Rachel's Systema Writings >> Assorted Essays >> Chinese New Year Systema Demonstration at Fighthouse Chinese New Year Systema Demonstration at Fighthouse   Screen shots from the video are a bit blurry - impossible to show the whole movement in a still shot. This is defense from a chair.   Val demonstrates bodyguard work with me as the seated target     Against the wall - classmate in black handles a vigorous attack   Val attacks me on the ground - rotation of my hips followed   Defense against knife attacks while on the ground   Val handling two attackers from opposite directions. Val dispatched me, then with his back still to my classmate, kicked him and rotated around on the leading leg. It was a privilege and an honor to demonstrate Systema at Fighthouse's Chinese New Year Celebration on Sunday, February 18. All the different styles that train at Fighthouse had an opportunity to perform - over two hours of exciting martial arts exhibitions. Edgar had asked me and two of my classmates to demonstrate Systema for the crowd. We wanted to show how Systema was different from other martial arts so we chose defense from more unusual situations; in a chair, against the wall, on the ground, and two-on-one attacks at all levels. I had been nervous beforehand; in fact I was running to the ladies' room to pee every twenty minutes. I kept telling myself that on a busy night, there might be fifty or more people training at Fighthouse, and five or ten observers and a few staff. On Chinese New Year's, there was probably about 200 people in the audience, so it was just like a very, very busy night. But I knew I'd be fine once I got up there. I've never minded public speaking; I do not feel shy about performing, it's just the anticipation that is a little nerve-wracking. Edgar reminded me to hit the guys and not spare them; I hadn't been striking them much when we had practiced. Val reminded us all to smile; I certainly remembered to do that, I couldn't help but smile during our demo. It was such a pleasure to share Systema with a large audience, my smile wasn't the slightest bit staged, I was having a blast. I did remember to hit, also, in fact, I clocked Val in the face a bit harder than I had intended. I think the strikes made it a bit more exciting for the audience; it's a bit more visible, though not necessarily more painful, than a joint lock. We had worked out a ten minute routine at two practice sessions in the previous weeks. Fortunately the one of my classmates, Val, is a natural-born performer. (He is active on Vlad's forum or else I would not use his name in my notes.) He acted as "MC" and provided some commentary on Systema so the audience would have a better understanding of the movements. He first explained that in Systema practice, we make real contact, and it is not for lack of control, it's part of the training. Then he turned and landed a solid kick on my classmate, who punched him in response. It looked pretty dramatic, the kick was hard enough to knock him back a few feet. My classmate also explained why we don't use mats for training and how the hard floor can be an ally. Our first scenario was me in the chair and the two guys coming at me from all directions. We had practiced this in the previous two Saturdays, but I had been a little worried that the guys would either attack me two easy, in an effort to make sure I looked good, or else go too hard and I wouldn't be able to shake them off successfully. Actually, I think they were just right, very honest in their attacks, and I was honestly beating them handily. They were coming one after another, from all directions, and I was holding my own, the audience was clapping. I knew that our demo was a little more exciting than most of the solo katas that came beforehand. Audiences like to see action and I was sending the guys flying in all directions. Then Val stood up and we segued into the next sequence, a bodyguarding demo. I think it was at this point that, by way of introduction, Val explained something about unpredictable situations, like defending a loved one, and I guess to demonstrate unpredictability, he turned and clocked me, not too hard, but I was surprised, as I was just standing peacefully listening to his commentary. Actually it was an excellent movement on his part. Because I was a little clipped by his punch, but moved away from it to deflect as best I could, and it showed that we also train to take some blows, and not just to dish them out. I sat down again and Val stood next to me and acted as a bodyguard. First he showed how you could simply avert an unpleasant situation before it began. My other classmate approached me in the chair, and Val simply walked next to him and steered him away before he got too close. Then we demonstrated real attacks against me in the chair, with him sitting to my left and repelling our other classmate as he attacked me. I helped out when I could, landing a punch or sweeping a leg here and there. Then our classmate moved up against the wall, and Val told the audience that you could end up backed into a corner during a fight. We attacked him and he put us into the wall or took us down, beating up on Val in particular quite vigorously. They had agreed beforehand to demonstrate a little short work so I knew their interaction was going to be more intense. Then my classmate lay down against the wall, and we got the training knives and started the attack him on the ground. I was pretty impressed with the way he disarmed us; the knives were hitting the ground with a clatter, really just flying out of our hands. Next I lay on the ground, as Val briefly mentioned that being pinned on the ground was a concern for women's self-defense. The guys tried to pin and mount me. Then we switched to attacking Val, both of us at once, and he was quite deft and repelling one of us with the other, tangling us up, changing levels fluidly. At that point, no-one was really sure if ten minutes were up; I think it was a little less, but we concluded our demonstration and took our bows to lots of applause. It really made me feel good, to have all those people clapping for us. Afterwards several people approached me and told me how much they liked my demonstration, and of course my Systema classmates were there to congratulate me over wine and beers at our celebration afterwards. My two classmates performed magnificently. It was a wonderful Chinese New Year's celebration, Peggy and Edgar were, as usual, most gracious hosts, and it was altogether a memorable day at Fighthouse.