Systema Class Notes – Tuesday, 15 Jan 2013

Theme for this cycle: Moving and Striking with a Weapon
Area of Focus: Movement

Class Objective(s):

1. We’re not going to stop moving during class, for anything
2. We’ll continue to work on moving with attacks and continuing during the counter attack
3. We will continue to deploy weapons while moving and countering

Breathing Exercises:

1. Pushups – rolling the shoulders – independently, in sync, forwards and backwards
2. Squats – spiraling down and up
3. Sit-ups – left, right, circles, figure-8s, etc

Joint Mobility Exercises:

1. Bird dogs – help with lower back and hip flexibility
2. Grasshopper push-ups
3. A-Frames – core strengthening and loosening

Work Specific Strengthening Exercises:

1. Lunges – front and back – changing levels helps with deploying a weapon
2. Drinking birds – help with either rolling, or keeping posture

Drills:

1. Pushing back and forth – with fists – continuing the striking/moving theme
   1. get pushed – wave/move, come back to form, and then push
   2. Start to add in pushing from the initial push – this is not resisting the push and then pushing but moving and push at the same time
   3. do both of these with at least 2 partners
2. 1 on 1 – one person attempting to grab the head/body of the other – the person being grabbed is going to move, strike (what’s available), deploy their knife, and stab.  The attacker is going to wave off the strike, and continue to attack until stabbed.  The stabs MUST be effective
3. Attacker has a knife – stabs you – wave off and move from the contact, and strike/step/strike/stab
4. Start dealing with some knife attack specifics – attacking the hand with the knife, then the body, back to the knife, etc

Self Defense Applications:

1. We’re dealing with fist and knife attacks – fairly self explanatory
2. It’s not enough to be relaxed, or to breathe or to move with good form individually – we have to do this in concert, while dealing with our attacker

Review:

1. We’ve continued with the constant movement and counter-attacking
2. We started dealing with an armed attacker
3. Don’t focus on the weapon either yours or his