Following is an interview with Systema student, Sara Olsson, who has trained for just under a year with her teenaged daughter (and now also with her adult daughter).
Q: So the first question is why did you decide to do a Systema class here? So how did you find out about it? What were you looking for?
Okay. My daughter and I got to participate in a Kenpo class with my nephew at his school, and, she really enjoyed it. And so I decided to try and find somebody in our area because he’s out of state.
And so he spent a couple of hours with me on the phone researching the schools in the area. And he knows so many people that he knew, he knows who taught who. And he was looking for students of a specific teacher. And he decided you were the best. And he was not thinking about Systema at all.
He was thinking about Kenpo. But then when you called me back and we talked and I talked about my background with a little bit of self-defense and how physical intelligence is a problem for me in particular, but not for my daughter. It and then you started talking about what Systema is like versus Kenpo or other martial arts.
And I went, oh no, this is what we need to do. This is something I have a hope of learning, and I know she will, not only that, but it will allow her as she learns she, she won’t have to earn a black belt to be able to take care of herself. She will be able to take care of herself more and more incrementally as she learns.
And that’s huge, because she’s grown up.
Q: So what was your focus? I mean, what, you know, coming to a martial arts school, you have a 17 year old daughter, now 18, and, you know, you had to think you were looking for yourself and also for her and so you had these two things to, to balance.
And so, you know, what is it that you were really looking for out of, doing any martial arts? Like what was it, you know, that you wanted? Because, you know, everybody wants different things and have different ideas of what they’re looking for.
For myself, I wanted the self-confidence in knowing that I could take care of myself in a given situation.
And I’d had a taste of that years ago, and I wanted more of that, because it’s empowering. I don’t believe at my age that I’m a target anymore, but bullies do strange things, so. So for me, it’s like, yeah, I want to have that sense that I can take care of myself. Now for my daughter. Okay.
I’m a parent. I want both of my kids to be able to deal with anything that comes their way. I want my five foot two, 115 pound daughter to be able to take care of any 200 pound asshole that shows up.
Q: So, you know, now that you’ve done it for a bit. I mean, how would you compare and contrast the experience of, of, say, somebody going through what they would consider a traditional martial arts program of learning because you’ve seen some, versus, you know, kind of what I would see as a nontraditional art, the way you do what you do in the Systema class, you know, how would you compare those two experiences?
I think that, well, for me, learning forms is just as difficult as learning to dance. And that has been something I’ve wanted to dance all my life. And without someone teaching me alone step-by-step for hours, I’ll never learn any dance. And so learning forms is just like that. And I recognize what, what they’re doing with these forms.
I understand why they’re moving in this way and that way. Any other way, because they’re somebody coming at them and that’s their, their, their. It’s almost like playing or preparing for those particular hits. But with Systema, I can’t just do that. I don’t have to learn the forms to do that. Instead, I’m learning a philosophy of how to defend myself.
And oh, by the way, when this happens, do this and it might actually work or that or the other thing. There’s so many possibilities. And on top of that, anything that I learned before is also useful. It’s not like you have to change roads in order to learn.
Q: So what is your experience like in classes so far? I mean what you’re like in a general. You know it’s very amorphous. This kind of thing is difficult to explain. But how would you characterize your own experience? Not not just for your daughter, you know, but just for you. In class?
Like a lot of fun.
Most of the time, but there’s a lot to learn. I, I really enjoy working with different people at different levels. They all have different knowledge that they can share with me. I really appreciate their patience because they’re all way far ahead of me.
It’s just so much fun when you finally get it. One little thing. You finally get it. And. And it’s not just learning how to counter this or do that. It’s also learning things like, if I don’t breathe, I’m going to pass out and then they can do whatever they want to me. If I get angry, I’m going to lose my focus.
And again, they can do anything they want to me. So it doesn’t matter that this particular person is getting on my nerves right now, because they’re not working the way I want them to. I still have to. I have to take a deep breath and figure it out. Another thing that’s really cool is I finally learned enough things that sometimes I actually respond naturally in a way that functions correctly.
And that feels great. (And that’s been a challenge). Yes it has.
Q: So, you know, one important thing, you know, a question that somebody, you know, if they were listening to this, would be asking is you know, kind of the elephant in the room, I guess, is, you know, specifically being a woman in a class full of men. What is that like and with, with, I mean, I guess here because that’s something that is an issue or it is a situation. it’s a scenario. It’s something that happens. And oftentimes there are more men in the class than women. But so as a woman in a class full of guys I mean what does that happen to be like here?
