Since I went to the Systema HQ in Toronto more than 3 months ago and received guidance from Vladimir Vasiliev, Adam Zettler and other instructors, although I have gained some insights, due to the huge amount of information, I couldn’t figure it out in a short time.
I just had a vague feeling that my state seems to be a little different, but I can't feel the obvious difference in my daily practice, which makes me wonder: Is it just me feel good about myself? Or am I really different from before?
It wasn't until I attended this seminar held by Adam Zettler in Taiwan, what I saw and learned at the Toronto HQ three months ago was connected by something, and the movements of my body seemed to catch up with my inner changes.
"You are much more stronger than you think, don't look down yourself!"
"I saw your movement, I know you are a fighter!"
This is what Vladimir encouraged me after my first class at the Toronto HQ.
At the Toronto HQ, I told Vladimir that I am a small guy and I want to learn how to overcome the lack of confidence, nervousness and fear in my heart when facing tall and strong opponents.
And the practice in the next few days, whether it is a regular class or private lesson, Vladimir assisted me, or assigned appropriate instructors to help me solve this problem, and Adam was one of them.
“Confidence comes from comfortable. Comfortable comes from proper distance.”
Adam gave me the above suggestions in response to my problem.
Confidence comes from a comfortable state, and a comfortable state comes from an appropriate distance. As for how to maintain an appropriate distance, it all depends on how you move. How to move appropriately, move comfortably, and improve your freedom became my homework during those days in Toronto.
"He is fine! He is ok!"
In classes in Toronto, Vladimir would often say this about me to other students.
Or often say to me:
“You are ok! ”
“I am your teacher, I said your are ok, it means you are ok!”
"You have good eyes. You need to trust yourself!"
I am often encouraged and often praised. Although I feel happy, it is a little bit strange for people like me who have been suppressed by Taiwan’s education system since childhood. However, it is indeed better to study in a happy mood.
The traditional thinking mode of Asians is to focus too much on their own/others' shortcomings, and then magnify them. In the end, they will have serious self-doubt and become unable to do things that they were originally able to do.
One side uses a magnifying glass to look for advantages, and the other side uses a magnifying glass to look for mistakes. Perhaps this is the biggest difference between education in the Canada and Asia!
However, while I still couldn't completely break away from this Asian model, having a master I admired gave me advice and encouragement, which really helped a lot in building my inner self-confidence.
Special thanks to Vladimir and Valerie!
Next, return to the theme of this Adam seminar: lightness.
I think lightness is actually one of the expression of natural movement, and how to achieve natural movement, in addition to relaxation, the next step is breathing. Breathing and relaxation affect each other.
Proper breathing can help relax, and relaxation can make breathing deeper. Reaching a very deep state which is called light breathing.
I once asked Adam how to define the so-called natural movement?
Adam’s answer was “No show off”
When we switch from one action to the next, if we observe carefully, there are actually many breakpoints and edges caused by tension. It will "wake up" your opponent and tell the opponent, "Something is going to happen! Something is coming!"
When doing strike exercises, what we need to observe on our opponents are also these points and these signs, and when we are moving, it is these tensions that we need to eliminate.
With less tension, the edges and breakpoints on the body will also be reduced, and the movements will be more relaxed and natural. This is my understanding of what Adam said "No show off".
During the seminar, Adam led everyone to do a lot of breathing exercises combined ground movements, and this is also a must-do warm-up for every class at the Toronto HQ.
The difference from the previous exercise in Toronto was I found that I was able to bring my breathing with my movement, instead of just deliberately using my breath to match the movement.
So I can pay more attention to feel how the physical and mental state is affected when my body is in contact with the ground, how the breathing is affected, and then try to adjust the state, restore my breathing, and eliminate When in contact with the ground, the edges and corners produced by body movements.
After several practices, I not only have a deeper understanding of the sentence "the floor is our good friend in practice", but also understand the meaning behind Adam's saying "all movements are a kind of healing".
As everyone slowly gets into the situation, the difficulty of the practice gradually increases from a single person to a two-person or even multi-person practice.
In one of the knife exercises, Adam reminded everyone not to be afraid of being touched by knives. First of all, Systema's knife exercises are never about grabbing knives. Instead, we use the directionality of the tip and blade to help practitioners develop a more delicate sensitivity. Secondly, if during practice, you are always worried that you will "lose" if you are touched by the knife, and your body will become stiff and the meaning of practice will be lost.
