Outdoor Systema Training

I have recently taken to doing Systema training outdoors, in the forest, fields, on grass or stone.
There are a number of benefits to training outside:

- Every drill you do is much harder, as you have to attend to the different surroundings, light/wind conditions, sloping or hilly land and obstacles in the landscape.

- A drill from Moscow involved feeling how the surroundings made you feel.
eg - Being in the forest feels more enclosed, peaceful and this calms you down
However being in a office environment effects your psychological condition differently as there may be tense people around you (which usually increases your tension) , you might feel pressure or stress just being in that enviroment, due to negative associations.
There are many factors to take into account, the more you feel them, the better you overall awareness and adaptive ability will be.
Going outside can also be used for a change of pace, to give you freedom, relaxation and a higher/different outlook on your thoughts

- This enviroment adds variety to your training, in which you can use the landscape - the ground, trees and sticks in order to strengthen and relax yourself, in a multitude of ways, and as the enviroment is different and strange to you, every exercise you do will be twice as hard due to the higher stress/tension we feel when in a new enviroment.

IDEAS FOR TRAINING

- Walk with closed eyes through the forest, use burst breathing to keep your movement smooth and continuous. You will then notice that your awareness is then in every step you take, as you begin to feel the ground with your feet.

- Running - Run along trails and up hills. In this exercise try to find your own breathing pattern, the one which makes you feel most compfortable. When you find it your endurance will increase.

- Slow pushups, Legraises, Situps and Squats - Doing these exercises on unstable or sloping ground will give you a new appreciation for burst breathing.

- Climbing trees - Try to climb up a tree while exhaling, then climb down on an inhale then vice versa.
Try to also use only the muscles you need to accomplish the work.

Climb the tree while tensing your whole body and using burst breathing to move through the tension, do this slowly.
Then do the same thing but completely relaxed.

These are just some ideas, be creative and make up your own.

Please post a comment if you have any other ideas.

Thomas

Systema training log August 08

Sorry i haven't posted in a while, i've recently been to Moscow for Mikhail Ryabkos summer camp (i 'll be posting all of my training notes on this blog), anyway heres a log from a training session i did last night:

Walking and breathing - starting off with my arms held in the air, with 2 steps inhaling and then 2 steps exhaling, i then skipped along to 5 , 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19 , up to 20 steps then i held my arms in front of me and then went back down to 18, 16, 14 etc.

Core exercises - I then did 25 pushups, 20, situps, 20 leg raises and 25 squats while roating the breathing patterns mainly keeping it simple either exhaling on the way down and inhaling on the way up or vice versa, i find these 2 breathing patterns to be both simple and powerful.

Rolling progression for softness - here is a rolling progression with sticks and other variations:

- rolling over and on a stick on the floor from kneeling
- same with eyes closed
- from standing
- added more stick 8 + and rolled from kneeling
- with eyes closed
- faster
-slower
- from standing
- from standing eyes closed

When my eyes were closed i noticed in this drill that my body was softer, possibly because i could not see what i was going to roll on, so my body did not tense up, to try to stop the impact of the sticks.

Note: There are few videos of me on youtube that a few people have put on, a lot are titled Letchworth training or tueday systema training, anyway have a look and tell me what you think.

Thanks

Tom

Training Log

Just a quick post about my own personal training yesterday-

So i started with swinging sticks of different lengths and thicknesses around in figure 8 patterns and then i went on to drawing out my name in the air with the stick. I used different grips and positions on the stick to increase my own adaptability and familiarity with the stick.

I then took one of the sticks and used it to stretch and take my joints through their range of motion, to warm up my muscles and to limber up my body.

Then i moved on to holding the stick, firstly, draped over my shoulders and then in any position i could think of, while moving and rolling on the ground.

Finally, while laying on my back i practiced feeling the pulse in different parts of my body, to enhance my own awareness of my inner state.

Have Fun
Tom

Systema core exercise holds

In Systema we do a number of drills where we hold certain uncomfortable positions for extended periods of time, these can be in any position or range in any exercise or drill.
This method has a number of goals.

- It strengthens you psychologically. During long periods of the push up hold i have found my own strengths and weaknesses become more apparent and i find myself thinking of so many reasons of why the exercise is pointless and why i should give up or do it later. The times when i overcome these weaknesses are when i feel the most alive physically and psychologically.

- It strengthens you physically - After the muscles get very tired the body has no choice but to align itself along the bones correctly and to hold itself up using a higher proportion of connective tissue than muscle. You develop a form in he body.

- It allows you to understand breathing. When you learn to adjust breathing to the effort felt, it is the only tool you will ever need to overcome fear, panic, tension and fatigue.

Things to try
- Try a 10 minute push up hold and see how far you get.
- Try holding any of the core exercise positions at the ending/ starting or halfway positions
- Try holding the squat position up against a wall
- Try holding a one armed push up or one legged squat

The secret is Breathing!

Tom

Systemas enhancement of the natural physiological and psychological reflexes

Systema is unique in its teaching and enhancement of natural reflexes in a few key ways:

- Reflexes are taught through relaxation rather than tension

- The body is taught to think for itself

- Your body is taught the best possible movement, for any situation

- You learn to see movement planes rather than techniques

- The fear is slowly removed from the body which allows the body to move more freely and easily.

- Psychologically the willpower and determination (spirit) becomes stronger, the mind becomes more clear and centered and can quickly solve problems with confidence.

