Notes from June 2004 NYC Systema Seminars

Below are my notes from the June 2004 seminars at Fighthouse: Jim
King, Martin Wheeler, and Vladimir Vasiliev. Before reading any
further, please know that that I am still somewhat new to the study
of Systema. I have been taking classes at Fighthouse for about 8
months, and I think it's important to keep that in mind as you read
my impressions of these seminars. Also, I am certain to have
forgotten some of the finer points we learned over last weekend, but
I am sure I'll re-discover many things during future Systema classes.

I want to extend my warmest thanks to everyone who attended, it was
such a pleasure to work with different people from all the affiliate
schools, and special thanks to Jim, Martin, and Vladimir, and of
course to Peggy, Edgar, and Dennis for all their hard work which made
it possible for us to come together, learning and sharing, in the
true spirit of friendship which characterizes our community.

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel


Jim King Friday

The topic for the mini-seminar was "crowd work"—something city
dwellers experience on a daily basis. Jim started us walking around
the center in a tight formation, just walking, first normal pace,
then fast as possible, then at a half squat, then a full squat, duck-
walking. It was hard to keep out of everyone's path, and after a few
minutes of that, he pointed out the importance of posture. Looking
down at everyone's legs, it's almost impossible not to crash into
others, keeping the eyes up makes it a lot easier. And of course,
breathing in co-ordination with movement. He showed us how to create
holes in the crowd by touching the hip, which makes the person yield,
or a "friendly" hand on the back, or a less friendly finger digging
into the crease between torso and thigh. Then we practiced moving
through the tight formation making holes. I didn't practice this too
much; because all the holes everyone else was creating made it easy
to move through the crowd and I wasn't sure how to incorporate it.
But I could see how effective it was, even on the subway, or on the
street, a light hand on the back will make anyone move.

To warm up, we huddled in groups of 6-8, arms around each other's
shoulders, then one person climbed up and crawled around the whole
circle, across our backs. Jim leaped on top of his group and crawled
around like a squirrel scampering through the treetops. I didn't
think I'd be able to do this one, but as usual, everyone encouraged
me to give it a try and to my surprise I made it all the way around.
It's wonderful how my classmates and teachers always encourage me not
to give up, to just give it a try, even when I am certain that I
can't do a certain exercise—and very often I am suprised by what I
can do. Then we did the same thing, crawling over lines of people,
rather than circles. This I found a bit more difficult, both standing
on the bottom, and crawling on top. I fell off the line a few times
until Dennis advised me to use my knees and that made all the
difference. Jim explained to us that using the arms to move across
makes it impossible to maintain balance across an unstable surface,
using the legs and knees allows the whole body to maintain balance.

Then, a psychologically interesting exercise: we divided the class in
half, one group stood against the wall, the other in the center, the
people against the wall closed their eyes, then we in the center re-
shuffled, and lay down face up, and also closed our eyes. Then the
other group walked over us, still keeping their eyes closed. I was a
little nervous about being stepped on, but I figured if someone
stepped on me, they would try to be nice about it and step as lightly
as possible. Then Jim asked them to run over us! A few people
stumbled over me, but I wasn't stepped on. I felt almost as nervous
running over the other group when they lay down; I didn't run, just
sort of walked as quickly as I could, trying to step over people,
sort of picking my way through, but I wonder if were actually
supposed to step on them, rather than feeling our way through, which
you can't really do while running.

We also did what Jim called the "squirt" drill, a simple, but
fascinating, exercise. One person stands in center, 5 or so people
stand around pressing fists and hands into them, leaning as hard as
possible. The person in the center tenses, then suddenly relaxes, and
voila the circle collapses. If you haven't already, try this
exercise! It's remarkable the way one person's tension and breathing
can break through five or more people leaning as hard as possible.

Next, Jim had three guys pulling hard on his arms and legs, while he
kept his balance and even shook them off. Jim demonstrated how to use
the opposing forces against each other, and how by standing on one
leg, you can dissipate and control the tension. He shrugged off the
three guys while calmly explaining the principle behind this
exercise. Of course we tried this ourselves, and found it not as easy
as it looked when Jim demonstrated! Though some lasted longer than
others, everyone in my group ended up on the floor, amid much
laughter.

