Training Log #47 - June 2007 Fighthouse class

A June 2007 Fighthouse class

Although I don't log my classes as diligently as I did when I first started, I still keep occassional notes about our training at Fighthouse. Here's a page from my training journal, from a class a few weeks ago in which we did some line exercises, calf massage, practice with strikes and defense from a chair.

Edgar had the whole class lay face-up in a line, then one-by-one, the person at the end got into pushup position and walked on the fists over the entire line. This can be a bit painful for the line, if the person walking is tense. I did not want to do it because of 'tennis elbow' – not from playing tennis, it's just tendonitis. The doctor says I have aggravated it by doing pushups, which I know is hard to believe, pushups are supposed to be good for you, right? Unfortunately they've had rather the opposite effect; even on my knees, my body weight is supported only by my arms and so I've decided to hold off on them for awhile – instead I do these exercises with a stretchy band that have been very helpful in strengthening the tendons.

Anyway I don't like to go on and on about my health problems, so I opted to leave the line rather than go into another long-winded explanation, till one of my classmates summoned me back and suggested I just walk over everyone, which was a good deal easier, I am sure. The line turned over to their stomachs and this was rather more pleasant than front-side up, like a massage.

Next we "passed" each other down the line, the person being passed on their fists, and the people laying down grabbing hold of each ankle and passing. This requires a lot of teamwork – you have to make sure the person you are passing the ankle is ready to receive. We also rolled down the line.

Then we got into groups of four; two people faced each other kneeling, arms around each other, and the other two stepped on their calves. This is great for lower back pain; almost everyone accumulates tension in the calves. Edgar advised us to use the blade of the foot and apply pressure. It's quite astonishing how painful this can be. Reading about it, hardly sounds too bad, the calf is a very dense muscle, so what could be so painful? But you have to experience it to know what I mean. "Horrible, isn't it?" I said to the guys on the ground, as they groaned and clutched each other. I reminded them to breath and assured them they'd feel much more relaxed afterward. But as I stepped on them, I found myself sort of brushing their backs, almost unconsciously, trying to reassure them that I mean to help and not to hurt. Then it was my turn and it was, just as I predicted, quite painful. I just tried to breathe through it, but a few times I flinched and pulled my calf away. It's good to keep a close eye on the person as you step – ease up a little if the pressure is too much, and move to a different area of the calf.

One guy was experiencing his very first Systema class; I told him that was probably one of the more painful things we've done and that it wasn't quite so agonizing all the time. Afterwards, one of the guys told me that was the most physically painful experience of his life, worse than having his jaw broken. I was surprised but pain that's fresh in the memory always seems worse. I remember as a teen, my stepfather digging a particularly nasty splinter out of the palm of my hand, which took more than a half-hour of prodding with a sharp needle. I insisted it was worse than fracturing my ankle, but it probably wasn't, just seemed so at the time. (By the way, I have since found a sharp Exacto blade to be more effective at removing splinters than a needle.)

After that we paired up and practiced pushing strikes into each other, back and forth. Exchanging energy – that's the hard part. Edgar encouraged us to direct our pushes into the spine to affect the posture. The newcomers got a sense of striking with precision and good energy, not just hitting for the sake of hitting. Then we hit each one at a time, practiced absorbing both by relaxing (using the wave) and by tensing the part that was struck and staying straighter. But we remained in the same place for both kinds of absorption, except for a slight shifting of the feet. My partner, a petite woman, hit hard, but without precision. I tried to encourage her to find the best spots rather than striking aimlessly. Later, one of my classmates suggested to me that a lack of desired response – flinching, pain, or fear - makes her hit harder and harder but it was an absorption exercise for the one partner as well as a striking exercise for the other, so good absorption doesn't necessarily equate to a bad strike.

Edgar had us form two lines, and the person at the end moved a few feet away, the rest of the line walked directly towards him, one by one, "zombie-like," and his task was to redirect the approaching person with the fists. To do so, you have to step to one side, catch the person between steps, and then push. Timing is very important, Edgar demonstrated how much easier it is to redirect someone when you catch them between steps. Almost everyone in my line stopped before they reached the person, rather than walking "through" them. Of course this makes it more difficult – easier to influence a person in transition, and there's no way to catch someone between steps when they aren't moving. It did make it a good deal harder for the beginners to redirect. I'm not criticizing my classmates, just pointing out a fact. Some were new, others were not, but very few were able to walk directly into the person, although we were only pushing and redirecting, so it wasn't painful, but I guess it's hard to overcome the tendency to avoid even mild discomfort.

We also practiced some leg-work, one person approaching the other, just walking directly into them, and the other kicked and then followed up with punches. We had to practice not telegraphing, it was almost like a stopping kick, just lifting the leg, but Edgar advised us to use the cross-leg and target the partner's leg diagonally, aiming for the inner thigh, which is quite sensitive. I still have bruises. It was only a few days later that I understood this exercise more completely; the "stopping" kick doesn't just stop them, but disrupts their posture – the leg is stopped, while the upper body continues forward.

Next Edgar dragged over some folding chairs. "What's Edgar doing?" one of classmates asked curiously. "We're going to break some chairs!" I said. "Really?" he asked, quite surprised. I assured him that I was kidding, although four-legged casualties are not unheard of when we practice fighting in the chairs. I recall one party at Fighthouse after one of Vlad's seminars where he had the misfortune to be sitting in one of our more roughly-used chairs, and the chair spontaneously gave out and Vlad went tumbling to the ground, to everyone's amusement.

I'm quite fond of fighting in the chairs – maybe because when sitting down, it's easier to fend off attacks. It is also fun to attack someone in the chair – kind of like the horsing around that your parents warned you not to do indoors. Edgar assaulted me in the chair, he was smiling as I defended myself, I guess he knows that I enjoy fighting in confined spaces. He suggested to us that we use our hips, rotate to avoid the incoming attack, and draw the person in so that we could counter easily. For example, if someone is punching you in the chair, you can avoid the punch, allow their arm to extend into your space, and use your foot to push against one of their legs, stretching them out until them collapse. If they are kicking you, you can swivel your hips, avoid the kick and slip your leg or arm under it to pull the kicking leg forward a bit, using their own energy, which Edgar describes as "stealing the step." I also had fun attacking Edgar in the chair, it's good practice for falling and rolling, as you have to be careful not to bang against the chair - or the knees and elbows of the person sitting in it!

Practice came to an end with only one chair destroyed, perhaps the folding chairs aren't durable enough for this sort of thing, but it certainly was fun!