Systema Fighthouse - Student's Diary


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Third Annual Outdoor Systema Seminar
with Martin Wheeler
Long Island, April 2010
[Seminar participants]

Notes and photos by Rachel Klingberg

>> Click for photos and reviews of seminars with Adam and Brendon Zettler, November 2008
>> Click for photos and reviews of seminars with Mikhail Ryabko and Vladimir Vasiliev, October 26 and 27, 2008
>> Click for photos and reviews of Gunpoint Supremacy Seminars with Konstantin Komarov, November 9-11, 2007

Martin came to Long Island for the Third Annual Outdoor Systema Seminar, hosted by Frank Fileti of Fighthouse Long Island. The weather was gorgeous and unlike the first outdoor seminar, the ground was free of goose droppings, making falling and rolling a much more pleasant option.

The topic of the seminar was team work in groups and with partners, particular slanted towards professionals. It appeared that a third of the attendees, perhaps more, were military, police, bodyguards, and other action professionals, so it was very inspiring to train with people who use these skills in critical situations.

Our first drill was five against one, and it was an exercise at which we all failed, even Martin. The one person stood in the middle of the group, being pushed from all directions, and when an opening in the circle presented, the middle person had to roll out, at which point the five other people tried to pin him down. The idea wasn't merely to run away; you had to accept the discomfort of being yanked around by five people. Some people put up longer fights than others, but in the end, we were all submitted.

One benefit of this drill is that it made competitive attitudes seem pointless. Competition has no place in Systema, except perhaps a little of the friendly good-natured variety when sparring. Other than that, there are some exercise at which you are bound to fail, or even must start from a position of failure, for example, two guys grabbing one person's arms and a third attacking, leaving the grabbed person to defend only with the legs. You have to think of surviving, not winning.

The drill also prepared us to work in a team, as with five guys pinning one, it's very easy to get in each others' way. Communication is important, and Martin stressed that, particular when working in pairs to take out a knife-wielding attacker.

Martin's advice to us was “don't get too involved.” The professional mindset is cool and unruffled, without significant emotional investment. He also advised us to work at our partner's level rather than our own. If your partner can't take a deep strike, then you must tailor you actions to suit his level. Generally I find that whichever partner has the least skill must set the tone. You don't want to scare off a beginner, nor discourage him by never permitting him to succeed. There is nothing honorable about crushing a beginner; and that leads back to the idea of not competing nor investing too much emotion in the outcome.

Some of the bodyguard work we did was in pairs, and involved separating from your “client” by spinning around with eyes closed, then finding him again after Martin gave the signal. At that point, you had to get your “client” to drop, then lead him to safety, away from Martin who was pointing a “gun” in one direction).

Taking someone down quickly, even when they expect it, is perhaps not the most pleasant thing for them. I ended up tackling my partner a few times. It did get her down fast, but was probably not that comfortable.

Towards the end of day two we did a few drills involving the entire group, half of whom had knives, the other half did not. As I recall, we closed our eyes and milled around, and when Martin clapped his hands, we opened our eyes and those without knives had to disarm those with knives.

Martin gave us some tips before we started this drill. He said not to look aggressive or dangerous. As we learned during Major Komarov's Gunpoint Supremacy seminars, the second you draw your gun and make it visible, you endanger yourself because whether you are right or wrong, the person wielding the gun will be the first to be shot by others. Martin told us that if you look dangerous, people will kill you. He told an interesting story of Mikhail Ryabko during a military operation in which his unit was ambushed, with extremely high fatalities. Mikhail escaped by dragging his rifle along the ground and walking away in a slouch, looking completely harmless, as if he were just going for a stroll. The enemy ignored him because he did not appear dangerous.

