So it's been yet another great stretch of time between posting. Life has been busier, and I do believe it will stay that way for a good spell. As such, my postings here will probably only be for events or realizations of what I consider to be of moderate to extreme significance. There will most likely be another coming in December due to a trip up to Vlad's school, and yet another for Vladimir's seminar here in Austin in January.
Yuri came down for a third time. The second time he came I was in the middle of getting married. I am still practicing on explaining the circumstances in such a way where I don't exude any mild regrets about not attending the seminar (especially in front of the missus). The first time he came down, I claimed that I would write more about it. As you can see, I have not. So I will hurry up and start writing about this third time before something distracting happens.
Weeks before Yuri arrived, Gene told me that the topic for the seminar would be "breathing" and that Yuri said it would be "painful". This of course generated a lot of anticipation and mild dread of the upcoming seminar. When Yuri arrived, he explained that the work we would be doing would not be flashy or dramatic. And with that we spent the first few hours exploring tension/relaxation, push ups, squats, leg lifts, and other solo drills.
The Push Up
The push up was strongly emphasized throughout the five hours of the seminar--more specifically the act of getting into the push up position. The act of getting into that position, as Yuri explained it, is simple, and made of one movement. The simplicity of this act is in the automatic alignment of the body occurring through proper form. Proper form is another simple concept which could also be explained as natural form. The body is aligned as it should be, requiring minimal effort to maintain and allowing for the fullest potential for movement. When standing, for example, the spine is straight, the hips are slightly tucked so as to be placed beneath the spine, knees are slightly bent, and the shoulders are relaxed and aligned with the spine. From this position, standing is effortless, taking a step is effortless, falling is effortless, and so on. There is a deceptive complexity to the concept. Awareness, however, will creep in over time by doing the work required, and the concept will present itself naturally. With proper alignment, many tasks are made easier, if not effortless: push ups, squats, striking, shooting, sitting, and any other physical task. Proper form makes use of the whole body--not just the muscles--for whatever activity is taking place.
The simplicity of getting into the position for a push up, using proper form, is that the arms swing down in the right direction with gravity, and the wrists, elbows, and shoulders also align themselves via mere gravitational pull. The push ups are done using fists (instead of palms, or fingers for the sick and twisted) for a variety of reasons, and as such, a great deal about the fist is learned by merely getting into this position. The fist should not be clenched, but instead merely kept in place so that the fingers to not suffer any damage. There are several explanations on how this should be done, but the effect is that no unnecessary effort is spent in maintaining a fist. At first glance, this may appear to result in a loose wrist, at danger of being broken or sprained. However, if the wrist is aligned with the fist, the body will naturally provide the correct amount of tension to keep the wrist from bending during a push up. The best advice, as Yuri gave, is just to play with it. Open the fist while in the push up position, wiggle the fingers around, let one wrist bend under the pressure so that the back of the hand is flat on the floor (try to maintain the fist though), let both wrists bend if they are strong enough.
Lastly, getting into the push up position should be one movement, as opposed to a distinct sequence of squatting down, putting the arms out, placing the arms down, putting the feet out, and then lamenting at the participation in such a sadistic practice. The squatting, placing the arms, placing the feet, and lamentation should all be one blended movement. Finally, as evidence of properly putting one's self into the push up position, the body structure should feel natural and the knuckles should feel comfortable on the ground regardless of the type of surface (mat, hard wood, concrete, asphalt, etc.) Yuri also said to try to smooth the brain out and not the muscles. The neurons fire and the muscles respond. If the muscles aren't doing what they should be doing, then the neurons aren't firing just right (unless there is some illness or injury of course). So smooth out the brain.
Being Comfortable
Being comfortable was an overarching topic that applied to the push up as well as all of the other work we did. Being comfortable is contagious--if a person feels comfortable with themselves, those who are around them will feel more comfortable. This applies to any setting where two or more humans are interacting, physical or non-physical (which begs the question: when is anything purely physical?) Striking should be done in this way for the benefit of both the person being struck and the person doing the striking. There is a great deal of context here. When a training partner is being struck, the person striking them should take great care to help them with their training at whatever level that may be. When an attacker who is seeking to cause harm is being struck, the person striking them should take great care to help them stop whatever it is that is causing harm.
Yuri talked a little bit about Mikhail's strikes. He said the most affecting ones don't even hurt, they just switch off your lights, and you're staring at the floor all of a sudden. The intent behind a strike can be whatever is appropriate at any given time: to destroy someone, stop them, cause pain, remove pain, encourage, strengthen, evoke emotions, etc. At higher levels if work, this becomes more apparent--that everyone hold certain things in their body via their psyche, and strikes can have a very real and obvious effect on them. There isn't anything magical about hitting someone and them becoming angry just like there isn't anything magical about hitting someone and them feeling like a stronger and more confident person (or happier, etc.) A few times throughout the seminar, when Yuri was watching me strike, he mentioned to, "stop trying to hurt them". Yuri could see the intent behind my strike that I was unaware of. For myself personally, my strikes can contain an amount of unintended aggression. There may be a lot of reasons for it (fear, misunderstanding of what striking is about, etc.), but the proof can often be seen in how the person being struck reacts. If I suddenly start observing that everyone I'm striking is becoming angry, is it because these people are just crazy or because I'm striking in a particular fashion? That example is relatively clean cut. Being introspective and sensitive to ones' partners while doing the work is probably the best way to go, in addition to having good instructors who can see the full picture from a removed perspective. "Poznai Sebia", or, "Know Thyself", is a phrase often heard in the same breath with "Systema".
Overall
Overall, I felt like the seminar was profoundly simple. I think I felt this way because Yuri repeated often, "this is very simple". Striking is simple. I've heard Vladimir say, "just hit him, it is so simple", accompanied by an "oof" sound and some quick burst breathing by the receiver of Vladimir's strike. It really is simple. I can't describe the simplicity because the words will here complicate it. I don't mean to sound mysterious. I've just trained, and not extensively by any means, and kept on practicing the fundamentals, and I am starting to see in some small way that a strike is just a strike. You just do it and that's it. Everything else is an unnecessary complication. If the necessary work and sweat is done and the instructor is good, greater conscientiousness is followed by greater abilities. Honestly these last few sentences about simplicity don't even connect with me that much, I know the semantics but the depth eludes me. I think too much and am naturally evasive when it comes to matters of personal depth. Below the surface there is a lot to face that is not comfortable. There is hard work to be done there, and I am ever so slow about getting up off of my couch. So far the water's fine though, I think I have my toenails halfway in!
"For now we see through a glass, darkly." - 1 Corinthians 13:12