Instead of doing this, it is better to treat it as a game and allow yourself to have a certain level of contact with knife. Develop awareness and sensitivity first, and then the body will naturally know how to avoid danger.
In fact, when I was in Toronto, Vladimir also mentioned the concept of "Don't be afraid to contact with people." Vladimir and Adam expressed it in different ways, but I think the concepts were similar.
Maybe I’ve taken Adam’s classes a few times in Toronto and am familiar with him, so I’m honored to be often called out by Adam for demonstrations during seminar.
And I can have more opportunities to see and feel how he moves.
Adam can move at a slow pace, like flowing water, like a breeze. He can demonstrate the movements and explain them at the same time. I can hear his breathing during the demonstration. The rhythm is gentle and there is no chaos at all. It’s really amazing!
Looking back at the training at the Toronto HQ, they really emphasize the importance of breathing during movements. Once breathing is interrupted and the instructors see it, they will come and give reminders, and they must watch the students clearly make breathing movements of inhaling and exhaling, confirm that everything is OK before continuing with the next exercise.
But to be honest, being treated as a demonstration partner, being took down from a standing position, rolled on the ground, and returned to a standing position to continue, repeating it all the time, is really exhausting.
Fortunately, I gradually learned about the coordination of movements and breathing, so I didn’t feel too tired after being demonstrated.
What was special was the private lesson on the afternoon of the last day. The classmate suggested that the topic they wanted to practice was fighting with Shashka.
At first, I was confused about this topic.
In my impression, Shashka is more of a self-training tool. As for using it to fight, it feels like how people did in the last century, but since Adam said the theme is ok, let's take a look at what Shashka's fight is all about.
Part of this result was expected, but a larger part was beyond my imagination.
I thought Shashka fighting was an extension of natural movement. And it is!
But to my surprise, applying the concept of natural movement to Shashikar fighting is simply terrifying. Because the movement is natural, it is unobtrusive and does not attract the attention of the opponent. He remained alert until Shashikar nearly slashed him and he was shocked to discover that he had been killed.
What I expected was that Shashka fighting is actually an extension of natural movement. But what surprised me was Shashka fighting with natural movement is simply terrifying. Because the movements are natural, inconspicuous and do not attract my attention. I didn't feel any danger until Shashka almost cut me, and I was shocked to realize that in real combat, I'm already dead.
In retrospect, my original doubts about using Shashka in combat may have been a kind of arrogance derived from my own preconceptions. I happened to remember a line from the movie "The Pope's Exorcist": "Pride manifests itself in different forms."
This Shashka class not only opened my eyes, but also gave me a good reminder: face everything with a humble attitude.
The extra lesson on the last night, the theme is light breathing.
I think it is the summary of this seminar.
Breathing relaxes the body, and relaxation makes the breathing lighter. In this state, the movements become natural, light and full of power.
Although Vladimir once mentioned the practice of light breathing in his book, compared to practicing blindly from the book, practicing under Adam's guidance was very different.
The state of lightness, is a very wonderful feeling.
Another special thing is that I found that when Adam was demonstrating practice, he would occasionally demonstrate with one hand and hold the Orthodox praying rope with the other hand. I asked him: Is this a habit? Or you do it for some purpose?
Adam said that he was praying while moving, silently reciting the Jesus prayer "Lord have mercy" in his heart.
As a Christian, this is quite familiar to me. Maybe I can try it another day when I practice!
Systema's breathing method is derived from the spiritual practice of Orthodox Christianity, so it has some religious elements. Most of the martial arts I have contact with require the practitioner to become a "ruthless person", while Systema encourages us to Be a "good person."
The so-called good person do not mean that we let others take what they want, but among the many options for solving problems, we are willing to choose kindness. Even if we have to deal with it harshly in some situations, it is a choice we make consciously.
Therefore, through a lot of practice, we learn to control, see the inner self, adjust, see again, adjust again.... this is what fascinates me about Systema.
Finally, I would like to thank Adam for his enthusiastic guidance, Teacher Shen Chiang and CEO Sandra of Systema Taipei for arranging such a great seminar, my dear wife for her support, and my partners who practice with me!
Becoming a good person is a long journey of cultivation. May we all do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
