Jim King Fundamental Principles and Leg Work Seminar

Jim King Fundamental Principles and Leg Work Seminar - Saturday, October 2nd, 2004

The theme of this two-day seminar was "Fundamental Principles of the Russian System and the Dynamic Use of the Legs for Offense and Defense," a "sequel" to Jim's previous seminar at Fighthouse which also covered legwork. As an introduction, Jim told us that learning to use the legs is hard, but one of the most powerful aspects of the System. He was very enthusiastic about the rewards of learning to use the legs, describing how it can be a surprising and effective foil to such attacks as well as to other martial styles. Over the next two days, Jim demonstrated limitless ways to use the legs against any sort of attack, kicks, punches, grabs, chokes, multiples, from the ground, from static positions, and every imaginable situation, as well as offensive combative work against the many vulnerable areas of the leg, the ankle, knee, and other places that can instantly cripple an attacker.

Jim did a quick survey to see who would be attending both days of the seminar; since most of us were going to return on Sunday, he explained the first two hours would be balance work, the remaining six would be the learning to apply the legs in various ways. But first, squats. "Tired legs are relaxed legs," he said, leading us through lots and lots of squats with various breathing patterns, inhale/exhale on down/up, as well as shorter breathing, in/out on down, in/out on up. Periodically he asked us to do ten without breath, which is surprisingly easier to do spontaneously than if you are given time to prepare to go without breath. We also did slow- count squats, as well as holding positions at angles of various degrees, 0 (straight) 90 degrees (sitting), 45 degrees, low 45, and 0 (full squat). Jim told us to keep our posture and not lean forward, and to let our joints, not our muscles, do the work. While we were holding position, Jim came around and checked our posture, putting his hand where the tension is. We also did squats with our partners, first, facing each other, one person's arms looped around the other's forearms. Then back-to-back with arms looped. These are easier if both people are leaning into each other fully. You can't try to do this one with your own, it has to be a team effort or else one person will end up doing the work of both.

On the floor, we did an exercise where you lay on your stomach, arms forward like Superman, and lift your torso; your ribcage should be off the floor. Our partners stood on our feet to hold us down. Then we did the same thing, raising only the legs off the floor, keeping the legs straight. The butt and the thighs, not the legs, are supposed to do the work. We did a similar exercise sitting up with legs straight forward, back straight at 90 degrees from the floor, lifting and holding legs off the floor and swiveling them to one side, to the count of ten, and then back to the center again, and to the other side. We did the same thing with the legs six inches apart— the six inches make it a lot harder!

After our legs were nice and rubbery, Jim had us take off our shoes and pay close attention to weight distribution on each foot. We walked very slowly in a circle, trying to place weight evenly on all parts of the foot. Then we walked naturally around the room in a circle at normal speed. Jim advised us not us not to stand tall, but to unlock the legs and lower the hips. Walking, of course, you're on one leg or the other, most of us can do this without losing our balance, we aren't even conscious of being on one leg. It becomes harder when you do so intentionally.

Still barefoot, we practiced circling the hips while standing on one leg. The circle has to begin with the base leg, and flow to the other leg; swiveling just the raised leg doesn't create the movement. Jim told us to change feet if we needed to and not to flail around, struggling to gain balance; he had someone fetch sticks and told us to use those to maintain balance if we needed to, in order to focus on moving correctly. It's not just a circular motion; it's also dipping down slightly as well as swaying side-to-side, the "flying center of gravity."

Jim had us put our shoes back on again one at a time, while standing on the opposite leg. He told us this simple act, which we do every day, was a perfectly opportunity to practice developing good balance. We pushed our partners in the usual Systema yielding exercise, pushing or pulling different parts of the body while first one, then both of us stood on one leg, We stood facing our partners, one hand on each other's shoulders, and did the same exercise, circles and figure eights with the hips beginning with the base leg. For this one, Jim told us, "relaxation is mandatory." You have to let your partner's movement travel through you, if you are too rigid, their movement will disrupt your balance and theirs. But the movement actually makes it easier to stand on one leg than trying to stand perfectly still.

We walked around in a circle, turning to walk backwards at will, changing direction by leading with the hips. And we walked around swiveling the hip with each step: step, raise leg and circle the hips starting with the base leg, step, repeat. Jim told us to lead with our hips, not with the shoulder, head, or leg. Then he asked us to move around any way except walking, running, hopping, skipping, etc. Then first walked, than ran, in a tight circle in the center, trying to slip past each other without touching. We also did this exercise with our eyes closed.

Our partners kicked us while we stood on one leg. Jim told us told us to change legs rather than struggle to maintain balance. We practiced avoiding, rotating away, or redirecting the kicks at various levels. We also kicked in groups on three-on-one, with the one in the center on one leg redirecting the kicks. Jim told us to follow through with our kicks, pushing, rather than abrupt short "quarterback" kick, and to stay low enough to kick to the waist level easily. The lower you can go, the more mobility and better range. It's not just working low, but also working at every level between, or "changing levels." He demonstrated following up a takedown by working low with the knees to break someone's neck or otherwise disable them on the ground.

Jim showed us many different ways to attack and defend with just the legs; I wish I could remember them all. Avoidance, of course, is always the first thing; the solution comes from that initial movement. Jim demonstrated rotating in and underneath a kick before the foot lands, throwing off the attacker's balance. Also how you can lift up your leg a little to further unbalance the other person (the lift starts with the base leg and the hips, of course). He showed us if you stay low, you can use your thigh like a table surface, either lifting up a bit from beneath, or going over the attacking leg and dropping down. "What goes up, must come down," he told us, demonstrating how each leg can hit in several different ways going both up, and down, as if walking through the other person, so that every motion of the leg is utilized.

We worked on redirecting the kicking leg, and following up with a kick to the base leg. This is hard to do, because you have to first redirect the kicking leg, then rotate your base leg to also hit your partner's base leg. But it's very surprising, when my partner tried this on me, my balance was instantly disrupted by having both legs moved. Because I was anticipating it, I could not help but release the base leg as my partner kicked it; rather than standing still and allowing full impact, I shifted my weight to the other leg to lessen the blow. I thought this might be making things difficult for my partner but Jim assured me that was fine, and in fact, quite practical, in terms of minimizing the damage when contact cannot be avoided.

It's funny how redirecting the attacking leg just slightly disrupts the balance so effectively. It's not necessarily to redirect the attacking leg so the person swivels around like a revolving door. You only need move them an inch or two, and that's even more surprising than if you fling them across the room—anyone expects to be off balance then, but it's more unexpected when the movement is slight.

Jim demonstrated an important concept, stepping in. You don't want to plan on aiming one good kick and that will solve all your problems, you want to utilize the movement as much as possible. If you lift your leg to avoid or unbalance, you are going to have to put it down again, so why not use your leg on the downward motion as well? He described this as "walking" down the leg, for example, lifting up, then kicking to the base leg, then back to the other leg, and ending maybe with a few kicks or sweeps to the ankle. This applies not just the legs, but also the whole body. He showed how you keep on stepping as the attack comes, you avoid, maybe swiveling your hip and using your knee to underneath the kicking limb, or bringing your leg down over the other person's thigh, using your body weight to lift up or drop down, not just the limb itself, but the wave that travels through the entire body We practiced "stepping" into our partners, walking through using the thigh, the knee, the ankle, every part of the leg, with slightly lowered posture for greater mobility and freedom. It's not easy to do this; it's tempting to plan your kicks, aiming for this or that part, because who would think that just walking through someone could so neatly tangle them up so that down is the only direction in which they can go? I'm always amazed at how natural and spontaneous Systema movement is, no planning, no thought of result other than getting out of the way, no contesting for space, and yet it's so much more effective than highly structured, repetitive movement that aims for this or that target; simply by avoiding, the solution arrives naturally.

At some point we stopped to do an exercise Jim called Dead Man Walking. Half the people sit on the floor, legs straight forward, 90 degrees, with about an inch between them. The other half line up and one by one, get into pushup position, facing away, from the floor people, who grab their legs and pass them down the line while they walk their hands. Kind of like the wheelbarrow, only sideways. As Jim explained, the trick is to not move at your own pace, but to let the speed of the people passing your legs decide how fast you will go. I quickly found that this is the only way to do this exercise easily, without a lot of struggling on both sides.

Then, the floor people lie down, and the person being passed walks the hands between the bodies. I found I could only hold one leg at a time, but as the guy next to me explained, you have to actually reach over for the person's leg, not wait until it's suddenly in your face. Even so, a few of us wound up taking a dive, crash landing on the floor, this is not an exercise where you can control your own speed, it's all on the people who are passing you along.

Finally, the hardest of all, the people on the floor, still lying on their backs, and the people being passed have to walk their hands not over the floor, but over each person's thighs—not the knee, and most definitely not the groin! Of course this is difficult because thighs are so much more unstable than a nice level hardwood floor. I found I didn't have as much control over where my hands were placed as I had imagined. Hopefully I didn't hurt any of the guys too much, there were a few close calls, but since everyone was able to stand up again afterwards, I don't think any serious damage was done.

This exercise looks harder than it is. I thought, because I struggle through pushups, I would not be able to do this easily, but actually it's more work for the people on the floor. This was an excellent exercise for developing co-operation and "team spirit," I know it may sound corny, but it's really good to work together as a group to accomplish something, even something as odd as this exercise.

Returning to the legwork, Jim explained that with the lifting up and down, circling the base leg, and the other movement he demonstrated, we were learning how to generate "waves." This is one of the core principles of Systema; it applies to all movement, not just the legs. But it's hard to say to yourself, "I want my body to move in a wave, starting with the hip, moving in this direction, ready, set, go!" You just have to let it happen without thought of the result. If you can let go of your plans, your natural movement will be far more effective. Even if your mind says, Nah, that will never work! You have to be willing to just try and see what happens. It's kind of like dancing; you might study the step-by-step movements in order to learn how to waltz, but when you're finally dancing at a wedding or in the ballroom or wherever, all those movements have to flow together naturally as one motion, otherwise, it will look stilted and awkward. With Systema, it's not just a matter of looking graceful; if you plan and piece together individual movements, rather than just moving, there will be seconds of hesitation that your opponent can take advantage of.

Jim also talked about timing, another important concept. In my opinion, good timing is just a matter of practice. You can't expect that you will be able to mirror your partner or predict his movements in just a few classes. I am sure someone will disagree with that statement, but I think it requires a familiarity with body mechanics that only practice can bring. A Systema-ist doesn't need to look at the attacking limb, (s)he can keep his eyes up and by using peripheral vision and familiarity with body mechanics, and he knows how the person will attack. Some people can fight blindfolded, and yet still prevail, because they can feel the movements of the attack; vision may be helpful, but it shouldn't be the only sense engaged. It's tempting to look at the attacking limb, and use our visual and mental processes to infer what's going to happen next, but these can deceive us, because vision is not necessarily the most accurate of the senses. Feeling the attack, and not only with your sense of touch, but also feeling the other person's movement and energy, it takes a lot of sensitivity, good timing, familiarity with body mechanics, and a certain kind of open mind-set that is in some ways contrary to the procedural brains we have developed.

Jim also demonstrated, as he is uniquely qualified to do, how brutal and effective Systema can be. With the breathing and soft work and philosophical and spiritual aspects of Systema, there is also the potential to generate a remarkable amount of pain and damage with very minimal movement. Jim demonstrated some combat applications, such as how to target the most vulnerable areas of the leg. For example, the ankles. The body will usually follow the angle of the ankle joint, as it's only designed to rotate in certain ways. Jim he showed how you can "rake" down the leg, starting at the thigh or anywhere really, scraping down, so that the pain will distract the person until you reach their ankle. He demonstrated how easily the ankle can be broken, by twisting, rotating, or simply stepping on them, also by hooking the ankle and using your own leg as leverage to break the bones.

I certainly give the volunteers a lot of credit for assisting with these demonstrations, as Jim showed us how to target the arteries of the thigh, the tender area inside the kneecap, the sensitive areas on either side of the shin, how a blow to the calf can deaden the whole leg, also how you can walk over the legs of someone on the ground to "crunch" up these delicate bones even further. These guys took some pretty unpleasant business from Jim quite willingly and cheerfully. Thanks to everyone who helped with the demonstrations to allow us experience the kind of work we don't typically see in our day-to-day classes.

Jim asked us to use caution in working to the ankles; seeing my partner's thick-soled shoes, I expressed some apprehension to Jim about this. I've broken both ankles and there are still a few pieces floating in the right one; I've also sprained them many times. To be honest, I was simply afraid to have my partner try this, not because of him, but because of me...I wasn't sure if I could avoid properly. Jim gave me some advice, which, in the interest of brevity, I'm omitting from this post, but it was helpful. But I see now why you ought to just try before becoming worried about a particular exercise. When my partner targeted my ankles, I simply went down to avoid injury, there was no other option, and I didn't feel nervous at all about it—you'd have to be awfully determined not to reach to floor to take a break to the ankle instead!

As day one drew to an end, we did the milling-around-the-center exercise again, keeping tightly together, rotating the hips to evade crashing into others. This is not so different than walking through a crowd of people, or moving through a tight passageway. Then we did this again with our eyes closed. Jim reminded us to lead with the hips, not the shoulder or the head. Sometimes I find it easier to relax with my eyes closed, as I'm not aware of the situation, so my brain has no chance to say Oh no, this is going to be difficult! Not being able to see the situation somehow forces me to just accept it, rather than resist or dwell upon how it might be more to my liking.

We finished with an exercise where both partners hold their hands up high, palms facing but not touching, and one person tries to step on the others' toes. The other person had to avoid being stepped on. Then we tried to same thing with eyes closed (for the person being stepped on, the stepper kept his eyes open.) Jim explained that you don't even need to move around the room to avoid this. You can just swivel your hips to move your foot just enough to get it out of the way. To practice this, we did the same thing while one person stayed in place and rotated just the foot (or the hip really) as the other person tried to step on the toes.

Jim promised us that for day two, he'd let us use our hands a little bit, although the focus would still be on the legs, but we'd be drawing everything together. And thus ended day one, a great experience all around, and Jim was kind enough to stick around afterwards to answer questions from the enthusiastic participants.