Tonight we had a special guest from out of town, our Systema friend Bill Parravano. Thank you Bill for visiting us and sharing your knowledge! We started with a great warm up, first doing some breath work and then combining it with 'soft' and smooth movement on the ground.

We then went to the parking lot and started working in and around the cars:
-Familiarization with your vehicle: the different angles and how they can help you or limit you in different situations. Getting in and out of the various seats in one quick movement. Moving inside the car and using the seat belt. Getting out and taking low cover as quickly as possible. Opening the door and getting into the driver seat as quickly as possible (with high heart beat and then with vertigo...). 
-Familiarization with the street asphalt. Soft and smooth movement on the ground. Rolls, up and down, movement.
-Knife/Gun defense situations in and around the car.
-"Help your friend escape drill" - how to remove the threat from your friend in one quick and precise movement (without getting him slashed or stabbed). 

We finally ended up inside with a good 'walking massage' to relax the psyche (and the body). 

So what did you like tonight and what were some of the things you learned?

The last weeks of 2011 were very cold here in South Florida - seriously :-) -and in a few classes we worked with our jackets on... Great for manipulation of your opponents 'form' and many other 'applications'.

Please share your feedback!

Our last segment of training in 2011 was "work in confined spaces". Through many different drills and scenarios we studied subjects like sensitivity, precision, economy of motion, timing, distance, relationship, psychology of combat and many other topics! 

If you joined us for some/all of these... what were your thoughts? What did you like most? What challenged you most? What did you learn?