Unfortunately I stopped treating it like a fight and got a little carried away with myself and threw a punch that landed so hard on the top of his forehead that it sprained my wrist. Despite this I was able to continue to the end of the fight.

The other three Systema guys at the event had various levels of experience ranging from Rob Poynton, who teaches his own classes, to one of his students who had only been studying for a few months. All of them fought in the three styles of bouts and none were either knocked or tapped out.

During the session I was able to work against someone who wanted to test our knife knife work. Following this and an explanation of how we practice this work my partner commented, The system does have its merits (particularly with the knife defences) and should not be ignored.’

The day was run in a friendly and ego free manner. The events though challenging are definitely not fighting, but they do give the inexperienced a chance to feel some of the sensations that are involved. Over all I thought it was a fun way of spending an afternoon and will probably do it again.

Thanks to all the other participants and the organisers for the experience and the chance to join in.