The Dalek drill and some..

One thing I like about the drills in Systema is that they are adaptable. One such drill is the Dalek drill, which as it happens was one of the first drills that took me while to get to grips with, one of the more unusual drills to say the least. Basically the Dalek drill usually involves the whole class as it tends to work better with more people. The general idea is the “Dalek’s ” are tasked to walk at and through a chosen person. The target person’s objective can be many things, but initially his main priority is to move, avoid the Dalek’s with out making contact with them. The guys making out as Dalek's walk in a straight line with an outstretched arm with their hand made into a fist, not tracking or avoiding the one whose job it is to get out of the way, coming from all directions will hit the target if he gets in the way. The drill really promotes good movement and requires you to move very fluidly amongst the Dalek’s; posture, breathing, relaxation and timing are also very  important. Variations include moving and striking and moving striking with takedowns as you move out of the way…

 

A variation on this drill was shown to us by Gareth on Tuesday night. First it meant getting out  tables and chairs to make enough obstacles around the training hall. After our initial warm up which was quite tough going, we were asked to move around on the floor rolling in amongst the chairs and tables, trying not to make contact, moving under the tables and if thin enough through the chairs too.

Next from standing just walk between the chairs and tables again just avoiding without touching.. next we moved onto the Dalek drill, but this time using the chairs and tables as barriers between the Daleks and the man on the move.. adopting the Dalek posture arm extended the whole class tried to corner the guy on the move, he could go anywhere under and over tables, between chairs just moving and breathing.. the drill changed slightly after everyone had had a go of the first drill, the Daleks could now throw a punch as they walked towards you.. Two guys were now avoiding the punches still just moving at this point with the rest of the class trying to intercept them. After awhile the targets could start to counter punch as they were evading.. Back down to the floor again and rolling around the obstacles, Gareth then gave the command to some of the guys to start working against others and  pin them to the floor, once pinned for a few seconds everyone continued to roll once more and then repeated the drill over again.. The next drill still involved the group rolling and moving around the floor.. Gareth called out three names to stop a fourth man getting to his feet and escaping through the exit door, this section was quite difficult as not only did you have the three guys to contend with but all the obstacles to crash and bash into as well, a good way to get into ground work and start working as a team.. a good twist to an old favourite…

Steve

Sometimes only strength will do…

It was good to be back after a weeks break, I think with the flu it’s best to just get over it lay off the training and then slowly build it up again once recovered… today was my first real bit of training for well over a week and did a lot better than I thought I would.. Getting back to drills using running with breathing seemed to clear my chest, I had wondered if my breathing would be hampered by the tight feeling in my chest before the lesson, but all seemed fine as we went into the lesson..

Rob had us warming up with some dynamic tension type exercises that helped with strengthening the arms and chest, abdomen and the legs, then went onto some flexibility drills designed to work hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders.

Working from standing and laying down positions we looked at using tension as resistance to build strength.. With a partner we applied outward and inward tension to arms and legs, both partners using outstretch arms then legs working against each other, also using upwards and downward pressure too, keeping localised tension in the arms while maintaining a level of relaxation in all other areas of the body, same when working the legs.. keeping the upper body relaxed, I kept on making sure that the tension didn’t creep through the whole of my body by keeping everything moving ever so slightly while doing these drills, I find this helps to keep relaxed, as you don't get too fixated on the areas you apply tension to.

I’m not sure whether the previous drills had an effect on me as far as using a lot of tension.. afterwards it left me with that heavy strong feeling in my arms, which I know is a good thing prior to striking, but as we were now going to look at knife drills I felt as though I wanted to be less fluid and more matter of fact about dealing with the knife, using stronger parries, strikes to the arms and body of my partner and if I had to grab hold of the knife hand my grip would be more applied and not let go, but instead use strength to divert the knife back at my partner. Using this strength as a kind of localised tension in the arms and combining it with my forward movement when stepping, directing everything back towards my partner. It was in my mind not to give any quarter and control my partner fully, taking advantage of the wall and floor as well. It was as though I needed to be strong to effect the result I was after.. Using strength in a positive way to control the situation seemed justified to me, as I felt no less unbalanced in my posture or lacking in correct breathing, trying to be totally focused and positive and less wishy washy.. so I think using muscular tension or strength in a fast positive way is as useful as being totally relaxed in some situations, sometimes you need the relaxed mind with a strong will and strong body working as one to do the job…

