October 27, 2007 NYC seminar with Mikhail Ryabko and Vladimir Vasiliev

October 27, 2007 NYC seminar with Mikhail Ryabko and Vladimir Vasiliev

Mikhail asked us why we did the crowd work with eyes closed yesterday. Many answered awareness, sensitivity, trust, etc. He said all were right, but not the exact answer he was looking for. Finally someone answered "fire." MR asked how many of us had been in a real fire. I was surprised when about 10 people raised their hands. Mikhail said that when there is smoke, people drop to the ground and crawl. He gave some survival tips: put damp cloth on face, plastic bag over eyes, and if there is no liquid, pee on cloth if no liquid ("often we have to pee in these situations anyway," he quipped.)

Mikhail said, "We never do stupid exercises – not enough time to show all we know." I remembered what he had said yesterday: that the drills aren't arbitrary but based in real war and survival situations.

In the morning, we worked with the stick. Each of us took one, and Mikhail led us through some strengthening exercises. He said you needed strong hands and wrists to punch well. He had us bending our wrists over the stick, as if trying to snap the stick in half, downward, and upward. I found this to be good stretch for wrists, and it brings blood to hands. He asked us to move around, squat, sit, roll, all the while doing these wrist-strengthening exercises with the stick. Also propping the end of the stick on the floor and lifting the body by pulling the hands up the stick.

Since everyone was so impressed with the stick video, and Mikhail said he's show some better work. He also said he and Vladimir are competitive since they both started at the same time, but I don't think is quite true – Mikhail has been training since the age of 5!

I know that we did a lot more with the sticks in the morning, but I can't quite recall anything further. My memory isn't perfect. All I can say is that if you were there, I invite you to write your own review and maybe you'll recall more than I do.

Mikhail then hit a volunteer with the stick, which looked quite painful. The guy was certainly very stoic about accepting these strikes. Mikhail also showed how to take the pain away. It was quite interesting. He pushed the tip of the stick into the stomach of the volunteer, which is where he had been hit. Then he kind of stirred the muscles with the stick, which dissipated the pain.

He also demonstrated with a guy who I think had very little Systema experience. He had asked how to relax. I can't recall the exact details of the demonstration – I think the guy grabbed the end of the stick and Mikhail manipulated the other end to kind of shake him off. The thing I remember clearly is how tense the guy was. When Mikhail shook him off, he leaped up and down, landing with a hard thump on the ground. I have never seen anyone land so hard. It was like a breakfall using the feet instead of the hand. He was 'slapping' the floor with his feet and I was not sure why. I asked someone next to me and he said it was probably his previous training that had schooled him to land so hard.

Mikhail told an anecdote of stick instructor who had never been hit by a stick. Mikhail offered to hit him, and he demonstrated how hard on the volunteer, striking him soundly, but being an experienced Systema student, he took the blow well. When he hit the stick instructor in the same way, he fell to his knees in pain. When he stood up, he said that he wasn't going to teach that BS anymore!

The stick provided the means for the simplest demonstration of the no-contact work that I've ever seen. Using just the fists, people tend to disbelieve the no-contact work: "the guy is tanking," "it doesn't work on non-Systema people," "he's just waving his hands around." How many times have we heard or read such criticism about Mikhail's work? But no-one could say there's anything mystical or hocus-pocus about Mikhail's stick demonstration. The student who attacked him drew back when threatened with the stick. For obvious reasons, he wasn't about to run right into a sharp, pointy object. By waving the stick strategically, Mikhail showed how to control an opponent without touching him. The same principle would easily apply to knife work and on Friday, Mikhail encouraged us to respect the knife and jump out of the way if threatened with it.

Mikhail also did a sword demonstration that segued from his stick demonstration. I noticed that the guy who demonstrated with him did reach for the sword a few times, which could be a very dangerous proposition with a real blade.

Vlad took over in the afternoon and first led us through some interesting conditioning exercises. We did pushups, leg lifts, sit-ups, and squats in the following way: with maximum tension, with no tension at all, sort of wiggling up and down, and with a "spring" action. He also led us through different breathing patterns. I found that doing the exercise with tense muscles, especially the squats, helped my joints realign. Tensing the legs as hard as possible while doing a squat is so helpful for rusty knees. I now do squats this way frequently, as I think the benefits are substantial.

