Three Weeks Grounded

I had stopped training for a while in attempt to bash out some large chunks of my thesis, and ultimately stopped most forms of physical activity (since training comprises 90% of it, the other 10% is walking between chairs, fridges, couches, cars, and beds). The stress of an increased workload and lack of physical activity concluded in a five day long stay at the hospital due to a nasty Crohn's disease flare-up. I have, very abruptly, started training again, being the intelligent individual that I am.

About this time, Gene had decided to start a three week long study of all things involving the ground, being in close proximity to it, and enjoying the company of other fine people doing their worst to each other in the middle of it all. I didn't take any notes during the three weeks, so this recount won't be particularly linear or greatly detailed. The emphasis, or at least my absorption of it, requires little detail: ground work does not require a different mindset than any other work, and in fact will ultimately suffer from a change in mindset. Ground work has always triggered some underlying primal responses in my brain: sensations of claustrophobia when smothered, gasping for air in attempt to escape, overexertion and unnecessary straining, and just a basic underlying panic, especially when facing an aggressive and strong attacker who has any amount of skill on the ground.

The first aspect of ground work Gene led us through, which was touched on throughout the entire three weeks, was solo movement:

• Falling in various ways and directions (collapsing, rolling, etc.)
  
• Getting back up to standing and optimizing the process from a purely structural/energy standpoint.
  
• Some very specific ways of moving around on the ground and intentionally practicing them.
  
• Combining these specific ways of moving around on the ground into an intentional flow of movement.
  
• Moving intuitively and freely, shedding the intentional mechanical specifics that were previously drilled, but observing their influence on the free movement.
  

For one of the classes, we removed half of the mats from the floor so we could do some rolling on the linoleum below. The hard floor is like an overly honest friend, pointing out faults until no one wants to be their friend anymore. I feel fairly comfortable doing anything on the hard floor. Over time, however, my little mistakes started to accumulate into little bruises, and I found myself getting finicky with what I would choose to do on the ground. I must say, though, that after that class, walking about felt different. The ankle, knee, and hip joints felt more fluid. Walking turned into gliding. The hard floor is one force in the world that requires a certain level of compliance, and rarely makes allowances otherwise. I am constantly amazed to see how the body can adjust to such an unforgiving environment, and in cases such as this, come out healthier and stronger. As such, these solo drills at the beginning of class were definitely the appropriate preparation for the work to follow.

Often, after the solo drills, we would wrestle a bit with a single partner. The emphasis during the wrestling was to be as cooperatively dynamic with movement as possible, and, depending on the partner, challenging their movement a little bit. This drill is interesting to participate in and even observe, as ground work can provoke some primal aspects of the psyche or awaken old grappling habits from wrestling of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The work can degrade between two partners as, over time, the primal part of the psyche bubbles up or the regression into old habits takes place. I found myself fluctuating somewhere between the two extremes of fluid/dynamic and primal/overexerting, often influenced by the partner I was working with at the time.

By being involved closely with someone, whether in training, in violent conflict, or in everyday life, we discover how contagious our various states of being are (aggressive, happy, calm, excited, etc). In martial arts training, the notion of aggression constantly is constantly lurking due to the nature of the work (the stress of possible physical and even psychological harm and having to avoid it). As such, the contagiousness of aggression from one person to another seems to come easier than it would in other situations. There seem to be a number of elements involved in overcoming these involuntary primal tendencies that arise during training and their contagiousness:

• First and foremost is the breathing. The breath is a handy staircase down into the basement of our involuntary mechanisms (pain, heart rate, muscle tension, nervous system emotional responses, digestion, etc.) Practicing the breathing while working on the ground is an absolute must. The beauty of training is that getting stomped in the head isn't such a big deal. Take the plunge and accept a glorious stomp to the head on occasion, practicing the breathing instead of panicking and flopping out of the way while holding the breath. I find that the mechanical aspects of Systema, in and of themselves, are largely worthless without breathing, as the training becomes more intense and the breathing becomes more necessary.
  