Until next time
Tom

Keeping the spine healthy

One of the most common problems in our world today, is a bad back.
This can have many causes but usually the cause is musculoskeletal.

Whether the cause be a muscle imbalances, strained ligaments or physical injury.
All of these can arise from lack of mobility and incorrect training methods.
The main problem is that people do not move their spine enough and have no awareness and knowledge of the spines mechanical and bio mechanical workings.

To move something you must first be able to feel it.
Therefore a program of spinal health should have a number of goals:

- Increase spinal mobility and flexibility and reduce overall spinal tension

- Increase awareness of the whole spine

- To strengthen the deep spinal and outer spinal muscles in a balanced way

- To eliminate any other muscular imbalances in the body.

Here are a few drills which cover all or most of the goals.

- Spinal rock - You start sitting down on the floor with legs held to your chest, now just rock backwards and forwards, Straight across your spine.
There is a certain point in the range that usually is bypassed and leads to a bump on the floor. This is the lower part of the lower back, Try and do this as slowly as possible and try to roll down every vertebrae for maximum benefit.

- Spinal stretch - Hang on to a pull up bar in pull up grip (wrists facing away) and now just hang there, now move your legs around underneath you. The object of this exercise is to extend the spine and separate the small facet joints to release synovial fluid and lubricate the joints.

- Google: Cobra stretch and downward dog

I highly recommend PAIN free by peter egoscue, for any musculoskeletal pain.

Have fun Training

Tom

Russian Systema Training ideas

Here are some fun training ideas that i have found:

- Pyramids - You can use this protocol for the core exercises - starting from 1, you do 1 pushup then you change the breathing pattern and do 2 all the way up to 8, 10 or 12 and then you come back down. All the while you stay in pushup position do not drop to your kness.

example - 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

- Core exercise flow - This teaches you to have adaptability and relaxation throughout all ranges and levels (low, mid, high).
Firstly you do 5 pushups, then you have to get into the situp position somehow, with a roll or a turn, twist or movement. You then do 5 situps and now you have to do a movement that puts you in the leg raise position, now do 5 legs raises, and then finally make your way into a squat position and do 5 squats. Repeat as desired. In this exercise really try and use your imagination and creativity to find new and interesting movements.

- 4 hold - Hold each one of the core exercises for 5 mins.

- Slow progression - do a slow pushup lasting one minute then do a 1 minute situp, leg raise and squat, then do a 30 second pushup, situp, leg raise and squat and then finally go onto a 15 second P-U, S-U, L-R and SQUAT

Enjoy

Tom

Daniel Ryabko Seminar 2007 notes - Striking

Daniel Ryabko seminar 2007 - London

Here are a few notes on a seminar i attended last year. The main focus was on striking and taking strikes.

- Getting hit/ taking strikes is more important than giving strikes

- 1 person lays on floor and lifts 1 body part in to the air eg arm, leg etc

Other person kneels next to person and positions/ places fist and tries to relax the group of muscles that is tensing to keep that body part in the air. Vibrate / move fist around in area where tension originates from to relax those muscle groups and the lifted limb should slowly lower.

- Same with striking, Person tries to get up and you try to find the tension and the point of balance “the moment” to stop the person getting up.

- A saying of Mikhails “timing is everything” , “the right place at the right time”

- When pushing on someone with the fist do not change direction or push in a different direction just place the fist differently and move it around to relax the person downwards.

- When pushing someone with the fist do not create tension in yourself and therefore the other person will not tense as there is no force in the push, there is nothing for him to resist against

- Person lays down and you push your fist in him, so he feels he has to move and he moves.

- Laying on floor push your fist into the person, so he feels no pain only the power.

- Sitting down push each other with the fists and try to take away his force with a push of your own.

- Standing up push the person with the fist and you should place the fist so that it move the person very light pressure is required.

- 1^st strike/push to control the person – 2^nd strike/push to take their balance “give them a direction to fall”

- Taking strikes you exhale on contact, you exhale the pressure of the strike from your upper chest

- The stomach should be full with breath and the breathing should tense up the stomach

- You should exhale in your mind before you exhale with the mouth

- You touch the person in a place that cause their form to be disrupted and they move around to distribute tension and ensure that no tension arises in them

- For fullness inhale and tense the body and exhale and try to keep the feeling of fullness in your body. Exhale into yourself

- Getting hit by Daniel is an experience, whenever you can get hit by one of these guys do not pass up the opportunity.

Enjoy
Tom

History of Systema

Here is a forum post from the Rmax forum regarding Systema -

"What is intended to be systemized in SYSTEMA?

---

The word systema is a Romanization of cистема, taken from the Cyrillic alphabet, and translates into the English language from Russian as the noun, system; as in “The System”. In Russia, the word systema has evolved from being closely held professional jargon in military, intelligence, and law enforcement circles, most likely derived from references to, ‘Universal System of Physical Education and Sports of the USSR’, to becoming a specific brand of activity marketed to martial arts enthusiasts.

Three major, physical culture and sport societies were the main proponents of the Universal System of Physical Education and Sports of the USSR. These were the Dynamo or "Dinamo" society, officially created on April 18, 1923 on Felix Dzerzhinsky's initiative and connected with the state security apparatus throughout the history of the USSR, the Armed Forces Sports Society and, the Voluntary Sports Society, whose membership consisted of the Union’s labors and farmers. The stated purpose of establishing a universal system of physical education for all of the Soviet Union was simply a matter of facilitating efficient utilization of research assets and of dissemination of findings for the betterment of the health of the nation and to provide for her security and defense.

