Vladimir Vasiliev Seminar - Friday, June 3rd, 2005

There were at least 100 people at Friday's seminar, which made me a little nervous, to tell you the truth. So I was glad when Vlad started us off with a little stretching on the floor, then a simple breathing exercise, where you tense and relax different parts of the body while lying on the floor. I always find myself more relaxed after these types of exercises—it helped a great deal. We did another familiar one, the "ballroom dancing" drill where you step and move your partner with each step by lightly pushing or pulling different parts of the body, keeping the touch and response as light as possible. It's excellent sensitivity practice for both partners.

We walked backwards into our partners, who presented an obstacle (fist, leg, or anything to stop our path). The goal was to avoid the obstacle but keep walking backwards, rather than stepping to one side or rotating out of it, as if you are going through a narrow space. To do so, you have to move each body part separately, especially the hips and shoulders. My partner showed me how to move the torso forward to duck underneath his arm, even as my legs were still moving backwards, it's very hard to explain this movement. Edgar once told me it's like a cat backing out of a paper bag, if you've ever seen such a sight.

We also moved our partners around by placing both hands on their shoulders, pulling them around while they stepped backwards. At a certain point, you were supposed to pull them down to the floor. This was about improving timing by co-ordinating with your partner's steps, not just getting the takedown. With proper timing, you can drop even a large person with very little effort. Then a similar exercise where you walk with one arm around your partner. I wasn't quite sure who was leading for the exercise, so I put my arm around my partner and let him lead. At random times, his task was to try to escape, at which point I was to take him down. Like the above exercise, the timing has to be flawless—it requires patience, as you have to wait for your partner to escape rather than "planning" to take them don. I think sometimes we all tend to focus too much on the takedown, even when timing is off, we still want that "result" even if we have to "cheat" to get it (by struggling or being excessively "physical").

We also did a little groundwork on Friday, beginning with an exercise where one person lays on their back and the other person tries to turn them over. Vlad demonstrated as a variety of volunteers attempted to roll him over onto his stomach, to no avail. There was something cavalier and almost slapstick in the many failed attempts to flip him over. It was hard to see exactly how he was preventing them, because he was moving only a little bit. He had us do this exercise going from our back to our stomach, and then from the stomach to the back.

I could not move my partner at all, which wasn't surprising, although small, he is very tough and strong. But strangely, I could not resist him when it was my turn. As soon as I felt the pain of the lock, I flipped over. I actually began to turn over on my own, with only the lightest contact him, just to avoid the pain. Afterwards, I apologized for not resisting, but I was disappointed in myself for not being more stoic about it. When Vlad asked us to change partners, I didn't want to try again, but some of my classmates kindly encouraged me to give it another go. But this time, we were allowed to defend against being turned over. So I did, and it was a little easier because I could move around, and because my partner didn't inflict as much pain. So I began to enjoy it—I do love to work on the ground. He flipped me a few times, and I managed to turn him over just once, but only by using my entire body weight to lean back and almost drag him over with a great deal of effort—perhaps too physical. After we finished the exercise, I was even more amazed that Vlad was able to stop his partners from turning him over and even throw them off, while it appeared that he was just lying there passively hardly moving at all.

We practiced avoiding punches, one person striking, the other just stepping away and keeping a distance—no contact. (We did something similar on Sunday I think it was, slashing or stabbing with the practice knives while our partners avoided, keeping a few feet between us—more on that later.) We also did some two-on-one drills with avoidance. As I recall, this was relatively unstructured, two people just attacked one any which way. Defense against multiple opponents is another one of my favorite Systema topics. Because there's no time to think or plan, I am more relaxed defending against multiple attacks than against one partner. Vlad came over and told me "Looks good!" He was very encouraging. Naturally I was pleased that he sees an improvement from last year, as I have been practicing diligently.

There was a brief mass attack melee in the center, I guess half the class walked through it enthusiastically, but I avoided it, as it looked rather dangerous. Some more pushups, perhaps to tone down the excitement of the mass attack? I think we ended with the now-infamous five-minute pushup; I was in the ladies' room for the first minute or two. Vlad told us not to move a lot or to change position too much during the five minutes. I did this with straightened arms, not 45 degrees, on my hands, not my fists, but I think I only lasted a minute. I tried not to dwell on the time, as Vlad's countdown tended to change from moment to moment!

I regret that I can't remember all the principles Vlad explained to us, especially in the last hour or so. A few things have slipped my memory. Some people were writing brief notes in journals at the seminars, and maybe that's a good idea. But I'm afraid I'd be tempted to write down every single scrap of information and miss out on the actual training.

We waited for Mikhail arrived from the airport and of course Vlad filled up that time with a few more breathing and conditioning exercises. Vlad introduced his teacher and Mikhail greeted us in Russian, which Yuri translated for us. After the introductions, Vlad warned us not to drink too much that night. We all laughed, and someone asked how much is too much? But he was quite serious about wanting us to be fresh for the following day's lessons.