Vlad asked us to do a simple avoidance exercise: one partner swings or thrusts the stick, the other avoids, staying close, laying a hand on the partner with the stick whenever possible. The thing to remember with this exercise is that, no matter how slowly your partner may be swinging the stick, you cannot reach for it, because it can really hurt if it hits your arms or hands. Your body is better equipped to handle the pain of a strike with the stick; rather than smashing your fingers, better to let it land on your shoulder (of course best of all is to avoid altogether).

We did this both slow and fast, and then Mikhail asked pairs of students to come to the center and demonstrate their stick avoidance. I guess about half the class got up to demonstrate, one pair at a time, and Mikhail offered feedback. I told my partner if he wanted to demonstrate, just tap me on the shoulder, but he didn't think it was necessary and neither did I. I'm not one to draw attention to myself unnecessarily, but it was only in retrospect that I realized that getting critiqued on my movement by Mikhail would have been a good reason to draw attention to myself.

Vlad had us hit each other with the sticks, to all the muscular parts. My partner wasn't hitting me very hard. This is the perennial pattern of my Systema training: most men don't hit me hard enough. I understand that they don't want to hit a woman. But the instructor generally notices such light hits, and then comes over to illustrate that I can take it by hitting me so hard I practically fall over. This is to show the guy that I am no wilting flower. In this case, I went to Vlad and asked him to hit me to show my partner the proper intensity. He hit me painfully hard on the arm, which not only hurt, but also left a stinging, burning sensation on the skin.

"So the hit should be enough to make you move?" I asked, and Vlad said Yes, exactly.

After that, my partner was willing to be a bit more adventurous. He pointed out that Vlad had used a downward shearing motion with the stick and that generated a lot more pain. This was a good tip and I shared it with the two guys next to us.

Mikhail spoke a bit more towards the end of the seminar. He told a funny anecdote about flashy movements: when going to bed with your wife, do you jump in the air, fly around the light bulb a few times, then descend and go to bed? Of course not – she'd probably kick you out of bed!

We also practiced gun draws, a kind of reprisal of Friday's knife draws. Mikhail told us that you don't have to draw immediately; the draw should be invisible. With his amazing sleight of hand, he reached for gun so opponent does not see it. He told us that not even the shoulder lifting should be perceptible. Then we did a drill where you put your arm on your partner's shoulder as soon as you see the movement to draw. It is very difficult to draw in such a way as to be undetected by your partner.

Denis talked a little bit about what had been described to him as "Samson exercises" or Biblical training. Apparently descriptions of physical training are found in the Bible, exercises like carrying a donkey and other forms of strengthening and conditioning. Mikhail said that when the rest of the world was still apes roaming in trees, in the cradle of civilization, martial arts were being developed. I am curious about these Biblical references. I could not find them in a searchable annotated Bible, but I'm not as familiar with the Bible as many people are, so it will take a bit more research to find these references.

The final demonstration was massage. Mikhail showed the 'tapping' massage with cupped hands that Vlad had also demonstrated in Charlotte. Mikhail's hands were a bit more cupped than Vlad's; Vlad had used two fingers. Mikhail said it was like reflexology. Pressure points on the hands and feet correspond to internal organs. He had Martin lay on his back and Mikhail applied the massage, spending a long time on his face, but tapping all parts of his body with his cupped palm. He said that the lips and eyes would feel big afterwards. As he proceeded with the massage, he asked Martin how he felt. "Deeply relaxed," Martin often answered. He said he felt heavy, relaxed, and disembodied. When Mikhail had completed the massage, Martin said it was like his eyes were floating two inches above head, and he had the "big eyes and lips" feeling that Mikhail had described earlier. He said it was like his eyes, lips, and nose were protruding to drain out the tension. Martin said it was like this one time he had been ill and couldn't eat for 5 days, then when he returned to training after 5 days without food, he resolved a multiple attackers situation in seconds, rather than minutes as usual.

When Martin finally sat up, said "it's like everyone's in my bedroom!" He described the feeling as not in the future, not in past, but entirely right now.

That was the last bit of work demonstrated and it seemed to me the seminar was over far too quickly. I had such a wonderful time training, learning from Mikhail and Vlad, enjoying their witty remarks and amazing demonstrations, not to mention going out for dinner and drinks afterward. It was a special week for NY Systema and I'm glad I had the chance to be a part of it. Thank you, Mikhail, Vlad, Edgar and Peggy, Martin, Kwan, Frankie, Frank A, and all who came out to train with us on such short notice. It was my privilege to train with you all and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended.