Russian Martial Arts Northwest
So now I feel free to explore, to push my limits and study material that is of interest and use. A good example is the area of physical fitness. Systema has a variety of exercises that improve fitness and conditioning, but they are not the only ones out there. I believe that a variety of conditioning approaches brings about the best returns when it comes to having a fitness that can be applied to varied requirements of both life and surviving in a combat environment. To this end the addition of kettlebells, circuit training and even a little bag work has vastly improved the combat efficiency and health of everyone in our group.
The teaching approach tries to walk a fine line between the cognitive approach of studying principle and the instinctual approach taught through Ryabko. This is done by mixing theoretical information in with free play drills and pressure testing in every class.
To do this I try to do is make use of equipment to allow for testing some of our limits. In Systema students learn to use the fists to attack the structure or their opponent’s arms when they approach. This is learnt at a slow and medium pace because it is firstly necessary to develop accuracy and secondly because it hurts too much to go very fast. To that end we test the theory using gloves to add some protection. That way the attacker can really try hit his opponent and the pain of the strikes to the arms is greatly decreased to allow the work to go on for longer and at a far greater intensity.
Pistol defense is first learnt with rubber pistols before moving onto role play work with bb guns that add an element of fear and a requirement for precision in our response. The boundaries are then further pushed by the addition of verbal abuse and threats from the gun wielding attacker, low light or even darkness.
Defense on the floor includes dealing with an attacker kicking you on the floor while performing ground and pound on a heavy bag or the addition of some very basic submission holds as this is an area that Systema does not readily cover.