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