At certain echelons of the military and security services, Systema loosely referred to a generalized doctrinal approach to preparing adherents for close combat engagements and survival in extreme situations. The larger, Soviet-wide sports model was analyzed and using the universal, scientific method, fighting strategies and tactics were developed which permit quick recovery between combat engagements. Rapid recovery to pre-combat health and energy levels theoretically enables a soldier to work at higher operating tempos and for longer periods of sustained deployment.

The beauty of "The System" was that once a core cadre of trainers understood how to integrate physical and psychological training, and how to arrange attribute, skill, and tempering development along a continuum, they could apply that understanding to devise training programs uniquely matched to the mission requirements of each specific military or security unit. However, the Soviets realized that it was not practical to train thousands upon thousands of personnel in a truly comprehensive method of personal combat.

The circumstances of close combat encounters point to the most acceptable approaches for their resolution. It was realized immediately that close combat tactics and methods appropriate for VDV Airborne troops an overt theatre of war, would quickly expose an under cover GRU officer operating abroad, and would not be sufficient for MVD border guards tasked with protecting key installations, such as Strategic Rocket Forces facilities against an enemy’s most elite and professional commandos. The nuances of each area of combat specialization were addressed locally with de-centralized training, resulting in the evolutionary genesis of several flavors of individual readiness and combat training; all with the same, Soviet-wide Systema research findings at their core.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's, Systema has expanded beyond the closed-door gymnasiums of the Russian state security apparatus to become a worldwide martial arts phenomenon. Today, people from all walks of life enjoy the opportunity to explore selected aspects of Russian Systema as an alternative approach to martial arts practice.

As a stylistic form of hand-to-hand fighting of Russian pedigree, Systema is typified by closely integrated physical and psychological training, intended to lesson the shock value of combat situations; synergistic mechanics, which drastically reduce a fighter's degree of localized fatigue; and practical knowledge of both anatomy and human nature, which increases deadly effectiveness in personal combat.

Through understanding just what was originally intended to be systemized by ‘The System’ it becomes easier to unlock access to the most efficient path of progressive training experiences.

The individual fighting techniques or methods of Systema are not the focus of its namesake systemization. A basic doctrinal tenet of Systema is to rely upon spontaneous improvisation to generate uniquely appropriate solutions to unfolding situations. There is an absence of the concept of comprehensive, start to finish, martial arts techniques in Systema. It defies the notion that a complete cataloging of its fighting curriculum is possible. There is nothing like a predetermined response to an anticipated problem or event.

What is systemized is the ability to assimilate concepts and ideas; to manage an evolving Meta System, by allowing it to grow and transform, while still keeping it within general parameters of direction and intent. The further down the chain of command a trainee is/was when he is/was exposed to close combat training in Russia or the former soviet Union, the more specifically focused his understanding of what Systema entails usually is. As a civilian, half a world away and a couple of decades behind the last people in Russia to give the subjects of close combat and survival in extreme situations a thorough re-think, you owe it to yourself to remember that you alone are at the top of your Chain of Command; to gain the most from your training, you must do the work of the Private, Sergeant, General, and Professor all by yourself.

Vern Jeffery"

ref: http://www.rmaxinternational.com/forum/showthread.php?s=fc4e7e7265ff84cabe5d937ffbf23555&t=16604

Enjoy

Tom

Rolling - learning how to swim on dry land

Rolling is a fundamental skill to any Systema trainee. Its uses are infinite and it is a highly practical, usable skill. There are many dimensions to a good roll,
which include:

- Proper balance of tension and relaxation
- Awareness throughout the entire movement
- Correct breathing and form

The basic Systema roll is as follows -
- Starting on your knees, extend one arm straight out to the side
- Place the other hand on the floor next to your shoulder and look under and through the space between your arm and the floor.
- Now continue rolling over from shoulder to the other shoulder and down to the opposite hip.
(For more information about rolling and for a greater and more precise description of how to roll see "Let Every Breath" by Vladimir Vasiliev and Scott Merideth

Note - In the movement this may become a shoulder to hip roll, but emphasizing the shoulder, shoulder, hip instead, gives overall better form and teaches you to have a greater degree of control over your own body.


Once you have evolved your roll into a fairly soft roll. Here are some challenging and interesting variations, Which help you gain more precision and control of your movement and breathing.

- Start the roll in different stages of the breath cycle , inhale , exhale , breath held on inhale, breath held on exhale.

- Using a stick hold it in different and uncomfortable positions Eg - On the shoulders which the hands draped over it.

- Blindfolded or with eyes closed

- With the whole body or specific parts tense

- With a stick down one trouser leg or tied to a leg

- Roll with any object held in your hands - a knife, a whip, a chain, a cap etc

- Roll over and on a stick or sticks -- ouch

- Roll towards an obstacle and change direction mid- roll to avoid it

Practice these drills they will take your rolls to the next level.

Have fun
Tom

Training log post

Here is a quick training log of my own personal training yesterday.

