I want to describe my experiences from being instructed by, and conversation with Mikhail - the result of which was a supercharged information overload which I've begun processing. To write it down where other people can read it is something which was suggested to me by Mikhail.
Rather than try to divide the information up into specific subjects, which I found impossible, I've stuck with a kind of 'as it happened' approach.
The first thing we worked on was slow exercise drills. At one point during the slow leg raise, I was asked to try to relax the upper body as I was shaking with tension. This helped a lot, but not as much as when I was asked to relax my legs - this seemed to help a great deal with perceived effort and stomach tension. A variation of partner work I had never seen before is to pull one leg at a time toward/push again resistance from the body whilst sitting up straight without the support of the arms. I noticed that it took a great deal of concentration and proper breathing to keep the alignment of the knees and hips, keep my balance and be relaxed enough to allow the stretch to happen. I've done these type of exercises before but during this exercise it occurred to me that these type of exercises have some much depth to them; they allow muscular exercise throughout the range of limb movement which is isometric, concentric and eccentric, they work on a huge number of muscles rather than a few groups, they develop control of movement against a varying resistance (i.e. another human) and they stretch the muscle, tendons and ligaments in a very gentle way.
Another drill or idea that we experienced in to sit up from a laying position with bent or even folded limbs - very difficult because you have to change your centre of gravity and use the necessary muscles but the slightest body tension will prevent you from rising more than an inch or two from the ground. I tried different breathing to see what worked best - but in truth I'm still trying to get the hang of it. We started rolling and it was clear that I couldn't roll without pushing off with my feet. This meant that I was making my body to roll because I'd provided a force, rather than rolling by changing my shape, centre of gravity and tension correctly. A great help was to turn the head so that I could see directly ahead as the soonest possible moment. I felt this made the moment at which the roll was happening on it own come much sooner. This also helps you see where you are going - essential if the ground is bumpy or there are obstacles or people around. Breathing combined with movement is something that I thought I could manage but constant, movement driven breathing takes concentration. During constant rolling, we tried to breathe out while upside-down and in whilst upright and to smooth the breathing and control the depth of breathing was mentally difficult at first but felt natural quickly and allow constant movement rather than a roll-stop-roll rhythm.
Along the lines of constant movement we tried to do a forward roll and then a backward roll in the same direction but preserving the motion of the body. It's hard to describe but all the directional planes in the body created by the initiation of the roll to continue to their natural conclusion rather than stop and start again with the second roll. When Alexander, one of Mikhail students and assistant instructors, showed the rolls it looked like one movement. I could see how this idea could be applied to everything, for example escaping and counterattacking in the same movement and thought, hitting more than one target in the same movement etc. Mikhail could see that we still had a lot of fear which was preventing complete freedom of movement. We tried, from standing, to fall without controlling our movement in any way whatsoever - trusting the bodies' elasticity to bring it to the ground. I had a good go but this little bit of fear meant I always tried to save myself a little bit - spoiling the natural fall and leading to bumps and bruises. I know it's possible because I saw it done!
Another interesting experience was been thrown at the wall. I could see when Alexander and another very experienced Systema practitioner, Valetin, showed the drill that it was possible to fly into the wall without the slightest bump but I shamelessly crashed into the wall a good few times. I found it was best when I accepted I was going to hit the wall and tried to flatten myself against it like sometimes you need to do when falling awkwardly.
Mikhail also allowed me to experience a 'simulated car crash' by breaking my form suddenly and very forcefully in different directions. If I had even the slightest tension as was the case in the first attempt it really hurt and my neck made some funny noises. Only if I was completely soft could I escape.
Throughout, Mikhail asked us why we were doing each exercise. He said you should know why you are doing something whilst training, where it should lead and has come from. An example of this progression is a drill where you caterpillar along the ground by raising each part of the body a little an sequence from toe to head - simple but very difficult at first. This movement is then seen in a variety of different escapes from under a person who is holding you down - the hips seem to start each movement because they are so often free at that time.
Neil was asked to show an exercise from his extensive karate training. He did a "cat man" or lunging press up, breathing as he had learned to at the time. Mikhail asked us what we thought about the exercise. I could see that the shoulder was under immense strain and that body tension was high throughout. The breathing seemed precisely designed to increase body temperature and blood pressure - not good. Mikhail said that you should always be able to see what an exercise will do to you and be able to understand why people ask you to do a certain movement. For example this exercise could be of use to someone who has trouble keeping the body together during movement, if the breathing is modified to allow normal blood pressure.
I began co-organising a small training group relatively recently and we spoke about it. Mikhail impressed upon me the responsibility one has in such a situation - by showing the wrong thing you can damage people because of their trust in you. Alexander said he thought the difference between the teacher and the student is that the teacher understands exactly what each student needs and how to give it to them or allow them to take what they need from the class situation. I've always taken teaching very seriously and I care a great deal about the people who I train with, but I think I have a better understanding or such a relationship now. (continued on next page >)