum leg in an air case, I don't know how successfully I
did so, but I felt an urge to show the work. Perhaps people freeze
mid-attack from a misguided notion that

it makes it easier on their partners. It doesn't; a moving partner is
easier to take down, and striking to restore motion is a more
delicate tactic than biomechanical

manipulation with someone already in motion. Constant movement is a
key principle.

Next they did some wrestling on the ground with the sticks, very
soft, then the warrior drill, exchanging five punches each as they
walked towards each other. Brendan showed how

to open your chest to absorb the punches, ending with 5-5-5 push ups,
leg raises, and squats to "clean the blood."

Q&A Session

Q: Exercises to improve ankles weakened from contact sports injuries?
A: Slow squats. Isometrics with one person stepping on the toe with
gentle resistance, the other gradually raising the toe, then the
reversing the feet, lowering the toe with

isometric resistance. Walking with ankles turned inward and outward,
on the blade of the foot, and on instep.

Q: Strengthening the knees?
A: Isometrics opening and closing the knees while your partner
provides steady consistent resistance with his knees. Walking on
knees.

Q: How to generate power with a kick/three-dimensional kicks?
A: Either walk in or just land a kick, but not a hyperextended or
reflexive one. Shorter is better.

Q: Learning to strike?
A: Try punching with different kinds of tension. First, tense the
whole arm, holding it at a 90 degree angle, and see what striking is
like. Then, try striking with just the

bicep relaxed and the forearm and shoulder tense. Then relax the
entire arm and strike, and finally see what it's like striking with
just the tense shoulder. Another drill to

learn striking: your partner holds his arms loosely up and ready to
strike slowly; each time he does so, you slap his fist to stop him.
This is an excellent drill for working

against strikes.

Sunday

We had been promised that Sunday would include the 'joint breaking'
work, that is, Vlad's dynamic limb destruction. I arrived a little
late on Sunday, at about 12:30. I am

afraid that I am a lazybones and like to sleep late on the weekends;
being on the bench has made me even lazier.

They were working on evading from straight kicks and using a neck
crank to drop the person. They cautioned everyone to go slow and work
to the head.

Next was the same, but evading from roundhouse kicks by either
stepping in rotation at the same pace as the incoming kick to get
behind the person, or rotating in place to slide

off the incoming kick, then applying pressure to the neck to achieve
the takedown.

This was interesting work, deceptively simple stuff. As often with
observing, I realize how important the footwork is, even more so than
the mechanics of affecting a joint

break.

Next, simple finger locks, at a very slow, comfortable speed, one
person approached the other as if to grab, and then the other
practiced the lock. "Get comfortable grabbing the

fingers," was the advice. For this one, as I happened to be standing,
and I was fortunate in that the balance of students and instructors
was exactly right, Brendan offered to

work with me a little. We moved towards each other as if to grab,
going back and forth. Mainly I applied the pressure at the tips of
the fingers, looking for the angle of the

elbow, though sometimes I worked against his fingers and wrist as
well. I told him I thought finger locks are excellent work for women.
He gave me some advice about working

against a man with a large, strong hand: drop my shoulder slightly
then raise it up again to generate enough wave-like energy to make
the person uncomfortable.

Since that was a simple drill to work on timing and biomechanics of
the fingers and wrists, they didn't spend too long on it. I did spot
one of the twins showing a police

officer some police work — using the finger to control the person
during and after they fall, and using finger locks to prevent them
from rising again. Although joint breaks are

brutal work, they can also be humane. I know it's difficult to grasp
this concept, but it's always better to incapacitate someone and
remove their will to fight than it is to do

serious harm. If an aggressive person is unable to walk and too
preoccupied with pain to struggle any further, as distressing as it
may be to cause that sort of injury, it does

allow for running away, which is by far my favorite method of
conflict resolution.

The next topic was elbow locks. One person kicks the other, just a
slow straight kick and a steady pace, and the other responds with the
lock. They demonstrated how to use the

rotation of the shoulder to affect this, and also that sometimes you
must swing the arm to disrupt the person's balance, or drive the arm
into the shoulder to cause a shocking

sensation that stops the person. To make the elbow lock more
comfortable, the simple extension by pushing into the body was
demonstrated. I recalled what they had said on

Saturday about "inviting him in" and placing yourself in
a "comfortable" position.