- I started with some segmented tension and full body tension work only instead of laying on my back i laid on my front. I found this more challenging and harder to tense up the body as a whole unit.
- I then moved into doing 7 of each the core exercises with full body tension and then with moderate tension, then with minimal muscular activation then with no muscle.
I'm just starting to get the no muscle work now, but i still feel like i may be using too much tension.
- I then started doing a drill where you tense your fists slightly and roll, move around and fall while keeping your fists slightly tense. This is to add fullness and power to your hands while dynamically relaxing your shoulders, arms and the rest of your body.
- I finished with walking up the wall on my fists, facing forwards and backwards and then sideways.
I also did this with straight arms.
- i then moved onto the floor and did some wrist exercises, where you start in push up position and you collapse your wrist one side then go back up then repeat the other side + many more variations of this.

Total time - 40 mins

Have fun
Tom

Full body and segmented tension Futhur work

There is a Systema practice which involves consciously tensing different muscles or groups of muscles with different degrees of strength.
There is deeper work where you can tense the tendons, nerves and joints but this is beyond the scope of this post. I shall be primarily focusing on the muscular variations.

These can be as simple as tensing an arm of a leg or can be made much more challenging by incorporating motion and control into the practice.
These drills teach you to become more adaptable and free.

They help you recognize where in your body you have excess tension, due to past injury, incorrect posture or imbalances and help you to release that tension, through becoming aware of your own internal and external condition.

Here are a number of variations that i have found more challenging:

- Change the position: lay of your front/ side instead of your back, while sitting down, while against a wall, while halfway through a roll/ in the lowest or topmost position in any the core exercises

- Add motion: during walking, running, rolling or falling

- Add time: extend the length of time you hold the tension try 30 seconds or even a minute, extend the length of time after you have exhaled in the relaxed state (just hold your breath)

- Muscle group variations - just tense your arms and legs, the shoulders and buttocks, the top half/bottom half of body, hands and feet, the fingers, the jaw, shoulders and hands, thighs and feet.

Different degrees - See if you can tense the upper body 50% and the lower body 100% vice versa, hands and feet 100% and the rest of the body 50%, whole body 25%

There are many more variations and they really are only limited by your imagination. If you always give yourself a challenge, your body will respond with enhanced awareness, sensitivity and control.

Good luck
Tom

Keeping the feet healthy

Our feet carry us throughout our entire life. Throughout this time they undergo enormous pressure as they have to withstand cumulative loads of more than 100 tons per day and walk over 115,000 miles in our lifetime.

The foot is composed of 26 bones, 33 joints and 19 muscles, each part has to be co-ordinated perfectly in order to accomplish the tricky act of standing and moving in the multitude of ways, that they allow.

In this post i will explore a number of ways to keep the feet healthy:

1 - Go barefoot as often as possible, this strengthens all of the muscles and connective tissue in the foot.
This is especially important, as in the last 500 years we have become more and more accustomed to wearing shoes and this causes the muscles of the foot to atrophy leading to flat feet or fallen arches.

2 - Get a stick and walk over it barefoot in as many different ways as possible, if it hurts in a specific place, use the stick to massage that area.

3 - Walk around a large space on the various different parts of your feet: the heel, the ball, the sides, on the toes.
Then try to make a fist with your foot and walk around like this.

4- Rotate your ankles clockwise and then anticlockwise, then try to spread your toes as wide as possible then try to bring them together as tightly as possible.

More than 60% of people in the UK will have foot problems at some time in their lives . Most of these problems are minor but some can be quite serious . Foot pain is not normal and if your feet hurt you should find out why and take steps to correct the problem.

Have fun
Tom

Keeping the body healthy

In this post i am going to talk about how to keep the whole body physically healthy.

To have health in any part of the body we need 3 key things:

• Strength - Strength of muscles and connective tissue, Correct alignment and structure
  

• Relaxation - The overall tension quotient of the body part must be low, so that all movements are carried out with the least possible effort, which reduces the risk of injury or strain.
  

• Mobility and awareness - The body part must be mobile in all planes of movement. You must also be kinesthetically aware of the body part.

Here are a few tips to accomplish the above ideas -

- Do body weight exercises as these strengthen the muscles as well as the connective tissue(tendons, ligaments etc)
- Exercise every part of your body not just the obvious ones from the neck and spine to the feet ankles and toes
- While laying down on your back, bring your awareness to a particular body part and consciously try and relax it.
- Stretch out the muscles in unusual ways. Google: stretches and make up your own.
- Circle and move all your joints in various planes. One of Mikhails drills for this, is to write out your name with 1 arm or both arms in the air.
- Pick a specific body part and inhale through your nose and tense that part as hard as possible, hold the tension for 10 seconds and then exhale and relax that part. Repeat as required. This drill teaches you to become aware of tension and relaxation in specific body parts.

Have fun
Tom

Systema - furthur applications after BASE

Systema uses the methods of Systema Breathing to strengthen the student physically and psychologically and to get the student to the BASE level.
After the student has mastery or a high level of understanding of the the BASE then then they can progress to further applications of the training principles.
The Systema method of physical education allows a person to learn any skill or ability in an accelerated way through fun and exciting drills.
For example if a person wishes to learn how to roller skate, here are a number of drills which are Systema based,
but, teach the student to:

- become aware of a foreign object (skates) touching the feet
- Enhance awareness of your own body ,while wearing the skates, in a dynamic way
- Allow the student to learn the skills in an easy and fun way as possible
- teach the student to access the flow state for enhanced learning

Drills - while wearing roller skates (remember to breath

- Rotate the ankles to warm up the joints
- flex the ankle forward and backwards to strengthen the ankle
- stand on one leg and swing the other leg around
- now with both feet on the floor put on a blindfold and walk around in the skates, forwards, backwards, side to side, round and round you choose
- now perform all of the *core exercises(push up, sit up, leg raise, squat) with as good form as possible while wearing the skates
- Now stand up and try to get down to the floor any way you can, now get back up
- same drill as above but use no hands
- Now walk again with the skates on and now with one foot try to push off the floor and roll forward.
- Now standing up, try to inhale and tense every muscle in your body, then exhale and at the same time relax, try this a few times .
- now with a partner have them pull you along by your arms, then push you at the lower back level
- same drill as above but now the partner has to push you along (forwards or backwards) while pushing any part of your body - head, chest, hip, legs etc

*For correct form in the core exercises read the book "Let Every breath, secrets of the Russian * breath masters"

These are just some example drills of how to learn to skate. The number of drills you can create with Systema is limited only by your imagination, and as i said before, you can potentially learn anything with the Systema principles/ drills/ mindset.

Have fun
Tom

Walking as a diagnostic tool

One of the most common activities in our day is walking. It allows us to get from one place to another with minimum effort and can be sustained for long periods of time.

Walking can also be used as a diagnostic tool to determine the condition of your body or psyche.
To start you need to be aware of your excessive physical tension.
To feel this the first drill is to start walking and breathing calmly, in through the nose and out through the mouth.
After a short time exhale and hold.
That's it, hold your breath after the exhale, for as long as possible.
Now the important part of this exercise is to stay calm and feel what is happening inside of you.
Do you feel an uncomfortable pain in your stomach or chest, or is it somewhere else. The place where this feeling arises is where you have excessive tension.
Repeat this drill a few times and for a variation count your steps while holding your breath.
Try to hold your breath longer and longer each time.

Next we will long for muscular or structural imbalances.
Start walking again and breath calmly.
Now try to notice a number of things about your walk:
- do you have a slight bounce or bee-bop
- do you sway from side to side or forwards and backwards
- does one leg tighten up excessively more than the other
- is your lower back or spine tense
- are your feet facing forwards or are they pointing outwards like a duck
are you allowing your feet to strike the ground heel to toes or are you slapping them flatly down
- are you holding your shoulders up or keeping your arms stiff and not allowing them to sway.
Try to feel as many things as you can about your walk.

For the final drill we are going to train our walk to be as free and relaxed as possible. This one requires a partner. You start walking around and first the partner looks at you and tells you where he/she sees tension. After this they will walk beside you and massage any tense points they see. Do this drill for a while and you will find that your spine, hip and shoulders are a lot more free and mobile.

have fun walking
Tom

Massage - Russian style

Massage

The purpose of massage is to relax the body and mind. This can be with more physical vigorous massage or by lightly tapping points on the body. I will go into greater detail in a later post, but for now hear are some interesting ideas -

-Put a tennis ball underneath your back, while laying on the floor and roll it around your back or move it to a point where there is pain and tension and breath and relax become aware of that point and learn to relax it.

- You can also do this with you leaning against a wall and the tennis ball being held up by your back.

- You lay a Stick on floor, you then lay down on top of stick any way to target tension in specific muscle groups, when the stick is on a painful area stay in that position and breath and try to relax that point.

- Ways to have stick: underneath spine, lower back, lay on stick sideways to target side shoulder muscle and tricep muscle. Stick under chest or abdominals, put stick underneath front thigh muscle or side thigh muscle and slowly work from the top of the muscle to the bottom.

After tension is mostly dissipated you can also lay on the stick so that the stick is under a flat plane of muscle and then move your body up or down so that the stick rolls from top to bottom or vice versa.

- Rolling on stick , across stick any way, long sideways roll , front, back, sideways

- Falling onto a stick anyway

- These two drills can also be done with multiple sticks

This type of massage can be very painful, it is important to push yourself. If you feel the pain is too much just concentrate on breathing and trying to relax the tense area.

have fun
Tom

Systema training

One of the most common questions ever asked by a systema trainee is how do i train? How long? how many reps? etc. I have found through training for a few years now, that those thins do not matter.
Here's what does:

• Fun - training should be enjoyable eg - overcome fears, strengthen weaknesses, Play, explore and discover
  
• Simple - Do not try to make your training complex, just keep it simple, do not have too many rules or any set structures
• Train intuitively - Train by how you feel, you will know how much you can do and for how long. Just remember these key ideas: do not feel sorry for yourself, and try to overcome your own fears, doubts and delusions.
• Foundation is breathing - Make sure that breathing is the foundation, by which you base all exercises on. By doing this you will learn how to breath into the whole body or certain parts, to give yourself more endurance or energy and affect the levels of tension or relaxation depending on the task at hand.
• Keep it short - Konstantin komarov has said that if you can train more than 30 mins on your own then you are doing something wrong. I think this piece of advice is important and training in a group should always be emphasized over solo training. I personally train for about 45 mins to an 1 hour depending on how i feel.
• Use accelerated methods - Once you get used to certain drills, you should always challenge yourself more, each time you do them, for example: Once you can do a basic push up with a good deal of relaxation, wear a blindfold or hold a stick in your fists while you do them, or do them with one side of your body touching a wall.
• Change the level of intensity depending on feeling - It is important to ensure your body is always growing, learning and adapting. In order for it to do this you should present it with new stimulus's, in the form of changes in the levels of intensity.
  

