Vladimir Vasiliev Stick and Gun Seminar

Vladimir Vasiliev Stick and Gun Seminar - Sunday, June 6th, 2004

The theme of Sunday's seminar was working with sticks and guns. We began with the sticks—long round poles about 4 or 5 feet. We rolled them over our muscles as a kind of massage, also laying on the ground and rolling the back and stomach over them. Then placing the sticks against our backs, perpendicular to the body, arms draped over the front, kind of like a milkmaid, although Dennis described it to us as a POW restraint used by "unfriendly" countries. Holding the sticks this way, we practiced falling, onto our backs, stomachs, from standing, and kneeling positions. Later on Vlad and Martin demonstrated placing the sticks down one pant leg, or through one shirt sleeve and out the other, and falling, rolling, and sparring with the stick immobilizing one limb and forcing it to remain straight. I imagine this is good practice for combat with an injured limb.

Next we hit each other gently with sticks, across the muscular parts of the body, then a few stronger blows across the stomach (for the guys, across the chest, too, but this is far too painful for girls). Then we did some sort of floor exercises with the stick which I missed because my partner (my mom, of course!) had to use the ladies room, but I think two people lay down side by side, holding the stick between them, and tried to pull it away from each other, but I'm not quite sure about that one since I accompanied her.

Then, we faced our partners, and one person held the stick out at shoulder level, the other had to go underneath it, moving the shoulder or leg first to step through. Then at hip, then knee, then ankle level. At hip level, you can slide one leg through and let your body follow, but ankle level, with one end of the stick resting on the ground, is quite a bit harder and we were all struggling to move our legs through first until Vlad demonstrated that we just should go through it, not necessarily the same way we'd go through at hip level, but however we could get through. Then we did the same thing only this time, passing the stick from one side of the body to the other, rolling it on the arm, or using the elbow, in the "combing the hair" motion. That is always how it's described and I don't know of any other way to explain it. With the stick resting on the outside of the arm, this motion, kind of like brushing your hair back with one hand, passes the stick to the other side of the body.

Then, swinging at each other, or thrusting, with the sticks while the other avoided. We then moved into trying to take the stick from our partners as they attacked us, by avoiding, then wrapping around or otherwise capturing it, using the snake-like or figure-eight movement, or capturing against the body. Then we did the same thing going to the ground, or remaining on the ground, while our partners swung or thrust at us as we avoided, and tried to take the stick away.

We did an exercise where the person swings once, and you avoid, twice, avoid again, the third time, take the stick away. I'm sure we did some other stick exercises, which I have no doubt forgotten, before moving onto to gun work, which is always fun. We learned many different ways to deal with situations that are often depicted as hopeless for the victim, a gun pressed to the back, to the temple, in the ribs, and all the various ways criminals with guns try to force their victims to comply.

First, we practiced simply evading a gun, stepping to one side or the other as the partner draws. Then, preventing the gun from being drawn, by slapping the drawing hand hard down onto the person. Vlad demonstrated how to stay low, and sort of lunge forward by first rocking backwards slightly, like a sprinter at the start of the race. This allows you to move quickly and with great force when slapping the drawing hand. He also showed us how if someone was drawing a gun from a pocket, you can simply close off the fabric of the pocket to prevent the draw—very effective for such a simple action.

We also worked on drawing as well as preventing a draw. Instead of pulling the gun out, we practiced pushing the hip up slightly to propel the gun out of the waistband, also, extending the leg backwards does the same thing, and allows for a faster and more subtle draw.

Then we tried throwing tennis balls at each other while the person catching deliberately looked away from the ball, to practice using peripheral vision. Then one person stood with arms extended, the other stood behind and dropped the ball into the front of them, while they had to catch. Finally we had to catch the ball and simultaneously draw the gun...very difficult, as evident by the tennis balls rolling across the floor!

We explored several different ways to disarm, bending the trigger finger back and against the gun, which hurts even with a rubber gun, so I can imagine how painful it would be with a metal one. I'm always amazed by how much pain can be inflicted on the fingers; even the biggest, toughest guy will yield to a finger bent the wrong way. With our partners pointing the gun with two hands, Vlad demonstrated how to snake one hand inside the two hands, the other on the outside, and with the hands drawn together, through leverage, twisting and immediately dropping the weight, you can disarm the two-handed attacker. We also tried many other ways of disarming from a gun pointed against the back, or against the stomach, by dropping and rotating one shoulder, capturing the gun against the body and rotating, etc. It is hard to describe these movements, like so much about Systema, I can't convey what we learned with these few words on a page.

Then we worked together as a group with our partners. One person took the gun, the other pretended to be the "target" and everyone milled around the center, the targets moving away and hiding from the "attackers". We then had to find our targets and point at them, keeping the gun close to us, not extended out Hollywood style, as a teacher explained to me, the farther the gun is away from the body, the easier it is for someone to take it away. (Since most of us are not likely to encounter a professional assassin, we sometimes pointed at each other "Hollywood" style to practice disarms). For our final exercise, we used a gi or jacket that is hanging up near the mats as a target, and we formed a circle, rotating around the target, keeping aim from all parts of the room, but when our part of the circle was right in front of the target, we had to stay low, to stay out of the line of fire of the rest of the circle.

Afterwards, Vlad asked us if we had any questions, and various weapons were produced for demonstrations. Vlad demonstrated how to defend against, and use, the chain and the military shovel. His work with Jim King wielding the chain was amazing to see. Chains and other sectional weapons must be quite a challenge, as they move so differently from knives or sticks or other straight weapons. But Jim might have been flicking a piece of yarn, the way the chain slid harmlessly off his body. Vlad told us that defending against the chain was quite simple, but it was necessary to be totally relaxed, as any tension would mean immediate damage. That is always a challenge, because fear of an unknown outcome causes us to tense up when threatened. But more than ever, I am convinced that such tension is the product of our pyschological conditioning, and that, as often pointed out, the relaxed, free, and fluid movements of small children as they learn to walk is the more natural way for us to move, not just for self-preservation, but also for physical, psychological, and even spiritual health and well-being.

Thus ended another great day of training, my third in a row, making for a most memorable weekend at Fighthouse. I want to repeat what I mentioned at the beginning of this page: my warmest thanks to everyone who attended, it was such a pleasure to work with different people from all the affiliate schools, and special thanks to Jim, Martin, and Vladimir, and of course to Peggy, Edgar, and Dennis for all their hard work which made it possible for us to come together, learning and sharing, in the true spirit of friendship which characterizes our community.