Emmanuel Manolakakis Seminar - Sunday, December 4th, 2005

As mentioned, this review is kind of the opposite of the previous in that I don't have a good sense of the chronology of the drills nor specific details about what we did. But I have much better notes about what Emmanuel told us and I think that's far more useful, because Emmanuel offered some great insight.

We started off with the same walking/breathing exercise as yesterday, working up to I think stretching the breath to last for seven steps. Only this time, we did this exercise with a partner, holding the other person very tightly with an arm across the shoulders and walking side-by-side. Then we did the same thing with the person being held closing their eyes, and also the same thing running. We switched roles so the other person could try. I found the hardest part about running while being "led" in this way with my eyes closed was turning the corners. I did not have a good sense of where the corners were, and I found myself lagging as we turned the corners, so my partner really had to steer me.

Emmanuel told us that with the eyes closed, you don't have to trust misleading visual feedback, but instead rely on feeling. I've heard that a lot from my teachers, that we have to feel the movement and not rely upon our eyes. Edgar told us that Vlad had told him that reflexes become less sharp with age and should not be relied upon as a means of response. "Feeling" the movement is hard to accept; I recently posted about one particular class when it seemed like hardly any of us could accept a simple push to further a yielding exercise. The conditioned response is to avoid contact. Later in the seminar, Emmanuel told us this partnered exercise was to get used to contact and to "get over a dislike of being touched." An arm around the shoulders is a friendly kind of touch and by accepting that, we can work up to accepting a more unfriendly contact without feeling "insulted." I've also heard it said (perhaps by Vlad?) that not allowing contact is a kind of pride which needs to be overcome.

Another close contact exercise, for which I wished I was still with my light female training partner who had led me around, was picking up your partner around the waist, swinging him around and placing on the floor, almost like that dance move where the lady's skirt twirls around. We were supposed to move from one end of the room to the other in this way, swinging around, and placing down again, and then switch. Edgar did this to me with ease; it's amazing how strong he is. I think I weigh at least as much as Edgar does, and probably more. On the other hand, I struggled to swing him around. I could get him off the floor, it's the swinging around part that I had trouble with. I ended up just kind of moving him like a piece of furniture a few inches at a time, and I got maybe about 3/4 across the room before Edgar said that was sufficient practice for me.

Working independently, Emmanuel led us through a simple exercise where you rotate all your parts beginning with the head, neck, shoulders, elbows, down to the ankles, isolating the movement. This is to further awareness of your own body. My classmate told me he likes to do this exercise when he first wakes up in the morning. I could see how it could also be a great self-assessment, particularly for soldiers in the field. I found it very welcome to talk about these seemingly simple movements in depth. Systema needs some consideration for the laws of physics. To understand movement not just the one time, but for all time. It's no good to know what will work in Situation X against Mr. Y. That moment will occur once and never again.

We did that classic Systema yielding exercise where we pushed each other and yielding those parts, remaining in the same place, as well as stepping around. And then we did this en masse, pushing and yielding each other randomly. Then in groups of three, standing in a line, the two people on the end pushed the one in the center. I have in my notes "w/ takedowns" and I think the one person in the center may have been taking down one or both of the pushers, trying to put them into each other, but the notes are a little fuzzy here.

We practiced absorbing, yielding, and avoiding kicks, standing in the same place, as well as moving around, and then Emmanuel demonstrated a few ways to take down our partners from the kicks. I find this to be one of the easier kinds of takedowns because the attacking person is already on one leg so a lot of the work of unbalancing has already been done. Emmanuel used my partner for the absorption demos since her kickboxing training made her a great student to demo the kicks. However helpful it was to see the absorption of kicks demonstrated, these high kickboxer kicks are not what I would consider true Systema kicks. A lot of kickboxers, MMA, and TKD types have assured me that a Systema student would be helpless against one of these fierce kicks that are supposed to be able to knock a man senseless. I see that on the UFC, the high kicks do some damage, but only because the recipient of the kick doesn't know how to yield or absorb to it. And if you stand there tense and stiff as a tree trunk, it doesn't matter if the kick is high or low, it's going to hurt. I don't understand this elevated respect for the high kick, because a Systema kick seems so much sneakier to me, you can't even see it coming.

Emmanuel told us to make sure to commit to the kick, to step through and not keep your partner a leg's length away "When you see non- committed kicks," he said, "You know you've already won the fight." It's interesting because I noticed in a class following the seminar, that while we were practicing striking, I saw by my partner's movements—drawing away, turning his back to me, blocking by covering his face with his arms—that he was more afraid of being struck that I was, even though we were moving very slowly, and merely touching each other on the face with the lightest push, to overcome such fears. Because he was more afraid than I was, it gave me more confidence to step closer and engage him, and it seemed to me I had a fairly good advantage over him. I think that drawing away sends a message to an opponent that you are afraid or unsure. (I don't mean running away. I mean when the conflict has begun and you cannot escape. Backing away is not very helpful. Eventually, you'll back yourself into a corner. Although come to think of it, I find it easier to fight against the wall.) Martin Wheeler once told me not to back away, that it wouldn't solve anything, only to delay it. My partner drawing away made me want to step closer, to keep the "striking distance" between us, as Val had explained to us in that particular class.

Anyway, Emmanuel showed how to absorb, yield, and finally take down various kinds of kicks. We practiced the takedowns with our partners and I think most people found this fairly straightforward. Once you get out of the way of the incoming kick, everything else falls into place. It's mostly a matter of timing. You can extend the kicking leg, drag it out to steal the step, stretch the person out by extending the kicking leg and pushing into one of the collapsible areas (the 6 levels, as they are sometimes called), lock the knee or ankle, drop your entire leg over the kicking leg, which usually locks the knee, push into the opposite shoulder so that the kick rotates your partner around, or any number of ways. My partner, the kickboxer girl, caught on fast. Women don't feel the same need to prove themselves. I hate to generalize, but I always have an easier time with female beginners than with the men. It was good to work with this girl because of her skill at kicking, although they weren't the same as Systema kicks. She was much smaller than me, almost petite, and had not trained in Systema before. To my surprise, during one of the exercises, she began to fight with me, to resist the takedown and counter me. She didn't do this aggressively; once it became apparent that she was no match for me, she ceased to resist. I think maybe she just wanted to see if Systema works. After that, she was pretty excited about Systema and wanted to know what I did to her. I liked working with this girl, she was smart and spirited, and picked up concepts quickly, I think she would have been a good student of any martial art. I'm going to risk sounding sexist but why can't men have that same attitude? I wouldn't mind a new guy challenging me if he was a) good sport about accepting the punishment that he more or less asked for b) thought it was cool and wanted to learn how I did it. But new guys can be kind of tough, On Saturday, Emmanuel said that we should be patient with them, and of course I agree.

I showed my partner a few easy takedowns, the same things that other people taught me when I first started. I think Emmanuel noticed that she was a little resistant to the takedown as are many newcomers. He was demonstrating something with her and commented on the resistance. He had broken her form and she was bent over with her back parallel to the floor. A lot of newcomers will assume this position with their backs laid out like a table. There is so much resistance between them and the floor, it's actually quite dangerous. She asked, but why would I want to fall so easily? And Emmanuel said, because it's better than staying like that, demonstrating how the spine, head, and other vulnerable areas were completely exposed by this hunched-over position. He had me attack him to show how not to resist the takedown, and he took me down swiftly and neatly, then, once I was on the ground, quickly flipping my arm over so that I had to roll over to avoid being painfully locked. She understood right away. I just see a huge difference between her and some of our male beginners who still assume this position after months of training, no matter how many times I sink my elbow into their back, they still do it. Sorry to be such a sexist, but it's refreshing to train with female beginners! A big difference I've noticed is that women are fully aware when they are training with a more experienced partner, and they know that the more experienced student is going to be more compliant with a beginner. I could make it impossible for a beginner to achieve a takedown, but what would be the point? Men often do not understand this, because they have a competitive mindset, and I have to admit that it is sometimes pathetic to see them becoming arrogant or exulting in the fact that they've prevailed over me when I have been intentionally compliant (usually, I will stop being compliant if they get too arrogant about it). But women know when they are working with a partner who is helping them learn and not competing with them.