Above all
enjoy your life

Tom

Systema - Foundation of movement

Foundation of movement

A few thoughts on movement, tension and techniques

In systema we do four main exercises the pushup, the situp , the leg raise and the squat. These exercises done in a relaxed way using only as much tension as we require allow the body to gain a fullness of breath and an awareness of every body part. They also distribute any tensions in our body over the whole body area allowing a sense of whole body relaxation or fullness, this is where the body only uses just the amount of tension required to move and when for example you are required to move an object you can do it by spreading the tension throughout your entire body or by only using the muscles that are required.

The core exercises provide a foundation for movement and these 4 exercises form the programs of movement in our body. These exercises are gross/large muscular movements which as opposed to smaller/fine muscular movements/ techniques do not limit us and allow our freedom and creativity to express itself.

Done for a long time they erode the old habital motor programs or patterns of tension (conscious or unconscious)

which have become ingrained over the years into our body eg bending down to pick up an object with a rounded back as opposed to squatting low and bending forward with the back straight.

The core exercises done slowly and relaxed using only the amount of tension required and no more excessive or unconscious tension load these gross movements into the muscles, tendons and ligaments as opposed to gym style pushups or situps with the breath held or creased, which increases the muscular and nervous tension.

Any technique is really an engrained pattern of tension that limits us to a particular response and causes us to be tense. If were are told for example to punch someone into the body in a specific way or direction then our mind focuses only on that and other options are not seen, so that however the person reacts to that punch we have a specific counter movement and are not flexible or fluid in our approach or further work. This is the same for the bodies senses when when we focus on one sense eg hearing our sight, smell, touch, the other senses are dulled.

Systema instead allows you to see what you can do and what needs to be done

Systema instead allows you to see what must be done and to do it.

In systema one approach is to use tension and the three main ways of doing this are to - make use of existing unconscious tension in the attacker eg - hitting towards a tense arms, shoulders or back.

- make use of the attackers use of conscious tension eg – a stance or a movement towards you which carries tension.

- To create tension in the attacker using your own movement, gestures, sound etc

Tension can be physiological and psychological and usually one leads to the other and they both influence each other.

Our ideal level of overall body tension must allow for maximum mobility and strength. Doing these exercises over a period of time creates a unique muscle tone, and connects all parts of the body with an overall awareness and strength

Stay healthy
Tom

Systema seminar review Konstantin May 2007

This is a review of a seminar i attended in london in May 2007 with Konstantin komarov.
It covered Psychological preparation for combat. These descriptions only scratch the surface. You really had to be there to feel it!!

Konstantin Komarov seminar May 2007

- Systema vs other martial arts is a fundamentally wrong question, Other martial arts focus on sport application, we focus on real life application. Like comparing an actor swordsmen and a butcher who chops meat, kk said – I have no doubt as to who would win.

- Three responses to fear : To fight the other person, To run away, To curl up in a ball and let yourself get hit. Systema gives us a 4^th option.

- I other MAs people are taught to pile aggression onto there fear, so that when they feel fear they instantly go aggressive, that might be ok apart from if a bigger, stronger more skilled guy comes along and hits/ beats them then they will break and the fear will be set free and will rip them apart and it will be almost impossible to build them back up, they will be broken.

- The people who are most aggressive are also the most fearful.

- In systema we are working in order to make a deal with the fear, to understand the fear and to work with that fear.

- You should have no intention to strike, you can see how the intention to strike shows on someones face and body.

- When approaching people, approach them in such a way as not to tense them genrally from a 45 degree angle, if you approach directly straight on or directly from behind then they will feel it and tense up.

- When Breath holding after an exhalation, you should feel the place where the fear comes out or is present and it is a diagnosis tool, you should pick an exercise for that area where the fear comes out.

- During static pushups/ other exercises all the thoughts and sensations that come into your mind are the balls of fear being released.

- During these exercises you should keep all your thoughts inside of you, concentrate on breathing.

- Burst breathing is very important, it relaxes you because every inhale is when your body tenses up and any exhale is a relaxation. In burst breathing the exhalation is longer than the inhalation so you are mostly relaxing yourself.

- In everyday life small unesscessary contractions of the muscles cause tension blocks in the body, when these accumulate the other muscles try to compensate. Eg- tension in the leg causes the hips to tilt, neck tilts forward and hips compensate.

- In slow exercises go back to points in eg – the pushup where the movement is jerky and that is where the balls of tension are, keep working on the movement until it is smooth.

- Strike in a way so as not to tense the person.

- Do not hit the bones it is not nesscessary it will hurt you and your partner.

- Removing a strike – If the peron you are hitting is tired or tense then get them to breathe, talk to them let them take a breather, hit the tension and lightly hit them to get them used to your fist again. Before hitting them go around them and gently place the fist and give gentle hits, so you can get used to hitting their body and they can get used to your fist..

- At end stage of leg raise breathing in through arms and out through legs. Variation is to put knees on floor over your head.

- Taking strikes to face – Shut jaw, teeth together but do not clench, relax neck, let other person just place fist first of all and then hit softly then harder, you can take it by letting head go sideways or tilting the head.

