IN THIS ISSUE Russian Fist Fighting Seminar Part II€¦ · Russian Fist Fighting Seminar Part II ... (Melbourne Systema members) $50 (Non members) ... since breathing in and out

www.melbournesystema.com.au [email protected]

May 11I Vol: 3 I No: 3

IN THIS ISSUE

:: Russian Fist

Fighting Seminar

Part II

:: Dealing With

Multiple Attackers

Seminar

:: Russian Combat

Manual Part II

:: New Fee Schedule

Russian Fist Fighting Seminar Part II

I would like to thank all those who were able to come for our last seminar on fist fighting. As you can see from some of the photos everyone had a great time.


Dealing With Multiple Attackers Seminar

One of the most difficult and dangerous scenario you may have to face is a confrontation with multiple attackers. In this seminar you will learn the techniques and exercises that will prepare you both physically and mentally for the toughest fight of your life.

Some of the topics the seminar will cover include:

• Delivering and avoiding multiple strikes using all parts of the body • Understanding timing and distance in relation to multiple attackers • How to effectively set up pre-emptive strikes to finish the fight before it starts • How to avoid common setups used by street smart attackers

Please note in the interests of hygiene and safety all participants will be required to bring their own protective mma style gloves.

Seminar details Date: Sunday 12th June 2011Time: 10am – 4pmLocation: 18 Catherine St Coburg NorthCost: $30 (Melbourne Systema members) $50 (Non members)

Russian Combat Manual (Part II)

Continuing from the last issue here is the next excerpt from the Russian Combat Manual by Vladimir Vasiliev. Hope you all enjoy.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SYSTEM

In view of this system one of the characteristic features of hand to hand combat is the symmetry of movements. If we look at any punch or kick we would always find that the return of move-ment is symmetrical to it in space and in time. That is in the sequence of performance (as if we filmed a punch on a video-tape and then played it backwards).

The paths of many punches lie inside an elliptical shape which is formed by movement of a maximally relaxed limb with a maxi-mum speed of returning movement. Arms and legs not only


hit, they whip the opponent, partly tensing only at the point of contact. In other words, "waves" take place. Punches originate from the body and come back into it just to set off another wave.

The ellipsis is not flat, but three-dimensional. From the moment when the punch begins, the tension of the acting muscles gradu-ally increases and during 'the return gradually decreases down to zero by the middle of the return which is also the second punch. The momentum of the returning arm works as an attacking one. The power of the return almost always exceeds the power of the punch itself. There is practically no loss of energy, just as there is no stopping between the punches - that is where we have the guarantee of victory in time.

The following advantages of such work are evident:

• Maximum possible speed leads to maximal power as a result of mass multiplied by speed. • Stable emotional state. There is no need for so-called "con centration of power" that brings unnecessary feelings.

Another important characteristic of the elliptic kicks and punches is that all of them (whether done by a fist, an elbow or a foot) during their return, move towards the centre of gravity. And since breathing in and out often happens once during the whole combination and not with each punch, the energy leaving the solar plexus through the limb always returns there. This allows the fighter not to get out of breath in the processes of a real fight or training.

It is interesting to note that the "oriental breathing" (with releas-ing the energy at every punch), does not allow for training for fun or as a game. Laughter and jokes are not common on the "tatami" (Japanese for mats). Their faces often take a tense and even stern expression. While a game allows us to work with your intuitive thinking.

Let us talk about inner energy and its sources. In the area of your belly button, there is a point called D'an-T'an. In the East it is considered to be "the sea of inner breathing". They say it is an accumulation of inner energy.

In the Russian style such a point is the solar plexus. This area is a powerful interconnection of many nerve endings often called by physiologists the "brains of the abdomen". These nerve endings are a part of the sympathetic nervous system and they transmit impulses to the inner organs. They have their own access to all these organs. The solar plexus is like a provider of electrical energy to the inner organs, blood vessels, glands and control of the smooth musculature.


