Class Notes 26th April 2014

Today's class notes

1. Breathing, tense, relax, stretching

2. Ground movement

3. Pushing with the fist in pairs

4. Striking the attacking arm

5. Defend and counter in pairs

6. Ditto in threes, then group

7. Use of footwork to break a static grip - move towards the space / weakest point

8. Add in height change to turn escape into a throw

9. Ditto against grabs

10. Ditto against chokes

11. Repeat against moving opponent - same principle, plus capture their movement

12. Very soft work in order to "calm" the other person

13. What is in your mind will come out in your work. Internal tension creates external tension

14. It's what you are rather than what you do

15. Beer!!!

Fear Control Workshop

Here's some notes from the FCW and some footage from the day - the full download is available via the main site

1. Need to control fear rather than be controlled by it

2. Method – innoculation rather than supression / de-sensitisation

3. Establishing fear hierarachy

4. Triune brain theory, agression / predator / human

5. Controlling tension through breathing

6. Basic breath hold and restoration

7. Restoration under discomfort

8. The role of the amygdala / hippocampus

9. The physiology of fear

10. Re-programming the brain, establishing a mindset

11. Using the breath to unlock freeze response

12. Pain management through breathing

13. Basic falls

14. Basic strike management

15. Blindfold work

16. Restoration via breathing and massage

17. Overall principle – to establish a mindeset which can respond to fear / stress in a rational way, without undue tension and panic. It’s not about “toughing things out”, it’s about working through a series of drills and exercises of different intensity in order to undergo an experience you can learn from. As there were new people present, intensity was kept average to low, but I hope that everyone gained something from the experience. Thanks everyone who took part in such good spirit

Video Blog - Information

Some thoughts on concealing activity from an attacker

Class Download Nine

Class Download Nine preview - simple movement.  Full download available at  Systema UK

Class Notes 12th April 2014

1. Breathe, stretch, core exercises
2. Pushing with fists in pairs
3. Grab and escape in pairs
4. Allow grab, give support, then disrupt structure with small movement
5. Grab and escape free play
6. Knife from contact -basic movement, left/right up/down  

7. Ditto, control the wrist, control the person
8. Quick disarms from contact into control work
9. Vs stabs and slashes - avoid the knife, but make contact with the stabbing arm
10. Ditto in pairs
11. Move and attack the stabbing arm
12. Attack the arm then into the face / body
13. Short work vs the knife
14. The importance of hiding work, legal implications of knife defence
15. Establishing a "day to day " mindset - ie not having a "special mindset" that you have to work from, which needs some preparation time
16. Maintaining physical and psychological equilibrium in training
17. Knife vs knife
18. The elbow is stronger than the chin!

Class Notes 5th April 2014

Today's class notes
1. Breathe, stretch, tense, relax
2. Joint rotation
3. Accepting push from stick, whole body movement
4.Ditto left, right, up , down
5. Ditto localised movement, subtle
6. Allowing the body to work frees the brain for other functions (like when driving a car)
7. Take the stick
8. Stick dis-arms from contact, in pairs and threes
9. Exercises with the stick - climbing, pull ups, etc
10. Fear drills with the stick
11. Working position and timing against the stick
12. Taking hits from the stick
13. Free play, pairs and group
14. Keeping work simple and natural allows for adaptable response - just do it!
15. Bacon rolls!