- Slow exercises – There are balls of tension in the muscles and they block the flow of blood and breathing so the breath does not travel thoruhg that area. When people do fast pushups they go right past the tension and more accumulates. In slow exercises we go through the full range so that the tension is stretched.

- What is systema – systema is compfort in yourself.

- Striking drills – Hold persons spine with one hand and with the other hand you push with the fist and then start to hit them. Go right round the body and push with other hand against front and the hit them.

- You go up to person and give two strikes to the body and one to the face continuous but not rushed.

- 1 person kneels down beside other person who is laying down. Person on floor trys to use just arm to strike kneeling person, body should not move, kneeling person can hold laying down persons body or shoulder to stop them moving.

- Same as previous drill but now laying down person moves around a hits knelling person any way he can

- A normal strike is not a hard strike, a normal strike is a correctly positioned strike.

- 1 person walks forward normally and the other person watches them and diagnosis’s there tension where it is. While walking p2 then mssages p1s tension and points out to p1 where he is tense to help them relax it.

- Fear balls are blocks in the body manifested by tension. It is stored as balls of fear.

- When striking someone build up the strikes otherwise if you give the person one big strike then fear comes/enters into the body and every strike that the person takes after that will cause more fear and tension to accumulate.

- P1 walks up to p2 and touchs him anywhere, try to touch him in a way so as not to tense him, p1 then alternates between striking and touching, strike should be just like touch but should speed up a bit at the end.

- Hit just with the arm.

- P1 walks around p2 in a circle and p2 hits the person however he can

- fight like you are buttering toast

- wrestling with partner on ground p1 puts weight on p2 somehow, p2 follows the movement and escapes then continues, this is done to rid the mind of behavioural patterns, clean the nervous system.

- You only learn when you do movements that are unusual, unique, your own.

- When doing pushups fists should be on the last knuckles little, ring, middle, To align wrist so it is straight.

- If you rest on the two front knuckles, then the wrist will not aligned and when you hit most of the force will go in different directions.

- One person standing at front, 3 people in a line about 3 metres away from him in a line, the 3 people walk at him and either touch him or strike him. The person at the front has to recognise the intent to hit and move away if a strike comes or stand there and let them touch him if it is a touch.

- 4 people sit down in a line and 1 person walks in front of them and the four people sitting down watch the one walking and give him feedback as to his walk eg – if he is tense in the shoulders or his arms stay stiff.

- Taking strikes – strikes create internal preesure in the body/stomach and you should exhale through the chest to get rid of the internal pressure. You should also be relaxed when taking strikes.

- When moving through crowd to avoid being hooked on each other relax your shoulders.

- Russian game – 3 people stand in a semi circle, a different person standa about a metre away from them with his back turned. 1 person from the 3 has to hit the person standing at the front with back turned. Person at front has toquickly turn around and identify who hit him. When he turns around everyone should have their hands in the thumbs up position including the hitter

- Fist push exercise – p1 holds body still and lets p2 hold his fist and elbow. P1s arm and body should be completely relaxed with minimal tension required to hold the wrist in alignment. P2 uses p1s fist as a ram and hits p3 with it, who is standing in front of p1. p2 should also just push the strike into p3. If p2 feels tension in p1s arm or back or wherever then he should massage/ hit the area to relax it.

- Our intuition is the ability to use the senses to sense that something Is going to happen by feel/internal voice.

- When the muscles are tense they create a subtle pulsing in the body that blocks the intuition and senses and means we cannot feel or hear our inner voice.

- When we concentrate on one sense all other senses do not function properly

- Eg – when we concentrate on sight our hearing goes.

- We must learn to trust trust our senses and not think about them consciously so that they all work as one whole.

- When looking for someone in a crowd you do not need to look or stare directly use your peripheral vision

- The body and the psche are one and not separate entities.

- P1 stands 20metres away from p2, p1 then turns round so his back faces p2. P2 very slowly walks towards p1 with an intention or attack and a physical obstacle. P1 has to feel his body and raise his hand when he feels something. P2 should tell p1 what his attack and intention was and p1 should tell p2 what he felt. Same drill but with p1 facing p2 with eyes closed.

- Two people walk towards one person who is also walking towards them. They are pretend muggers, you attempt not to make eye contact and try to get past the two people without agitating them or causing them to stop you, eg- sneezing , looking at another apparent object.

- Victimisation criminals choose those who have certain qualities –

When the thoughts are inside the body

Eg - head down not standing straight, those that make eye contact look nevous, not confident,

- When thoughts are on the outside – looking around at others, smiling.

- Relaxed confidence is the best thing

- Usually a change in behaviour is present when somebody is carrying a weapon.

- Spend 30 mins at a train station and you will see some very interesting things

Massage and health

- When doing backwalking when a part of the body is stood on, there will be a higher blood pressure somewhere else, but if person on the floor is tense then the blood pressure will not go through correctly, a block.

- Tension from pressure should be distributed throughout the entire body.

- Many illnesses are psychosomatic such as stomach ulcer. Eg – you are scared and stomach tightens if is is not relaxed then the stomach develops an ulcer, tension means lack of blood flow, blood cannot get to stomach. After this situation stomach should be relaxed.

- Give the person a problem and let them solve it.

- Back walking - Put pressure on lower back or other part and if they are aware of it they can relax it.