Remember that I was on the bench for this entire seminar, so I saw
quite a lot that I would have missed had I been preoccupied with the
drills. Although I could not hear the

conversation, I noticed that one of the brothers demonstrated to a
student how to break the nose by cupping the nose and driving the
other hand into it. He suggested that

cupping the hand to cover the eyes is an easy way to alleviate the
natural hesitation to inflict this injury.

We paused for lunch and I took the opportunity to stretch my calves
and lower back on the empty floor, drink some coffee from my Thermos,
and have a nibble from the food I had

packed. The lunch break was rather quick and many students did not
eat, since training on a full stomach can be uncomfortable.

The afternoon work began with lying on the floor, breathing, and
tensing different body parts, as they led the class through this
exercise. Then rolling all together as a group

— it's one of my favorite drills for learning controlled rolling. It
challenges the ability to change direction mid roll.

The partnered work began with one person on the ground, the other
approaching, and the person on the ground had to disrupt the
structure of the one approaching. They also showed

how it is possible to achieve multiple breaks, disrupting the 'bottom
half' first "like a building," in order to collapse and lock the
approaching person.

"Slow and precise. The slower, the better," advised the instructors.
The above drill was repeated with both partners on the ground.

Towards the end, the students began to put everything together,
working on both grab-and-escape and strike/evade, returning with
strikes and/or locks. "Pushing's better [than

striking], guys," said one of the instructors. Different targets on
the head, neck, ears, and face were demonstrated. If you've seen
Vlad's joint breaking video, no doubt this

work is familiar to you. One of my classmates recently had Lasik
surgery and was unwilling to risk a finger to the eye, as that would
have resulted in him having to have Lasik

done again and another two weeks on the bench. I offered to work with
him since we both had to go quite slowly. I was carefully not to
target his eyes. Because I trust him

implicitly, it was easy to work, to take him down, as well as to be
taken down by him. I could not resist forcing him into a roll after
he took me down with a gentle tap to the

balls with my injured foot. He nearly rolled into a chair but was a
perfectly good sport about it — the wide-open "Colussus" stance after
you've dropped someone can be perilous

for both men and women, but men in particular. Training with friends
is always the most fun and I was grateful to him for working with me
and restoring my confidence that my

Systema skills have not disappeared, even if my walking skills are
not all too impressive these days.

Some advice about the methodology of learning Systema: "Move,
escape... escaping is better. It's more like a game. Keep escaping,
guys."

There was a little bit of elbow locks as a way to thwart knife
disarms. I was able to work with Denis Dmitriev on this, because of
the number of students and instructors, he did

not need to partner with someone. As we disarmed each other, going
back and forth, he told me with a big smile that Edgar says I am so
cool, also that he, Denis, thinks I am

good at Systema. Naturally I was delighted at the words of praise.

There was a little work with knife disarming on the ground, showing
the redirect of the attacking arm by manipulation of the elbow, but I
had to rest after my brief foray into

knife disarming.

The seminar ended with stick work, first, a very simple evasion with
one person on the ground, the other swinging the stick at them. I saw
a student without a partner and

offered to swing the stick at him, but he declined, being too afraid
of exacerbating my injury. This does happen accidentally, as it's
rather difficult to thwart someone yet be

sensitive to their fragile physical state.

At last they asked everyone to remove their shoes and socks, lie in a
circle, and inhale/exhale through different parts of the body,
finding the pulse points. Although I was

sitting with my legs propped on another chair, I intended to join
this exercise. Unfortunately I was distracted by anger. Some guys who
had been loading photography equipment up

the freight staircase for an event the following day decided to move
from the room that they were renting, where their equipment was
piled, into the boxing ring so they could

horse around. I tried to focus on not being irritated; I work at
Fighthouse and I'm accustomed to this sort of thing; however, I was
simply too irritated to find my pulse points

until they left the ring. At that point the exercise was almost over
but I did detect my carotid artery on my injured side, which is
hardly surprising given my anger, as well as

the pulse in the vein behind my knee on the uninjured side. When I
stood up, I felt extremely relaxed, as the twins have calm, well-
modulated voices, and the steady foot-falls

of the one walking as he led the students through the inhale/exhale
was quite soothing. I ought to add that I often fall asleep during
these sorts of exercises and have to

really urge myself to stand up when the instructor ceases them.