I worked with Emmanuel a few times during both days of the seminar, because we always had an odd number of students and Edgar was videotaping so Emmanuel worked with me instead. This was great for me, of course, but at one point on Sunday, Emmanuel noticed me drifting around without a partner. This used to make me embarrassed or even angry with myself for not being more assertive, but now I no longer care. The truth is, I have no preference, for the most part, I'll train with anyone, and if someone else has a preference, I want to let them indulge it. Some people don't want to work with beginners, others with girls, some only want to work with aggressive guys, and others only with their friends. One should learn to work with everyone, within reason, but I'm not so concerned with how everyone else wants to train (which is one reason why I feel I'd be a poor teacher of Systema).

So Emmanuel noticed me drifting around, and said, "You have no partner?" and I said, "No, I always am the last to choose, I wait until everyone else has partnered up, I don't want anyone to feel obligated to partner with me," and Emmanuel just laughed and said Oh, Rachel, as if it were the silliest thing in the world, which it well might be.

I can't find where this little snippet belongs in the chronology, but later on, while doing something or the other, somehow I asked my partner to choke me and Emmanuel saw this and came over to show us a very cool escape from chokes. When being choked, put both hands on head with elbows outward, rotate body, and your arms will break the choke. It is ridiculously simple and yet it works. I always like learning such "lifesaver" moves that can break a tight hold or choke without undue struggle.

Emmanuel introduced a very interesting concept when he began the topic of strikes. He said, "Don't be the first to strike. Don't give them any ideas." Striking reminds your partner that he can strike, too. Emmanuel said especially not from a vulnerable position, like on your back, don't be the first to strike. And not just striking. He also meant in general, don't be hasty to escalate the conflict. I think for self-defense, you should always be open to the idea of the conflict being settled with minimal harm. So why up the ante? Better to blend your intention and conceal it behind the attacker's intention anyway. Emotions are so delicate, only a slight increase in adrenaline is instantly detectable by another person who is also in a heightened state. Emotions are highly contagious and part of Systema training is learning to resist such acceleration from another person and become truly the master of your own psychological state. There is an interesting passage on this in Dan Millman's Peaceful Warrior book, where Socrates and Dan discuss mastering the emotions versus letting an opponent manipulate you into anger.

As a kind of introduction to strikes, we did a quick melee mass attack where everyone was striking everyone randomly. I found that with the melees and other mass attacks involving the whole class, Scott liked to have us do them in the beginning of the topic, perhaps to wear us out? I've usually done the melees at the end, occasionally in the middle, but not usually at the beginning. Edgar generally has us do these at the end of class, I guess everyone is calmer by then so it's less likely to become too aggressive. Even so, I see a lot of aggression in the mass attacks. Perhaps it's just more noticeable since everyone is so concentrated. Many of the students at Emmanuel's seminar had only limited exposure to Systema. They were a great bunch, though, everyone was open to learning and had a good attitude. It is a pleasure to work with such willing students.

Emmanuel talked about the proper placement of the fist, which reminded me of the guest class about striking that Scott taught at Fighthouse earlier in the year. Emmanuel showed where the fist fits best, on the neck, the stomach, the face, not just where to place the fist, but the proper rotation. Sometimes the fist fits best vertical to the floor, but it seemed like mostly the fist fits better horizontal or parallel to the floor. It is easy to see which is the better placement because the fist fits naturally into certain places on the body almost as if it's nestled into a little pocket. He also discussed strike absorption, the finer points of which has escaped me but as with all Systema absorption, being rigid will make the strike hurt more (although tension does have its place in Systema, but I find this is usually a more intermediate concept, because for the first few months of training, most people need to relax more before they can learn to use the tension productively).

In groups of three, Emmanuel had one person in the middle, one striking the front and the other the back simultaneously. The person in the middle of course had to absorb the strikes. He also had the guys get into pairs and strike each other in the chest repeatedly. "Lift the arm and allow the fist to drop into the chest to `get the pride out,'" he said. For obvious reasons, he told me and other girl that it wasn't necessary for us to do this, because men tend to carry their ego there and it's not the same for women (I mean, aside from the fact that women cannot take blows to the breast as easily as men can; it's far more painful). We did another exchanging strikes exercise, this time to the stomach exercise, until one or the other tires of it. Because my partner had lean and muscular stomach, I figured he'd last a long time. In contrast, I have a very soft and not at all muscular stomach, although I can still do the situps, but I do them less as a function of my ab muscles than body weight and "core" strength. But I could actually feel the ridges of my partner's stomach muscles underneath his tee shirt as I struck him. To my surprise, he called it quits long before I would have given up. I wonder if extra padding is actually better "shock absorption", because it's softer than hard muscle and the strike dissipates more easily? Of course, I was more experienced than my partner so it's also likely that I am better able to absorb strikes and that my strikes are more painful than his.

This was a novel approach to striking: to hit each other until we simply became tired of it. After that, we were much more willing to work without ego or pride in how hard we could hit; we knew what would be too much and I think it helped us to "give the strike the partner needs" rather than dishing it out as painfully as possible to prove our own skill. Strike each other until you tire of it, then more sensitive because you've gotten it out.

Next we moved into strikes as defense against grabs: one person grabs the other, who responds with a strike. The strike can be deployed to "stop" the grab or to break the hold as it's first applied, but of course it's easier to strike before the hold has become a tight one. Edgar has showed us different ways to evade a grab or hold and it sometimes takes the form of sort of shrugging out of it, almost like taking off a shirt. I wish I could explain that better. It's not even from Emmanuel's seminar, although he probably demonstrated the same principle, but I recall it more from Edgar's classes. Edgar moves in this way with ease. It's almost like if you've ever tried to pick up a cat to put into a carrier for, let's say, a trip to the vet. They have this remarkable ability to wriggle themselves out of your hold.

We paused right about the middle of the seminar to do some static pushups, situps, leg lifts, and squats. Each were only two minutes a piece. The pushups are the hardest for me. The others are not so tough although I can't go low with the squats. I rather surprised myself by holding the 45 degree angle for the static situp for the whole two minutes with relative ease. Overall, Emmanuel was pretty easy on us with the conditioning exercises; I am thinking of one particular seminar with Martin Wheeler when afterwards, I tallied up that we did at least 100 pushups. Emmanuel also had us do partnered pushups, holding shoulders tightly together, going down, doing a pushup, then standing up again. We also did partnered leg lifts head to head, so that the feet touch upwards at 90 degrees.

Emmanuel seemed to have something up he sleeve when he said we were going to "control your partner's breathing." One person pushed or pulled different body parts and the other had to inhale or exhale in coordination. Of course, this should be done at random varying speeds to make it interesting for your partner. Emmanuel demonstrated this with me, pushing quickly after I drew a long breath, causing me to breathe sharply, or slowly after a short one, so that I struggled to keep my breathe, looking at him breathlessly, he was amused by this exercise.

Breathing is a tricky thing; it's hard for me to allow my body to choose its rate of breathing; when exerted, I often rationalize about breathing in a certain pattern because that's what I expect to do. I can't think about it too much, or else I over-rationalize, yet I can't ignore it, because ingrained habits of fear or panic at being short of breath may kick in and leave me short of breath. The hardest is breathing while running or when working against multiple attacks.

I noticed that Emmanuel demonstrates with everyone, even rank beginners. I am not used to this. Some teachers demo with only senior students, sometimes just one student the entire sessions. Others choose whoever happens to be nearby, or else they use another teacher to demonstrate. I don't think most put a lot of thought into it, but I think it's better to see different types of students do the demos. I was so unaccustomed to this that on Saturday, Emmanuel called me three times before I finally understood that he wanted me to come to the center and demonstrate with him. At the very end he did spend a few minutes demonstrating some of his skill with striking and no- contact work with our classmate Val. We only saw a taste of that. For the most part, Emmanuelle's demos were quite brief and not at all flashy. He really wanted to share this with us and I think preferred to watch us try the drills than have us watch him do so. Emmanuelle walks around offering advice to everyone, but he's got a very light presence in the room. He has this way of explaining and demonstrating concepts using the least possible words and movements. Pure efficiency, in a verbal sort of way, and also a very warm person. I hope Emmanuel's not getting embarrassed as he reads this. But he was such a positive presence during that weekend, I swear we learned better just by being around him.

Afterwards, we circled up. Emmanuel asked us to "Think of the thing that is your strength." He paused for a minute. "Has everyone got something?" We nodded. "That is going to be your weakness!" he said smiling. We all laughed, and I for one saw immediately that one of my best skills, logic, was also sometimes crippling to me. It is both a source of comfort and isolation. It makes me at once compassionate in a grudging utilitarian kind of way as well as alarmingly cold- hearted.

Emmanuel told us that when he started training, Vlad told him a 100 times to "relax your shoulders" before he finally understood what this meant and was able to do so. I guess there was a little parable in there. Students are often impatient for the knowledge. I remember a teenager, after a few hours of training, asking me, "How long does this take, anyway?" Most people are of course more patient but even so, we are eager to depart from that stage of Systema where one feels clumsy and struggles to do the exercises. The hard part of learning is just beginning to learn and taking those first few steps. Yet it is also the most rewarding time as the knowledge is most like a revelation. The most dramatic difference in skill will be from rank beginner to a dedicated student of 4-6 months. After that, the leaps and bounds get less dramatic.

After we all shared our thoughts about the seminar, Emmanuel offered strikes. I would have liked to be struck but I don't like all eyes on me, so I didn't volunteer. Emmanuel talked about the three different kinds of strikes, penetrating the skin, muscle, and organs and warned us not to do the latter. He struck two guys and asked them to describe how the strikes felt. The first guy said it felt as if it was separating the tissues and muscles. The second guy described it as feeling kind of like a ball, sort of spiraling inward. Emmanuel said those were both excellent descriptions. He also said the best way to know how your partner was receiving your strikes was to ask him. Emmanuel was pretty clear that striking is not something to be done with aggression. It should be done carefully. There are psychological implications. I base that assessment on the way the class changes whenever we strike each other. Immediately the aggression and tension rise. Students who are otherwise relaxed begin to stand like saplings in the wind, rooted to the ground with torsos leaning backwards, or keeping as much of a distance as possible from their partners. I personally think that the joint locks hurt worse than the strikes we receive while sparring with each other, so why do we fear the strikes more? Is a hit more of a blow to the pride than a joint lock?

I have to remember to ask my partner how my strikes feel. I wish I could feel them myself, because it seems like most people say they are too hard or too soft. I strike too lightly when I'm simply not doing a good job, which happens sometimes, or when I'm making a conscious effort not to hurt my partner. It often follows striking too hard, which I don't do intentionally, but it happens when my partner is a lot more rigid than I expect. With the strikes that are the best, I feel that my partners just walk into them. I feel those are the best because we both learn something from them. I recall Scott C. telling me that I should be able to give a tense partner a lighter strike than a relaxed one. But it's hard to acquire that sensitivity. I think Emmanuel also mentioned "giving the strike that the person needs."

After the strikes demo, we all shook hands, and Emmanuel stuck around to answer questions. I didn't have any questions, I just hung around anyway to talk with Emmanuel and listen to his responses to the other students. He is very giving with his time and conversation. He walked on one student's back and spoke to others until everyone finally drifted away. Peggy offered us some cranberry juice. I walked over to the sofa near reception and saw some of the guys from my class along with two military guys whose names I've forgotten drinking some beer left over from a Fighthouse party. I abandoned the cranberry juice and sat down with them. Unfortunately I've forgotten their names, but they drove a fair way to train with Emmanuel, I think from down South somewhere. I could tell they were dedicated to their training, and it was good to talk to other serious students of Systema.

Edgar had grand plans to ply Emmanuel with wine and a trip to the sauna, when they suddenly realized that Emmanuel had to be on the 6:30 flight rather than the 8:30 flight. It was 4:30 when they realized this, with the airport at least a half-hour away. Emmanuel rather naively asked if they still had time to go to the sauna. Like everything else, getting to the airport and getting on a flight takes longer in NYC than in less populated areas. It's an ordeal and so they dashed off, Edgar carting the wine in a paper bag to drink in the taxi. I'm sure that was an interesting taxi ride!

My only regret was that Emmanuel had to leave so soon that we didn't have much chance to get to know him. I hope he will come back or I am sure I will visit Toronto one day soon. Thanks, Emmanuel, for a truly special weekend of learning with one of the best.