Exercise 101

Over the years i have read hundreds of books on exercise, a lot of them were contradictory, but many provided simple effective advice. The books i recommend are:
Anything by Scott sonnon (a genius)
The Systema Breathing book and the old guidebook (now out of print) any systema clips or articles on youtube
Any articles on HIT training, or the tabata protocol
Pace by Al sears
Relax into stretch or Super joints by Pavel tsatsouline
Pain free by Peter Egoscue

There are a number of themes that run through many of these books
here are just few:

1- Body control - To enhance health and physical ability you need to have a high level of body control. You might have heard of hindu yogis who can stop there heart, or people who can walk barefoot on coals or drink hot oil. All of these feats are accomplished by the power of the mind over the body. Something a bit more relevant to us however is - muscular tension - excess tension is detrimental to performance in any sporting pursuit or just in our daily life. A few ideas to become aware of your own tension or unconscious baggage are as follows:

- Circle every joint in your body from your toes to your neck and become aware of where restrictions exist.

- lay on the floor face up and try to relax any obvious tension in your body, then breath in through your nose and tense every muscle in your body, hold it for a count of 7, then exhale through your mouth and relax all of your muscles, repeat this a number of times and you will notice that with repeated effort, the resulting relaxation is deeper.

- try to shake any muscles that feel tired or tense. imagine you have water on them and you are trying to shake it off. Do this with any part of your body.

2 - Include high intensity training such as HIT training or the tabata protocol.
More and more research is now being done to illustrate the importance of high intensity training over low intensity training and the benefits that are being discovered are incredible.
Some include:
- Higher testosterone production
- decreased insulin resistance
- Higher amount of fat loss
- Decreased triglycerides

Here are a few links that discuss more about this:
http://www.alsearsmd.com/content/index.php?id=ha_366_-_get_your_gr
http://www.honewatson.com/11/10/tabata-protocol/
http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/tabataintervals.html
http://brn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/177
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/75/1/157

3 - Body symmetry and unity
Your entire body has to be in a state of homeostasis or balance physically and psychologically.
For this post we will concentrate on the physical aspect namely - posture.
The spines "s" curve is the centerpiece of a geometric construction based on parallel vertical and horizontel lines and 90 degree angles. These lines intersect at the 8 load bearing joints of the body: the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. When a misalignment occurs due to bad posture habits, or over/underdevelopment of some muscles then other muscles start to compensate and this can be the start of chronic pain and many other physical and mental disorders.
So the main thing is - BALANCE. Train both sides of your body equally and train your back, arms, and legs in an equal way. The best way i have found is calisthenics, as they recruit more muscles and work on the stabilizing and core muscles to create a more stable, balanced physique.


Until next time
Stay healthy

Tom

Nutrition 101

Over the last 3-4 years i have read 100's of books about nutrition.
The large majority have used bad science, which usually led me down the wrong path. But the books i have found most helpful in maintaining health in the body through nutrition are:
Good calories, bad calories by Gary Taubes, The diet delusion by Gary Taubes, Protein power by Dr Michael Eades, The glucose revolution and Your bodies many cries for water.
There are a number of important points that i have learned, that are vital to living a healthy life:

1- Chew food slowly and thoroughly 25+ is optimal. This allows the enzymes in the saliva to start to digest the food and means that the food will be easier to extract nutrients from and break down in the later part of the process.

2- Listen to your innate body intelligence for feelings of fullness. Watching TV or reading while eating could stop this happening and you end up stuffing yourself. Whenever you can try to eat with family or outside in the sun.

3- Eat Protein. Many studies have shown that things like saturated fat are not directly linked to heart disease and that the real villains are grains, sugars and tubers (potatoes).
Get your protein from eggs, nuts, meats and fish. Whenever possible by organic, much less steroids, hormones and pesticides. As well as increasing satiety protein is important for building muscle and burning fat.

4- Eat less carbohydrates. Or just eat the good ones. Carbs are very misunderstood. Here is my opinion based on what i have learned and tried for myself. Any grains, potatoes and sugars can cause excess fat accumulation and
can have crazy effects on levels of insulin in the body which can lead to diabetes and you've guessed it, Fat gain. The best carbs are the most naturally found Beans (black eyed, kidney, Lentils), sweet potatoes, squash, low sugar fruits - coconut, avocados, nectarines etc.
A good idea for carbohydrates is not to eat any carbohydrate which is or could be white.
Also search glycemic index on Google and research a bit about it. It has huge implications.

5- Don't be scared of fat. One of the oldest myths is that fat makes you fat. We now know that this is complete rubbish. So try to get as many omega 3 fats as possible. Cod liver oil, Coconuts, avocados, grass fed beef and nuts (particularly walnuts) are great sources of EFAs. Diets which are comprised primarily of omega 6's can have major health consequences. So omega 3 fats should be emphasized. small tip - switch to cooking with cold pressed olive or coconut oil.

6- Drink water. You should aim for about 2-3 litres of water per day depending on your body weight. Drink filtered is possible.
Water is important for regulating all the functions of our body and metabolism.
When we do not get enough water we dehydrate, which can be a contributing factor to many kinds of diseases. For more info See "Your bodies many cries for water"

7- Eat your vegetables - We are just beginning to realise the importance of all the antioxidants and vitamins in vegetables. So load up on the veggies, fresh if possible. Some important ones to
include are Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and red, yellow and green peppers. Try to have as many different colours as possible.

Until next time
Stay healthy

Tom