Jim explained could do mass attacks, or break into smaller groups and
do "posse-style" attacks. Jim pointed out that mass attacks are fun
but 3 or 4 people attacking one was a more likely scenario. Everyone
agreed to the latter, and Jim promised we would do some mass attacks
at the very end.

So we formed groups of 4 and 5 and tried walking into one person, not
tracking the person, just walking straight while they avoided. Then
we did three-on-one punching each other, avoiding, and using the
attackers against one another. Working in groups of this size is
great if you're prone to stop and think, as I do sometimes. There's
nothing like working in groups to bring out the spontaneous instinct
towards self-preservation. No time to think of what you'll do next,
you've just got to keep moving.

Jim demonstrated the difference between military and art. Generally
in class we take our partners down with some consideration for their
comfort; he showed us the difference between quick, efficient
disabling of the attacker and the more artful and gentle way we
generally spar. He encouraged us to be careful as we tried the more
military applications with three -against-one.

We practiced the same exercise we did in the beginning, walking
around in a tight formation, and I think we all felt much easier
doing so. After our two-hour seminar with Jim, I certainly felt a big
improvement in this simple exercise. Then Jim told us to "defend the
center" and everyone starting punching and hitting whoever was in the
center. Well, almost everyone. At this point in my training, I was
too nervous to do much more than watch. I don't mind a bunch of guys
trying to hit me in a focused way, even if the whole class is doing
so, but the sort of melee with everyone hitting everyone randomly,
well, I don't think I'm quite ready for mass attacks. It's hard to
believe entire villages in Russia get together and do this for fun!

We then went right into the next mini-seminar with Martin Wheeler,
the theme of which was chokes.



Martin Wheeler Friday

Martin started us with a few exercises, leaning head-to-head against
our partners, and turning in a circle, while maintaining contact and
pressure. This brought back memories of my very first Systema
experience at Martin's seminar in the fall of 2003, because this was
my first Systema exercise. We also leaned back, keeping the body
straight, while our partners held our heads as low as they could, and
did the same thing falling forward. Then pushups while leaning on
each other, both in pushup position. I proceeded carefully with this
one because my torso can take the weight of a guy, but my legs are
kind of frail and it can sometimes be painful.

To work honestly on escaping from chokes, and also to learn how to
choke effectively, we really had to choke each other. Those who
helped Martin demonstrate were gagging and gasping. Martin warned us
to be careful, and to tap out to preserve our safety. No-one has ever
tried to kill me, thankfully, and this actually the first time I've
been choked with such serious intent. Your mind and body are
instantly 100% focused on escape. Martin explained how resisting and
going against the choke would cause more damage, just as going
against a wrist lock or twisted limb is also more damaging than
yielding in the same direction.

Then Martin had us choke each other from a sitting position, just to
get familiar with it from both perspectives. I discovered that I have
no idea of what kind of pressure I'm inflicting. It seems easy to
kill someone in this way, because it didn't take much for my partners
to tap out and but also, sometimes, it wasn't enough for them to feel
anything. Martin demonstrated how moving your tongue to the roof of
your mouth while being choked allowed a little extra room. I didn't
really notice the difference; but I did see the muscles in Martin's
neck change, sort of compress inward, when he did this. Being choked
was alarming at first, and I was probably too absorbed with that to
notice any difference.

We practiced slipping out of a choke by rotating the shoulders,
falling backwards, and by other means, since we were on the floor, a
lot of groundwork was involved. We also tried an exercise where you
slip out and replace your arms inside the choking person's hands.
This was interesting because even though I knew we were doing this
exercise, when my partner slipped away and replaced her neck with her
hands, I kept choking her hands anyway. As Martin explained it, all
my consciousness was in my arms that were choking, so that as long as
something was there, I'd keep choking it, no matter what part of the
body had replaced the neck.

My partner was not a large person, a woman of slender build, strong,
but much lighter and smaller than myself. Nor did she take Systema
classes on a regular basis. But when I choked her, she rotated her
shoulders to free herself and shook me off quite easily. I was
impressed with the ease at which she applied the principles that
Martin demonstrated—principles which can be easily employed by
anyone, regardless of size or strength, or any other physical
limitation. I can't think of a better means of self-defense for
women, children, older people, people with physical disabilities, or
anyone who might be viewed as an easy target by criminals.