Thinking out loud… Steve

Comin’ Through…

Watching the kids play football today, it was clear that determination and fight ebbed and flowed throughout their game, when fresh and up for the fight they played nice football, plenty of passing and movement, when motivation is high all goes well.. Second half the motivation and concentration suddenly evaporates the game starts slipping away until later on when the determination reappears then it’s game on again.. but it’s too late, the game is lost.. trying to explain things like determination, mental strength and focus to a group of twelve year olds is extremely difficult.. but at some point the penny has to drop, getting through tough times or situations in life is hard and requires a special effort to get to where you want to be..
In some ways my own Systema class this weekend wasn’t so different and in many ways the drills were also designed to see if you were mentally strong and tough enough to deal with stuff.. Whether “tough” is the right word for some people I don’t know, but for me yes you have to be tough when you need to act positively, with the right attitude to the task at hand, even if the task is going to be unpleasant or hard going for you..
Rob wanted to look at tension and how this could be used in a positive way to coordinate your actions to be able to drive on and through an opponent…Using stress positions as a means to overcome mental weakness or fear can be very challenging, getting through both the tough physical and physiological barriers are sometimes impossible to cope with but must be faced. The inset picture above was a typical tension stress position that  highlighted how you were able to deal with a stressful situation and how far you could go before physical and mental collapse. Rob explained that focusing your tension with a strong sense of determination can achieve a positive outcome. Working with a partner working through various arm tensioning exercises, placing pressure to your partners body and him tensing to remain in position, resisting your partners fist as he pushes with it and drives you across the hall, all went towards building a strong focused mind, picking a spot across the hall and pushing towards it, driving all the way, wanting to get there at all costs.. introducing punches, kicks and elbows into this idea, your partner laying hands on you, triggering the driving of fists with tension in an explosive force into your partner to overwhelm him and drive him backwards or clear of your destination…  The change in my partners mental focus when all the previous drills were applied within this one drill was noticeable, as I found it very difficult to offer much in the way of resistance once they were on the move, like a charging bull they came at me, I felt powerless to deal with them.. of course there were set parameters for the drill, but even so still quite over powering, especially for the guys who were lighter than me.. Whether it’s the loss of ego through drills that let you except pain, a new found bravery or when things just need to be done, just gettin’ on with it. It would appear that it’s within us all to find that extra something to save ourselves or others when required or want to do so…

Steve

Halloween can be scary…

At the weekend my daughter was explaining to me what had happened to her and her friends on Halloween night while they were out walking in town. One of the lads in the group banged on a passing cars bodywork as they were crossing a road causing the driver to pull over and jump out. He then started to get very vocal and started to challenge the group about who had banged on his car. From what I gather the incident was quite harmless but taken to the next level by the car owner. Looking at it from the car drivers perspective I doubt if I would have been too pleased either.. anyhow, we’re talking about a group of seventeen year olds here out for a bit of fun. Knowing my daughter and her friends they are hardly in the league of the local yobbo’s and are probably less streetwise too. My daughter described the driver as loosing control quite quickly and started threatening the lads in the group with his fists. At this point my daughter was starting to get a bit worried trying to defuse the situation; after awhile the confrontation was halted by another event, the car owner had left his car in the middle of the road and dangerously parked; an oncoming vehicle had then come around the corner at speed narrowly avoiding a collision..this prompted the guy to get in his car and move on, enabling my daughters group to move on unscathed... She said they laid into the lad for being so stupid afterwards, perhaps they realised something viewed by him as a bit of a lark could have escalated into something a lot more serious, perhaps causing harm to himself and the others as well as a possible collision of vehicles causing more injury.... one small action causing a domino effect of trouble.. I hope he’s is a little bit more careful next time he’s out...

The reason I mention this little incident was that it relates to something I've been thinking about recently, in that I've been wondering to myself is the way I train for an all out confrontation really all that necessary? is it at all possible to change my approach to things that are happening around me.. Rather than wondering how I would deal with situations should they occur, turn it on it’s head and forget the training, look instead at recognising the signs of confrontation a lot earlier, identify the signs and the build up to a situation, look to avoid situations that potentially could change your life forever, by making better choices and decisions. I'm not saying that if I found myself in the middle of something serious I wouldn't do something about it, of course I would, all I'm saying is that certain events must have lead up to that predicament you might have found yourself in… Your out drinking and suddenly you realise you’re in the middle of a fight with other mates and can’t quite understand how this was happening..was it the fact that you were totally oblivious to the progression of events that caused the confrontation in the first place, or was it something you did or said with out thinking, a throw away gesture or comment, causing someone else to get offended in some way. Like my daughter caught up in an event that she had very little control over and by the time it was in full flow, there was not a lot she could have done to defuse it.. picking on the wrong guy at the wrong time is the problem, a guy who may have had a really bad day at the office and the fact someone had slapped his car might have been the last straw.. he might be acting totally out of character, perhaps another time may have continued to drive on, but not tonight, tonight someone would pay for that... Should it have been the responsibility of the group to self police and recognise the stupid behaviour before it happened and deal with it early? I guess this would be too much to ask in reality, seventeen year old are still kids just a lot bigger and do these silly  things from time to time, but I suppose what I'm getting at, it is likely that we all contribute to situations with out thinking about it and then suddenly wonder why these things are happening to us. I think the question I’m really asking myself is If we were all more aware of things going on around us, would it make things easier to deal with, even on a night out with the lads, would it ever be possible..? I guess for most of us only when sober.. Would more awareness as an individual and as group necessarily mean violence wouldn't follow you around?, or is it just possible everything is out of our control and mapped out? a dead certainty that situations like these will happen at some point to everyone? wrong place wrong time scenario....? I'm not too sure I believe that, I'm sure that our choices make our future and the smallest ill judged decision made at a subconscious level will create a situation that could end up being a very difficult one to deal with.....

Just a thought...

Steve

Nothing in Particular...