Training Systema can be a little bit overwhelming. It has so many layers and so much depth that each time you learn one thing, it will enable you to see many more new things that you still need to develop. In some ways this can be demotivating, but I find it one of the biggest advantages of training and teaching Systema. There is always plenty of opportunity to work on yourself and many different ways to do this. This gives everybody the chance to find there own way in Systema. And most Systema instructors off course keep developing as well. This makes that seminars, especially by top instructors, never get boring. Even if you have trained with them before, both teacher and student usually have changed, so the teacher can show new things and the student has developed the ability to see new things.
For me this was certainly the case with Kwan Lee’s seminar. The previous seminar of Kwan I was able to attend is already a couple of years ago. In that time I was struggling to recognize the connection between all the different exercises in seminars. For example between the physical ‘fitness’ exercises and the partner work. During Kwan’s previous seminar in the Netherlands I certainly learned a lot and had a good time, but I am quite sure this time around I was better equipped to appreciate the depth of Kwan’s seminar.
So what about this seminar? For me the seminar was mostly about agency and control, how this translates to Systema and how you can train this.
During the seminar Kwan showed a lot of physical drills to improve mobility and control of the body, such as joint mobility and how to use the structure of your body in your movements. These drills translated for example in dealing with punches against the wall where due to lack of space the ability to move ‘within’ your own body becomes more important. Or in using the wall as a tool to create force and/or momentum when you have your back against it.
We did several drills where we practiced dealing with both the physical and mental side of impact. Stepping on each other, using the breath to deal with impact, dealing with impact during breath holds or on the in breath. During all the exercises Kwan emphasized the importance of observing yourself: what happens with your body, what happens with your mind, are you able to stay in contact with the situation, are you not ‘checking out’.
The third main point I was able to follow concerned working with your ‘opponent’ by properly seeing him or her. We did several interesting exercises on this topic, but my favorite one was copying the movements and the walk of your partner. For me it really made my own ability to see another persons posture/tensions/attitude really clear, whereas before I was much less conscious of this.
In the end these three points culminated on the Sunday afternoon in ‘practical’ exercises with legwork and punches. This was off course the moment where it got really difficult (not that the rest was easy 🙂 ). Even when only in exercise we (or just me) lose all lessons learned so easily. Anger, fear, ambition come to take over and agency and control slip away. Nevertheless the positive atmosphere and good training partners created the possibility to reset and try again.
In short: a very good and instructive seminar. Many thanks to the organizers Patrick, Vivian and Gertjan, to the other participants and of course to Kwan!