You know and it’s different every, it’s gosh there are a lot of parameters there or a lot of different ideas involved in that. Is it intimidating? No, not the least. Because these are all guys that are interested in learning, and they recognize that part of learning is teaching. Once taught, twice learned. So everybody knows that whenever someone needs assistance learning something, the one that knows teaches.
So whoever you’re working with can teach you something. Another thing is, it’s a constant reminder that any attacker that I meet will be twice as strong as I am. It’s just natural. There is no ifs, ands, or buts in that. It doesn’t matter if he’s only five feet two, he will be twice as strong as I am.
I cannot beat him with strength. And that’s. That’s an important thing to learn in Systema, because strength doesn’t have a whole lot to do with it. Instead, you’re learning how to move your body in order to make theirs move in a way that is to your advantage, and you don’t need strength to do it. So having them constantly reminding me, hey, you’re trying to muscle me and I’m looking at them going, yeah, that’s pretty stupid, isn’t it?
There’s a camaraderie. There’s also, an understanding of different ages, different abilities, things like arthritis. And there’s, there’s mercy shown. Oh, yeah. I’m not supposed to do that to your right hand. Okay, I won’t. Just things like that. And at the same time, I have an advantage being weaker. And they all happen to be not just stronger than me, but better at this by a lot.
It means that I know that they will not allow me to cause them physical harm, which means that I can just go ahead and unleash some things which is useful in learning and cathartic.
Q: So you mentioned age. And so that would be my next question is how do you feel that Systema benefits that or how it can work with somebody who, you know, is at your age versus your daughter’s age of, you know, because, you know, people think, oh, that’s something that is for, you know, kids or something for, you know, young, virile men.And nobody else can learn this. You see what I mean? Like what? I mean, how do you feel that it addresses your needs or works with you?
It means I have the opportunity to get stronger without somebody hurting me. Like you always say, you have to survive the training. So we find ways to make it possible for me to do the stuff that I’m trying to do, like everybody else may.
Maybe it needs to be altered. You know, like. Like that day. You first. When I, was afraid to roll on the mat and you pulled out the really thick mat and literally said, you have to survive your training. Let’s learn on this. And, and then I discovered that, you know. Yeah, I can do that.
Q: And so, so what about the actual, with the skills themselves? The, the way you’re learning, the way you’re moving, you know, versus, you know, like, if you look at, you know, some martial arts, I mean, categorically it would look at like Thai boxing or something, you’re like, yeah, that is that, that, that those skills are for somebody who is. And that’s this age, you know, this, you know, physical fitness level.They’re at the peak of this. And and so they have these things, you know, available to them. And then as you move and become older and get away from that ability to still have something that, you know, you can use or that, that you can look at and say, hey, I can learn this and this, this would work for me.
Yeah, you know, fit in with all of that kind of thing. Well, first off, just, you know, the concept of Thai boxing, it’s like, yeah, I already know I can’t do that. I have arthritis in my hands and feet. There’s no way every hit’s going to hurt like hell. So, you know, just can’t do it. But Systema doesn’t rely on that.
It it’s. I don’t even know how to describe it. But trying to punch somebody isn’t necessarily what I have to do. I can use I can use other things to my advantage. I mean, it’s it’s very possible that that depending on what this person is doing, I might have the opportunity to pull their head right into my knee.
And my knee happens to be titanium. They’re in trouble.
Q: So, you know, to the degree that you have, you have skills, you have training methods. And I mean, do you feel this is something that you, you know, that anybody of any, you know, age, fitness level could learn?
Oh, so you little kids could do this? I mean, absolutely I think anybody can do this. If you can move, you can do it.
It just needs to be adapted for whatever. And yeah, little kids can do this too. In fact, I think that’ll be fun to watch.
Q: Any advice you’d give to somebody who would be looking at Systema and thinking, it’s just too weird for me? Or if they did a traditional martial art for a while, you know, and they were doing all that. And they looked at this and said, well, you know what could it do for me?
It could only enhance your ability in the traditional martial art. Because it it’s a philosophy. And if you’re considering it for any reason, getting nothing to lose, give it a try.
Q: Any final comments before we wrap it up?
It’s just so much fun.
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