Martin spoke a bit about survival on a moment-to-moment basis, and
how planning can never be effective in a real scenario, because when
you plan, you must do the things you've planned, even if the
situation calls for something different. "Systema is not like chess,
it's more like checkers," he said. In chess, as in many games of
skill, it is desirable to think ten moves ahead, to line your
chessmen up for the gambit. In checkers, one move counters the
previous move; there is very little strategy, only reaction, and
Martin's analogy was an apt way to describe this spontaneity.

Martin demonstrated a few others ways to escape from the choke in the
sitting position, and we practiced those. I think that I'm sometimes
a little lazy, because I always count on my partners to help explain
each exercise, but in this case, my partner didn't know what the
variations were either. So we continued to choke each other and
escape by relaxing into it, slipping away, rotating the shoulder,
etc., and again I was impressed with the way we had learned to escape
from a truly life-threatening situation.

Martin asked us try attempting a choke, our partners evading, but
keep coming at them while we were both on the ground. Rather than
freeing ourselves from a choke, avoiding the choke before it happens.
Then for our last exercise, Martin asked us to stand, one person
tried to choke the other, the other went to the ground, and then the
standing person keeps coming at them.

Since I was a little unsure about the last few exercises, I don't
think I am doing them justice. But I did learn a great deal about
being choked, as well as choking. I know that BJJ and other styles
practice choking until the one person starts to pass out, but it was
a new experience for me. At first, it was alarming, but by the end of
the two hours, I was able to find a means of escape without
succumbing to the panic at the lack of air. As Martin told
us "There's always a way out...unless you are dead."



Vladimir Vasiliev Saturday

This was my first experience with such a large seminar; more Systema-
ists in one place than I've ever seen before. At first I was a little
nervous, I feel shy around people with whom I'm not well-acquainted,
but all my partners were just as nice as I've come to expect from our
community. It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with people who
traveled from all over the country to be there. And of course to meet
the man whom I've heard so much about, who despite his astonishing
capabilities, is a warm, friendly, and humble teacher, just as many
have described. It was a rare treat to watch Vladimir and many other
high-level practitioners as they demonstrated applications dealing
with the knife. I can hardly call it fighting, as it seems as
effortless and natural a movement a bird in flight, or a fish
swimming through water. Not just skill, but a complete harmony with
space, gravity, other people; transcending—yet utterly accepting
without fear—the physical nature of the universe. As always, my words
are insufficient to describe it, and I lack the experience to explain
it, all I can do is convey my sense of amazement at what I've seen.

As with Martins' seminar on chokes, this was about using the knife as
well as defending from it. To warm up we did pushups, leg-lifts, and
squats, with in/out breathing patterns, these exercises are familiar
to most who take Systema classes. Then we touched each other with
knives, while the other person yielded, using enough pressure for
them to feel it and move with it. Then we stabbed or slashed at one
another from a step or two distance, while the other rotated or
otherwise avoided the knife.

Vladimir reminded us that the person, not the knife, was the threat,
and to keep our eyes up and avoid focusing on the weapon. As I
understand it, this allows for greater perception of the person's
intent with peripheral vision, since movement of the arms or legs
begins at the shoulder or hip. Peripheral vision helped our ancestors
avoid predators; now that we as a species are at the top of the food
chain, we tend not to use it much. Keeping the eyes up also helps to
maintain good posture.

Vladimir showed us how sweeping the knife out of the way could make
you vulnerable to slashes of the hand, and we practiced redirecting
the slashing hand and drawing away immediately to protect the hand.
To better illustrate this, we used "digging sticks"—wooden dowels
about an inch in diameter with nails hammered halfway into either
end. Sometimes these nails are trimmed off and sharpened, but
fortunately for us, these had just the nail heads!