I happen to be blessed with a harmless appearance. Most people I meet are surprised to find out I practice martial arts. Especially with my hair in pigtails and no makeup, I look a good deal younger than I actually am. Additionally, I have a very mild-mannered way about me, and I almost never raise my voice. Not to brag about any of this, because it's just the way I am. A guy who happens to be a muscular 250 pounds can't help the way he looks either, and big guys aren't necessarily meaner than smaller ones, but that's how they are generally regarded.

Being underestimated is one of the greatest gifts of being a woman. Few men expect women to be much good at fighting, so we usually have the element of surprise that is not available to the 250-pound guy.

We did this crowd drill a few times, switching the knives among us. I noticed there was a clear division between those who were relaxed and those were rigid. It was almost as if we were in two different time-frames, with the rigid people sitting ducks and the relaxed people hard to pin down.

When Martin clapped his hands, I was without a knife. I noticed a guy standing there rigidly, knife in his outstretched hand, looking around for someone to attack. He stood out like a sore thumb, and with the knife outstretched, he looked dangerous. In contrast, several people strolling around in a relaxed manner struck me as very professional. I knew that, if they had knives, there was no point in trying to disarm them, as they gave every indication of being difficult to quell. I chose the easy target, the frozen guy with his knife outstretched vulnerability. I walked up behind him casually and disarmed him with ease. He was completely surprised at my ambush. I looked around for someone else to disarm, but everyone was engaged.

When I had the knife, I didn't play fair. I snuck up on two people distracted by their struggle and held my knife to the guy's throat, even though he was already dealing with an attack from the other guy. These group exercises were fairly chaotic and I didn't see any reason to play by rules.

Martin told us that we should choose the speed. This is an elusive concept; if your partner wants to go fast, how can you do anything but match his speed? I recommend reading up on Boyd's loop to learn more about stretching out the timeline. If you can get inside the Boyd loop, it's like being on a different plane than everyone else. You become a point of calm while all around you people are scrambling madly. I felt a little that way during that moment when I ambushed the guy from behind. At least half the people surrounding me were armed, and yet everyone ignored me utterly. It was like being invisible. The guy didn't even realize it was I who disarmed him until he was already on the ground. I think that is largely due to not looking particular dangerous and walking in a calm and relaxed way, as if I didn't care at all about the outcome. I think it is also due to my lack of determination to succeed. I never really expect to succeed, but nor do I expect to fail. I would not be surprised at either outcome and have nothing invested either way, so it's easier to relax.

Vlad told Martin the biggest factor in success is desire. That is also what is says in the Russian System Guidebook. But as you desire to improve your Systema game, it's not the same thing as wanting to beat your partner, to disarm him, or to avoid being disarmed. You can improve almost all the time if you try hard enough. Everyone has off days, but if you stick with the training, for the most part it's an upward trend as you gain skill. However if you desire to disarm your partner 100% of the time, or to never be taken down, or to always be the best fighter in any group, you'll be disappointed and that causes tension to accumulate because the feeling of failure usually causes internal tension.

The bodyguard work is very interesting because it distracts you from thinking too much. Your “client's” safety becomes the key goal and you don't care so much about looking foolish or being less than perfect. I remember Major Komarov telling us that we should not let our fear of being shot dictate our movements. It is always a possibility that one will be hit during gun battles, and moving fearfully to avoid gunfire is probably as futile as running to avoid raindrops.

This isn't like most of my seminar reviews, because I didn't have a chance to take notes immediately after the training, as is my usual way. Instead I was busy getting back on the train or catching a ride with another student, and company requires conversation, for courtesy's sake, so I only jotted a few things down when I was alone on the subway. However the Annual Outdoor Systema Seminar will now by the Biannual Outdoor Systema Seminar, and Martin is due back on Long Island in the fall, so I hope to have more to share with you after that takes place.

Martin looking like an innocent bystander rather than someone who just handled multiple knife attacks with ease.	You would hardly guess that Martin was the target.


Multiple knife attacks - no problem!	These two guys had just attacked Martin, but he tangled them up so that they look like they attacked each other.
Martin and Rachel