The Eastern techniques show that D'an-T'an represents the centre of gravity of the person. Fighters in the oriental schools sort of approach the ground. Their centre of gravity is set closer and connected with the ground. One can observe a tendency towards fixed stable stances. There is squatting, sitting with the legs crossed, and the absence of chairs in everyday life. Physical body structure of the person living in the mountains not only has defences from intense ultraviolet sun rays and piercing winds, it also provides extra strength for certain body parts in view of the general movement patterns. Living in the mountains contributes to the principle of the lower centre of gravity – a natural search of stability, represented so well in the idea of specific stances.

Thousands of years of having the physical biofield of the person formed the genetic model with this energy active centre of grav-ity.

As we have discussed in the last seminar, geography and climate form tactics of martial arts and biophysical qualities of people. European conditions led to the development of an important martial arts principle - mobility. Lower centre of gravity provides stability whereas higher centre of gravity provides one with greater mobility. As you noticed in this System, it is constant movement that makes you effective.

Another characteristic of the Oriental martial culture is imitating animals. It is considered that if a person imitates with his move-ments the behaviour of animals, it will bring him closer to nature. The world of people, however, is very different from the world of animals. So the movements in this style of fighting are artificial to the human movement patterns. They impose on the natural ways of movement. It is not even the case that it is hard for a person to imitate the ways of a snake or a dragon. In nature every being is what it is. A rabbit, for example, can never play the part of a wolf. From many points of view, this is disrup-tive to the paths of nature.

The main problem with the imitation is believed to be interfer-ence with the human movement scheme. We all have a ten-dency to move in a certain way passed on to us from the previ-ous generations. Survival practices of the past and surroundings form the predisposition to particular actions. Consciously we can play any role including that of an animal. But spontaneously and instinctively we will perform the actions that we were born with. This way by imitating animals we create another powerful con-tradiction to ourselves.

It was originality of interpretation in the oriental martial arts that in the 1960's got the interest of the world. The followers really multiplied in numbers. But it is possible that what had the main effect was the aesthetics of a fight.


Bruce Lee wrote "real application of the techniques themselves has little use in the street fight. It is hard to apply the principles of classical Kung Fu or Karate to real life. In a confrontation with opponents that have no knowledge of the right techniques of classical martial arts those opponents had the reactions and behaviour that were completely unpredictable".

"Too much time", continued Bruce Lee, "is spent on doing unimportant things, learning unrealistic poses, classical moves, that have long lost their meaning and on rituals. It is artificial, mechanical and does not prepare the student for a fight".

Still, the aesthetics of a fight is a strong argument. It brings the actions of the participant to an expressive order, to internal and external structure and organization.

Martial Arts - is a special part of culture in our world. And undoubtedly every nation has its own ways of expression and original forms. For example, it would be foolish to assume that the world of music to every nation means an image of a group of violinists. All nations would form an image with their own components. Although a violin is in some ways similar to guitar, and a guitar has something in common with a cello, no one would ever consider them equivalent, or be right to claim one to be superior to the others.

One of the particular qualities of the Russian fighting style is the mobility of the body. The principle used here is the so-called flying centre of gravity. The body sways up and down, spinning all three dimensions simultaneously and at the same time swings like a "pendulum". The point of "suspension of the pendulum" is somewhere above the head - this way the pelvis in the fighting moves is always ahead of the shoulders. Moreover, during punches both pelvis and shoulders spin around their own hori-zontal axes, and form the so-called "figure eights".

As for transferring the body, we can talk about sliding into the pendulum as in skating without taking the feet off the floor. And on the hard ground - hitting with your feet into the ground transfers particular power up into the moves of the arms and legs.

A leg should be light and mobile, arms should not depend on the support or stance of the legs, and legs should not depend on the fixing of arms. The energy of hitting comes from the pelvis.

The art of fighting is first of all the ability to control the distances - to change direction hiding the action, to move to the right line of attack, to use the manoeuvres of the opponent, etc.


At the stage of learning, one of the main goals in fighting is entering the axis of the next punch of the opponent during the return of the first punch.

You should not think about the strike or the defence; or about the person you are working with at the moment. The work itself-should be completely subconscious. It is impossible to pre-pare all the techniques for the potential situations of a fight or of life beforehand, but it is possible to teach the body to "think", i.e. to spontaneously find the solution out of an unexpected situation. For example, during the training sessions not to prear-range with your partner which punch to defend from.

The movements should be dynamic and multi-functional. There should never be movements just for the sake of moving. At the moment of any action the whole organism should be involved like a complete system.

The Russian Martial Art includes various types of work:For example in one type the preference is given to evasions. The fighter here escapes from the plane of attack. While moving away from the punch or kick, one should not step or lean far away, but rather get closer to make it easy to respond.Another method is "fencing" with the arms and legs, when they hit intercepting the strike of the opponent. It is not a block but a way of one movement doing both the strike and the interruption of the attack. Also intercepting are so-called "props your elbow, knee, fist, and so on - they meet the attacking movement and break it up.

Another kind of work is gunfire like strikes at the opponent from all directions. The speed of movement here is very high. A master in this kind of work delivers his strikes in all four directions - forward, back, left and right. This work also intercepts the moves of the opponent. Any of his actions are simply prevented in the very origin. This is one reason why there are no blocks in the traditional Russian fighting.

When we look at the defence, there is a combination of follow-ing three stages:

1. You saw the strike at the stage of preparation - you can then move away, prevent the strike, or wait for it and use its energy. (Of course this preparation stage does not necessarily happen.)

2. You noticed the strike as it is being carried out - you can proceed in the defence or in moving away. It is hard to counterattack here.

3. You have not seen the punch coming at all - your success will


depend on proper relaxation of the body, on the right manoeuvre, on knowing how to take the punch into the body, and how to prevent the next attack.

At a high level of training the third stage becomes the first - you prevent the strikes that you see and those that you do not.

A very important issue is the way you look with your eyes. The level of your look or gaze will determine the level of your energy relationships in the fight.

Looking below the eye level of your opponent (especially below the waist line) sets off the level of animal emotions. Fear and anger prevent the fighter from looking up and it is psychologi-cally suppressing which also suppresses the energy field making the fighter work a lot weaker.

Looking straight in the eyes of your opponent brings more chal-lenge and threat into the confrontation; it means there is clearly a desire to overpower your, rival and to intensify the situation.And finally, looking above the heads of the opponents indicates a high professional level of fighter. The energy contacts then sky with the ground, there is therefore more positive energy and more power.

In this case there is a certain estrangement from the fight, less dependency on the person and better perception of the situa-tion. The body becomes lighter and it is easier to use the circular movements. The radius of extrasensory awareness increases up to three metres. Looking above the heads also widens your hori-zon. In addition to the side peripheral vision, there is also the lower vision.

However, it is very hard to look this way. One thing that can be said is that if you are in a group fight and cannot take your eyes from the arms and legs of the opponent, or from his weapons, the fight will not end well for you.

New Fee Schedule

As of July 1st 2011 the new class fee schedule will be:

Basic Package (1 class per week)

1 months training $503 months training $140 (save $10)


Standard Package (up to 3 classes per week)

1 months training $1003 months training $265 (save $35)

Premium Package (unlimited training & monthly 30min private appraisal session)

6 months training $52512 months training $960

Casual pass (expires after 1 year)

10 Class pass $150

Private Classes (per hour)

The Buddy System Pricing allows additional people to train with you for only an extra $5.00 per person.

1 person $552 people $60 ($30 per person)3 people $65 ($21.67 per person)4 people $70 ($17.50 per person)

Documents

IN THIS ISSUE Russian Fist Fighting Seminar Part II€¦ · Russian Fist Fighting Seminar Part II ... (Melbourne Systema members) $50 (Non members) ... since breathing in and out