We practiced sort of rotating these around our partner's arms, while
they maintained close contact, using the figure-eight or snake-like
movements to weav around the stick, avoiding the nails. I guess my
partner and I were taking it a bit easy, we did not actually leave
welts on each other, as some did. But it gives a better sense of the
dangers of the knife, especially in the hands of a highly skilled
person, than does a harmless practice knife.

We returned to our practice knives to work on avoiding knife stabs
and thrusts, which Vladimir demonstrated in various ways, for
example, capturing the knife hand and rotating the body towards it,
to inflict pressure on the wrist. We also practiced avoiding stabs or
thrusts using just the legs. I'm always amazed how using the legs
comes naturally when the hands are involved, but for me, when I stick
my hands in my pockets, for some reason, I don't use my legs quite as
easily. Then we practiced avoiding knife attacks by going down to the
ground and taking the other person down. For me, as for many people,
this is easier this than taking someone down while standing up.

We also spent time practicing defending with the knife, rather than
just avoiding it, so both partners had knives for this one. I found
this a real challenge. I've never wielded a knife, aside from carving
a roast in the kitchen. At first, while my partner attacked, I kept
holding onto it, using only the other arm, and basically handicapping
myself with it. But finally got the hang of it, and all the exercises
that we had done earlier began to fit into a larger picture.

I was sorry my mom had to miss this seminar; she loves to work with
knives, but was obligated to be at work for an important project. But
she joined us for our delightful party which followed the seminar.
After enjoying many delicious Russian foods, and of course a few
glasses of wine, I ended up writing this a few days afterwards, and
have forgotten a few things that we learned, but I'm sure I speak for
many when I say what a great experience this was, and how much I
looked forward to the following day's seminar.



Vladimir Vasiliev Sunday

The theme of Sunday's seminar was working with sticks and guns. We
began with the sticks—long round poles about 4 or 5 feet. We rolled
them over our muscles as a kind of massage, also laying on the ground
and rolling the back and stomach over them. Then placing the sticks
against our backs, perpendicular to the body, arms draped over the
front, kind of like a milkmaid, although Dennis described it to us as
a POW restraint used by "unfriendly" countries. Holding the sticks
this way, we practiced falling, onto our backs, stomachs, from
standing, and kneeling positions. Later on Vlad and Martin
demonstrated placing the sticks down one pant leg, or through one
shirt sleeve and out the other, and falling, rolling, and sparring
with the stick immobilizing one limb and forcing it to remain
straight. I imagine this is good practice for combat with an injured
limb.

Next we hit each other gently with sticks, across the muscular parts
of the body, then a few stronger blows across the stomach (for the
guys, across the chest, too, but this is far too painful for girls).
Then we did some sort of floor exercises with the stick which I
missed because my partner (my mom, of course!) had to use the ladies
room, but I think two people lay down side by side, holding the stick
between them, and tried to pull it away from each other, but I'm not
quite sure about that one since I accompanied her.

Then, we faced our partners, and one person held the stick out at
shoulder level, the other had to go underneath it, moving the
shoulder or leg first to step through. Then at hip, then knee, then
ankle level. At hip level, you can slide one leg through and let your
body follow, but ankle level, with one end of the stick resting on
the ground, is quite a bit harder and we were all struggling to move
our legs through first until Vlad demonstrated that we just should go
through it, not necessarily the same way we'd go through at hip
level, but however we could get through. Then we did the same thing
only this time, passing the stick from one side of the body to the
other, rolling it on the arm, or using the elbow, in the "combing the
hair" motion. That is always how it's described and I don't know of
any other way to explain it. With the stick resting on the outside of
the arm, this motion, kind of like brushing your hair back with one
hand, passes the stick to the other side of the body.

Then, swinging at each other, or thrusting, with the sticks while the
other avoided. We then moved into trying to take the stick from our
partners as they attacked us, by avoiding, then wrapping around or
otherwise capturing it, using the snake-like or figure-eight
movement, or capturing against the body. Then we did the same thing
going to the ground, or remaining on the ground, while our partners
swung or thrust at us as we avoided, and tried to take the stick
away.

We did an exercise where the person swings once, and you avoid,
twice, avoid again, the third time, take the stick away. I'm sure we
did some other stick exercises, which I have no doubt forgotten,
before moving onto to gun work, which is always fun. We learned many
different ways to deal with situations that are often depicted as
hopeless for the victim, a gun pressed to the back, to the temple, in
the ribs, and all the various ways criminals with guns try to force
their victims to comply.

