Sharon's Systema blog

When we receive a hit we breath it out but if we cannot breath because we are gagged, chocked or underwater we need to use movement to let the strike move and clear out. Start by breathing normally and having your partner stop you at any time according to what he sees as right (too much air, too little or anything that catches the eye) now start by pushing and as you hold your breath you move just enough to move the hit out, down or up and away. Keep this until you cannot hold your breath anymore and than change places. Do this for a while and than do a few rolls to clean the body of accumulated tension and repeat the drill using hits. Build this slowly to avoid harming each other and allow yourself to move freely without judgement to find out more about your movement under tension. This is not a complex drill but simple is not always easy.

Swing your arm from the shoulder back and forth. Note your hand and see if it rotates a bit naturally if the shoulder is relaxed and the movement comes from the body. Note if your elbow is also moving on the axis of the elbow. Now place your fist over the height of your shoulder and let it drop either on the wall or your partner's chest. Let the forearm advance naturally and avoid keeping it in a fixed angle from the arm and you will gain a lot of relaxation and effect. Let the shoulder rotate a little so you are more comfortable and more whip can travel from the body to the fist to the target and keep it relaxed and let it sink or move if you are hitting a wall or your partner is tensed up. If you feel a bounce coming back it means your fist is too tight as well.

It is better to work in pairs or threes and count the hits each one makes so your mind is not asleep as you work.

Place a stick on the back of your neck and support it with your wrists so your body is free to move and any bend in the spine is shown through this. Have your partner swing a stick to tap your shins and knees lightly so you feel the impact of hard on hard and than have him swing at your legs. You move either inward or outward with a step and lift the other leg in place (where your body is) and keep moving with it to both deflect the stick (letting it move on it's course and adding something to it) and completing the second step and keep walking or running according to what is needed. A few suggestions are to change the angle between you both so you avoid aligning yourself with the stick and getting hit harder (do not face either the partner or the stick, find a path to walk), avoid defending the air and do not face the stick with your shin but deflect right away. Keep moving and not just in one direction. Turn and it will help you survive the hit without harm and remember, if you can avoid it altogether it is better but if not, do not let it become important and just keep moving and changing your line of sight.

We are used to articulate ourselves with our mouths fingers and feet at the phone, the wheel, the levers and so on. Work on gaining more awareness and control by drawing the numbers in the air using your elbows, shoulders, knees and heels while on the ground and than standing. First draw 1-20 and than after you go though the list, do the same numbers only now draw from the opposite direction meaning by starting to draw from where you previously ended and remember you can use your body to move the focus by walking you draw a line in the air with your every point. Keep this in mind as you work.

Take a friend or a heavy chair that moves badly on the ground and place your fist on him. Relax your elbow so your fist can align and slowly let it sink toward the opening in the tension or structure of the partner. Relax your shoulders and hips and avoid pushing. Once you sink as much as possible walk to another comfortable position and repeat.
Go down to half a squat height and remain with a relaxed back and repeat only now change the angle you choose to come to the body with with each fist and remember not to hit and move around the target or partner. If you do this than you anchor him as a point of support in your head and thus your fists will strive to keep him in place. Freedom begins with cleaning yourself from desires and perceptions before the fight begins so you may with the grace of whatever you believe in avoid it and solve the problem.

If you do fight though end it as soon as you can with you still breathing.

A bit of water training:

Stand in the water at mid thigh depth and walk. Start slowly and try to make as little a wave as you can. If you have a partner have him close his eyes and sense your arrival. This is a good way to learn to walk softly. Next walk or try to run as fast as you can a few times. After you do this think for a while and try to start the movement from the body were the breath is and run a few more times. With a partner exchange a few leg hits underwater and than above the water and note how you adjust to it.

Lift both legs in the water and make a line with your body parallel to the ground. change the tension and light angles in your body to be able to breath from time to time and remain calm and relaxed as much as you can. (unless you are in the dead sea in which case just relax :))

Fill your mouth with water and breath as much as you can through the nose. Do a few push ups and squats and than a few sit ups and leg raises and note how this effects your movement and breathing. Being able to work with an uncommon situation is a sign of good improvisation and awareness skills.

Have fun.

Start in the static push up position on your fists and count to 100 as you lift each hand in turn as relaxed as posible and let it fall to the ground without any resistance. Let it find its way to the ground and shape according to what it hits. Breathe and relax and keep your alignment as you do this. Check how you hit later.

Stand at a comfortable hitting distance from each other and start fainting (hits that do not land) at each other with hits landing from time to time. Note when you feel the hit coming and how your body moves under this tension. Work to relax your eyes and to see more rather than focusing on the hitting limbs and after you feel your body is aware of the fear tension and is not following it blindly start to move to redirect the hits that are coming in.

Outside of this drill be in a position where you are comfortable and move to keep it that way. If you don't want someone in your hitting range move or move him or find another way to do this (close the door or window...).

Do this drill on the ground or on a wall depending on your state and available space. Imagine a line going from your naval to your head and place your fists on the ground so both thumbs face away from the line and relax for one minute breathing and relaxing the muscles. Change your position to thumbs pointing up and add another minute and after this slowly shake your hands letting the feeling of lightness or heaviness sink. Now add a minute with your thumbs facing each other and another one with them pointing downward.

This drill is to make the body healthy and strong while working and hitting in all angles and to learn to relax in different tension points. Remember to tense and relax your chest and back and anything you feel you need to in all these positions to learn where you have tension so you can be aware of it and breathe it out.

Developing relaxed heavy hands

Start by placing a very loose fist in the other hand and relaxing the arm completely. Now Throw the fist up and let it relax and fall with a sound into your open hand. Do this many times and notice your alignment according to your mass devision (are you bending forward because your hands are tensed and pulling you) and relax it.
Now take a small stick like a non sharp pencil or a closed metal pen and place it at the inner side of the elbow. Relax the arm and do not look at it and lift it using the pencil and let it hang with relaxation. This can and will hurt because we naturally tense up against the existing tension in the arms so do this using breathing to take out some of this tension and don't forget to smile from time to time.
Now return to the first drill and note changes to yourself. Remember that you can feel the arm so don't look down at it and cause the shoulders and neck to tense up.
Now do the same drill using the pencil in the inner side of the wrist and work very slowly to pick up and learn to increase and decrease the tension. This is good to become aware and to control the tension and alignment in the wrist and to further your wrist and forearm density

One hour of honest work is worth many in the library reading without understanding how to do the work.

Add to this part this drill: Raise your forearm and align the wrist. Now use the other hand to pull one of the fingers up or to any side and relax the shoulder so it acts like a pivot spring. Do this a few times till you feel the movement is smooth and relaxed and than do this with the hand in the loose fist form.