• Second, in my opinion, or at least my specific case, is just awareness of what's going on inside my head. All too often I find myself carried away in the "thrill of the moment" and end up throwing all the beautiful things Systema has to offer out the window. There are moments where I can catch myself, however, and turn my mind and body's eye back to the Four Pillars (breath, form, movement, relaxation).
• Being sensitive to my training partner also helps. I don't mean in a lets-have-hot-cocoa kind of way, but rather simply looking at them as human. Empathy and compassion, fortunately in this context, do not exclude the opportunity to challenge one's training partner to grow. Growth is often painful and uncomfortable, and, I fully believe that in order to facilitate growth for our training partners, an enormous amount of compassion and empathy must be present in the process. How else could we see their boundaries, struggles, fears, responses, and be able to push them just a little bit beyond their present state? All too often, just as I get carried away in the "thrill of the moment", I find myself just giving my training partners empty work that presents no challenge, or gives them no opportunity for learning, and all because I am simply not paying attention to them.

There were many other drills that I will list here, not in particularly great detail or any particular order (if you want more drills, come train with us or someone else!), before I wrap this post up:

• Three people squat up and down, leaning on each other back to back, and number off: 1, 2, and 3. Gene calls out the number of a person, and the other two people turn around and begin to wrestle with the person whose number was called.
• The first person is on top in a mount position, or some rough equivalent (remember this is Systema, not BJJ), and takes a strike and the second person on the ground. The second person deflects the strike, does some sort of reverse in fluid succession (there should be no pause between the deflection and reversal--ideally it would be one movement), and then strikes at the person now on the ground, and so on. The emphasis in this drill is the focus breaking the structure in such a way that the reversal comes naturally. A second goal for both people is to alternate between these two roles as continuously as possible--continuous movement should be occurring for the duration of the drill.
  
• The first person applies a lock, choke, or some uncomfortable action to the second person on the ground. The person on the ground breaks the structure of the person on top, hopefully using the movement achieved by breaking the structure to reverse. A lock, choke, or some uncomfortable action is applied to the person now on the ground, from which they break the structure, reverse, and so on.
• The classic reverse-the-tackle-to-the-waist-or-legs drill was fun. An rolling-over-the-top type reverse does not have to happen. Often, and especially if the partner is very big, cumbersome, tense, or whatever they may be, the reverse can be done so that they fall to the side, and their momentum is used to follow up with the reverse (try propping them up with a knee or something as you both fall). This drill is good to practice escapes following the reverse. Again, continuity is key. There is no sequence of fall, pause, reverse, pause, escape, pause, disable attacker, pause. These actions are all blended in harmonious synchronicity with the breath, indistinguishable as separate events.
• Especially challenging, in some cases (I got a shoulder through the drywall), was creating a very small and confined space in the corner using people holding up pieces of the mat. Two people attempt to keep a third person shoved in the corner while they pummel him or her. The person who's getting pummeled should simply try to escape. I enjoyed watching the varied responses to being backed into a corner. Some became very panicked, in some cases because the two people pummeling happened to be very aggressive. Others stayed calm but moved quickly. Others moved slowly and inched their way out. My partners took it easy on me and moved slow (maybe because I started out moving slow, or maybe not--it's difficult to tell who effects who sometimes--they might have just felt sorry for me), so I was able to take my time, breathe, and actually got them tangled enough to knock them over before I got out.
• The stomping drills are always excellent for facilitating movement on the ground, especially if there are two or more people doing the stomping. Emphasis for this drill is just to keep moving and breathing, not worrying if a foot or two happens to collide with your face.

These three weeks were fantastic and I feel like I, and a lot of others, greatly benefited. Ground work has always been a challenge for me, as it can spark so many deep-seated and ineffective reactions. In a lot of ways, ground work for me is like taking strikes, especially ground work with very talented, fast, and strong people. I feel compelled to avoid it, even though it's ultimately beneficial for me as a person, let alone a martial artist. Many thanks to Gene for giving us this much time for all the work on the ground!!