First, we practiced simply evading a gun, stepping to one side or the
other as the partner draws. Then, preventing the gun from being
drawn, by slapping the drawing hand hard down onto the person. Vlad
demonstrated how to stay low, and sort of lunge forward by first
rocking backwards slightly, like a sprinter at the start of the race.
This allows you to move quickly and with great force when slapping
the drawing hand. He also showed us how if someone was drawing a gun
from a pocket, you can simply close off the fabric of the pocket to
prevent the draw—very effective for such a simple action.

We also worked on drawing as well as preventing a draw. Instead of
pulling the gun out, we practiced pushing the hip up slightly to
propel the gun out of the waistband, also, extending the leg
backwards does the same thing, and allows for a faster and more
subtle draw.

Then we tried throwing tennis balls at each other while the person
catching deliberately looked away from the ball, to practice using
peripheral vision. Then one person stood with arms extended, the
other stood behind and dropped the ball into the front of them, while
they had to catch. Finally we had to catch the ball and
simultaneously draw the gun...very difficult, as evident by the
tennis balls rolling across the floor!

We explored several different ways to disarm, bending the trigger
finger back and against the gun, which hurts even with a rubber gun,
so I can imagine how painful it would be with a metal one. I'm always
amazed by how much pain can be inflicted on the fingers; even the
biggest, toughest guy will yield to a finger bent the wrong way. With
our partners pointing the gun with two hands, Vlad demonstrated how
to snake one hand inside the two hands, the other on the outside, and
with the hands drawn together, through leverage, twisting and
immediately dropping the weight, you can disarm the two-handed
attacker. We also tried many other ways of disarming from a gun
pointed against the back, or against the stomach, by dropping and
rotating one shoulder, capturing the gun against the body and
rotating, etc. It is hard to describe these movements, like so much
about Systema, I can't convey what we learned with these few words on
a page.

Then we worked together as a group with our partners. One person took
the gun, the other pretended to be the "target" and everyone milled
around the center, the targets moving away and hiding from
the "attackers". We then had to find our targets and point at them,
keeping the gun close to us, not extended out Hollywood style, as a
teacher explained to me, the farther the gun is away from the body,
the easier it is for someone to take it away. (Since most of us are
not likely to encounter a professional assassin, we sometimes pointed
at each other "Hollywood" style to practice disarms). For our final
exercise, we used a gi or jacket that is hanging up near the mats as
a target, and we formed a circle, rotating around the target, keeping
aim from all parts of the room, but when our part of the circle was
right in front of the target, we had to stay low, to stay out of the
line of fire of the rest of the circle.

Afterwards, Vlad asked us if we had any questions, and various
weapons were produced for demonstrations. Vlad demonstrated how to
defend against, and use, the chain and the military shovel. His work
with Jim King wielding the chain was amazing to see. Chains and other
sectional weapons must be quite a challenge, as they move so
differently from knives or sticks or other straight weapons. But Jim
might have been flicking a piece of yarn, the way the chain slid
harmlessly off his body. Vlad told us that defending against the
chain was quite simple, but it was necessary to be totally relaxed,
as any tension would mean immediate damage. That is always a
challenge, because fear of an unknown outcome causes us to tense up
when threatened. But more than ever, I am convinced that such tension
is the product of our pyschological conditioning, and that, as often
pointed out, the relaxed, free, and fluid movements of small children
as they learn to walk is the more natural way for us to move, not
just for self-preservation, but also for physical, psychological, and
even spiritual health and well-being.

Thus ended another great day of training, my third in a row, making
for a most memorable weekend at Fighthouse. I want to repeat what I
mentioned at the beginning of this page: my warmest thanks to
everyone who attended, it was such a pleasure to work with different
people from all the affiliate schools, and special thanks to Jim,
Martin, and Vladimir, and of course to Peggy, Edgar, and Dennis for
all their hard work which made it possible for us to come together,
learning and sharing, in the true spirit of friendship which
characterizes our community.

*Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel