Martin Wheeler Groundwork Seminar - Sunday, March 13th, 2005

Martin Wheeler Groundwork Seminar - Sunday, March 13th, 2005

Sunday was more like a continuation of the themes of Saturday than a separate seminar. We started with some typical Systema breathing and conditioning exercises, pushups with inhale/exhale plus ten without breathing, "pushups for two" where one person lays on their back with arms straight up and the other person puts their hands in their palms and the person on the bottom bends and straightens their arms. We did some back-to-back squats with arms laced. I try to avoid these because it hurts to bend deeply, and I always end up leaning into my partner so that they are doing all the work. Then we did some sit-ups where one person kneels on all fours and the other person sits on their back, facing their feet, and lowers their head down to the floor, and up again.

Then Martin asked us to lie side by side on floor on our backs, arm wrestling with our partners. We changed sides to wrestle with the other arm. I wasn't too adept at this. Systema has taught me if someone wants to grab my arm, I just let them, rather than trying to wrestle it away. But Martin wanted us to specifically fatigue this part of the body. Next, one person lay on their back and the other just walked "through" them while the person on the ground moved out of the way. Some people call this the "zombie" drill because you don't track the person on the ground, just walk straight through them. Their job is simply to avoid by swiveling or rotating around.

We moved into kicking the person on the ground, letting them feel the contact and move away from it. It's one of those "wait-for-contact" exercises that are good for practicing timing and yielding. Also kicks to the head, so they could "pass" the limb over. Martin demonstrated the "fear reaction" of protecting the head from an incoming kick, but then just waving the kick off by passing it and moving through. I was reminded of what he said yesterday, that Systema groundwork is moving though limbs.

We did some more "handcuffs" exercises. One person lay on their stomach, hands clasped behind the back. The other person kicked, and the one on the ground had to avoid the kicks, get up, and take the other down with just the legs. Then you switched roles. We did the same exercise but starting on the back, with hands clasped behind the head.

We formed groups of three with one person on the ground, the other two kicking. The one on the ground was to avoid the kicks and/or take the other people down, then get up and roll out of it. I'm still scared to roll from a standing position without a lot of "planning," so I went down on one knee, but trying to use the same energy of my partners' attacks. I've been trying to explore the concept of shared perpetual energy in Systema practice, rather than "you do this, then I do that." It seems like a more harmonious approach to physical conflict. As Martin told us in a previous seminar, "It's not about you, it's about them [i.e., the attacker(s)]."

Then two people kicking one on the floor, stepping through, while the one on the floor takes down the kicking people. Stepping "through" while kicking your partner is important for effective groundwork practice. It's hard because, as the "attacker," you know the person on the ground is going to take you down. If you have resistance to going down, it can be tricky not to kick reflexively to prevent this from happening. So it's very good practice for me to be taken down by someone on the ground, because it helps me not "plan" my descent but just find a way to arrive softly.

Martin demonstrated rotating around, "stealing the step" with perfect timing, extending and/or stopping the movement of the kicking people in many different and surprising ways. He told us we should be "like ice." You don't realize you are slipping on ice before you foot hits the ground, it's that half-inch descent after your body weight has been dropped into your step that throws you off balance. Martin wanted our timing to be just that subtle. He demonstrated while students attacked him on the ground with knife slashes and thrusts, stopping their approach just before or just after their steps, changing their structure just slightly to halt their approach, not impeding the movement, but taking advantage of that short gap between physical and mental comprehension. We practiced this in groups of two or three people kicking one on the ground.

After that, a little work with strikes. We kneeled and faced our partners, pushing fists into each other's torsos. This was a sensitivity exercise, he wanted us to explore where the push would collapse the other person. Most people are a little unstable in a kneeling position so it didn't take a lot of force if the push was well-placed. Then we did the same thing at a full squat, the "duckwalk" position that I find so painful, I have to rise up on the balls of my feet. I fell over pretty quickly no matter where my partner pushed me.

The purpose of these exercises was to learn to strike at all levels, as Martin demonstrated, changing levels and striking fluidly. We stood up and continued to do the pushing strikes into each other. Martin said if we felt comfortable, we could strike rather than push. My partner asked me to hit him. I'm still a rank beginner when it comes to striking, but my partner was encouraging. He said that I hit harder than any of my classmates (though Martin said we should "hit well, not hard!"), but that I sort of "talk myself out of the strike." He also noted that I have no problem kicking the daylights out of anyone, but I tend to pull my punches. My fists are too loose and tend to collapse upon impact. When my strike arrives, it has only velocity. My partner helped me to understand that you have to maintain a little tension in your fist, otherwise, the strike doesn't enter the body.

I also have an unwillingness to hurt my partners. I need to find more confidence in my their ability to absorb or yield to any pain I cause them, and not become too limp, or too passive, during practice with strikes. But it was fun to exchange strikes with my partner, it's very relaxing, and sort of humbling, to realize that you can't always get out of the way. Martin came over and encouraged me to use trinity strikes, the elbow, forearm, or any part of the arm, which made it a little easier for me to continue the flow of energy.

Back to the ground, we spent the last hour or so of working with knives. First just pressing the knifepoint into our partners, to let the body feel the rotation point, and how to move away from it. Martin told us not to push against the knife, or to lie there thinking and planning about the best way to move, but just to feel the blade and yield. Martin borrowed a small pocketknife so he and Edgar could demonstrate the exercise with a sharp blade. We observed as Martin gently pressed the point of the practice knife into Edgar, and then the point of the live blade. There was a world of difference in Edgar's movements. Martin talked a little bit about the difference between living and surviving. He told us, "Survival is for worst-case scenarios, living is something you can do every day." I loved this remark because I think it's important to remember that training isn't a "worst-case scenario," just as it says in the Russian System Guidebook.

We began to work on knife slashes or stabs to our partners while they lay on the ground and simply avoided. Martin came around to everyone with the pocket-knife and asked if we'd like to try. I've never worked with a live blade before, but I immediately realized that hurrying to get out of the way might lead to an accident, whereas if I moved at the same speed, I wouldn't be hurt, not with Martin wielding the blade. He started to slowly stab at me while I sat on the ground, and it's quite different from the practice knife. I didn't even think about moving, my body just naturally eased away from the knife. It was almost like an electric pulse at the end of the knife tip was pushing my body away, automatically maintaining a certain distance between the blade and myself. I rotated around and even as he came at me from behind, it was as if I could still see the blade in my mind's eye. Martin complimented me on this, my first training experience with a real knife.

Another thing that Martin said that stuck in my memory is that you only get broken when you stop moving. He demonstrated as a student attacked him on the ground, how tension and immobility would quickly lead to broken bones, whereas constant movement would serve as protection. We practiced knife disarms, one person lying down, the other standing and slashing or thrusting with the knife, while the person on the ground disarms or neutralizes the threat. We went back and forth on this one, switching roles, doing a little free-work to put together all the principles we learned.

The training with Martin last weekend was so memorable because I love groundwork. I think my body is particularly suited to moving on the ground. I have long limbs for a person of my height, and that can be surprising to my partners. And I think women's hips give a natural advantage to ground work. I've noticed that kneeling and sitting cross-legged are a little more difficult for the men, because the line between the hip and the knee is straight. Like many women, I'm also a little more well-padded than my male counterparts, so it's not as difficult for me to avoid the bonier parts when moving on the ground.

I also enjoy attacking my partners on the ground, because of the opportunity to fall in unexpected ways. You don't always see exactly what the person on the ground has done to take you down, so you have to learn to fall spontaneously. If my partner on the ground is proficient, or if I think they might continue the sparring after taking me down, I like to fall on them. I figure if I'm going down, might as well be on top. I always warn my partners beforehand if I intend to fall on them, but sometimes I get a little carried away. I'm afraid I squashed several people by landing on them; sometimes I couldn't resist crooking an elbow to add a little pain to my descent.

Groundwork is actually my favorite Systema topic, although I look forward to the day when I can work as fluently in all dimensions. Martin Wheeler is phenomenal in his ability to move in 3, 4 and even 5 dimensions, at every level, standing, sitting, laying down, moving through the physical world, through time and space, to interact with his training partners in a way I'd never would have imagined possible, before I began my Systema training.