Denis "the Menace," a Russian Systema teacher visiting NYC from
Arizona, was our guest instructor on Wednesday night. Edgar told us
Denis had many years of experience in the military and working as a
bodyguard, then joined the class to train along with us for a change.

Denis started us with a number of breathing and visualization
exercises on the floor. Then we did pushups, 20-count pushups, one-
armed pushups in the circle, it was exhausting. I was relieved when
we lined up against the wall so Denis could check our form. Since I
was at the end of the line, I watched him correct the rest of the
class, and adjusted myself accordingly, so by the time he came to
check me, by putting his hand between my lower back and the mirror, I
had my posture correct. The trick is to hold that position and step
away from the wall. The hips are slightly tucked so that the spine is
straight, but the knees are also bent, hips and ankles aligned. I
have a habit of locking my knees when I'm standing, so it's hard for
me to remember to keep the form.

Denis picked up a light bamboo practice sword and told us to try and
touch him as he swung it around us in a circle. I'm afraid I mostly
hid cringing out-of-range, as did several of the other girls,
although he still whacked us a couple of times; it does not really
hurt, but I still avoided it.

Then we did more conditioning exercises. Throughout the lesson, Denis
had us drop to the floor several times for more pushups, situps,
squats, and leg-lifts. Edgar usually has do these in the beginning,
all at once, and we generally do a set of twenty or one forty-count,
not both. Denis had us doing both varieties, although he did offer a
choice between the 40-count and something he called 45 degrees, but
all the guys chose the 40-count, much to my disappointment. But Denis
told us we could do girly pushups on our knees and even that was a
challenge for me.

We did a few typical yielding exercises, pushing our partners, and
having several people push at one in the center of a circle. We
worked on the six levels of unbalancing an opponent:
neck/head/shoulders; elbow, wrist, hips, knees, ankles. Denis had us
use two levels to escape from improvised locks, half-Nelsons, bear
hugs, and other scenario type of attacks. We also used the levels to
take down our partners as they attacked us with practice knives.
Denis was my partner for these drills; he demonstrated an aggressive
attack on the street by shoving my shoulder and saying in a gruff
voice, "Hey, what's up?", a phrase which must be more ominous in
Russian than it is here.

At the end of class, we practiced rolling, most of the class held
wooden swords in one hand but I just held my arm stretched out. Denis
explained that the rolling with swords is why the outstretched arm
often leads the roll in Systema. I have gotten a lot better at
rolling although I can't yet see myself using it in a combat
situation. But I have gotten the hang of changing the direction of
the roll in mid-air. He also explained how falling with the back
curved and yielding provides protection from rolling on swords or
other weapons. I didn't realize that I have been falling incorrectly,
landing on the bent leg side rather than the straight leg side. Denis
and I practiced falling together, arms around each others' shoulders.

Class was fast-paced; we changed partners and drills frequently and
Denis talked to us the entire time, explaining the history and
applicability of specific movements and how some of them could
protect you in combat. Denis has a more direct teaching style than
Edgar; he told us frequently to keep our backs straight, to correct
our form, and to breathe, breathe, breathe, but he's so good-natured
and mischievous that he doesn't come across as a drill sergeant. He
showed us a few gun disarming moves with a pink rubber pistol, and
promised to teach us gun disarming at the next class.

We circled up twice, once when a few people had to leave, and again
at the end, after rolling. Denis asked us to share our thoughts on
the class, which we don't usually do with Edgar, perhaps because
class often is twice as long as scheduled and generally half the
class has left. Our classes are getting progressively larger; they
have been double in size lately, from 4-6 to 10, 12 or more. We all
said a few words about the class. Edgar explained that Systema has
more than 200 principles, and that very few people know all of them,
so there is much benefit in training with a variety of teachers.

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel