Category Archives: Martial Arts

Move with Ease, Freedom and Power: The Path to Optimal Health and Combat Effectiveness

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Last week I had my 1-1 with Vladimir and as always the conversation was light, illuminating and insightful.

Vladimir shared his insights into movement, how it should feel and how that can enhance your skills and quality of life.

As we gear up for his upcoming Movement Masterclass in September, I wanted to share some of these thoughts and ideas with you.

Three stages of Movement Mastery

1. Internal Freedom: The Breath

The journey to free movement begins internally, with the breath. Vladimir emphasized the importance of checking if you feel freedom inside yourself. Are you already experiencing tension that locks you up? Start in a static position by observing the free movement of your breath in and out of your body. Notice if it flows effortlessly or feels forced and restricted. The key here is simple: if your breath doesn’t feel free, it will be challenging to find freedom in your movement.

2. Freedom in Body Parts

Once you’ve assessed your breath, the next step is to examine the different parts of your body. Vladimir explained that you need to check if there is freedom in the movement of your head and neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, torso, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. Do any areas feel restricted or painful? The goal is to move these parts in a way that creates space rather than restriction, just like the ‘play’ in a gearstick.

This is also the way to move to begin the healing process around injuries.

3. Freedom in Action

The third stage is to test that freedom of movement when the “tires hit the tarmac.” This involves maintaining that feeling of internal freedom during progressively more challenging movements, such as walking, running, push-ups, squats, leg raises, and ground movements at various speeds. Can you sustain that freedom when performing these activities?

But it doesn’t stop there. Vladimir challenges us to maintain this freedom when interacting with others, such as when someone grabs you or during sparring. Do fast, aggressive movements bring tension to your body, whether they come from yourself or another person? Does aggression or confrtontation itself make you tense? This emotion will take away your freedom.

The Lens of Movement

Our body and movements are the lens through which we see and experience the world. If your movement is free, relaxed, easy and calm , that is how you will experience life. Conversely, if your movements are tense, effortful, choppy, erratic, and restricted, that will colour your perception of the world.

Join the Journey: Movement Masterclass

In the upcoming Movement Masterclass, Vladimir will guide us through finding freedom inside our movements. We will begin with solo drills, progress to partner drills, and then test our skills in more dynamic scenarios such as grabs, multiple opponents and knife work. This holistic approach ensures that we not only understand the principles intellectually but also embody them physically.

This week at the Academy, I will be incorporating these concepts into our classes. I invite you to explore these ideas and begin your journey towards freer movement. Together, let’s prepare for the profound experiences that await us in September.

To secure your spot in Vladimir’s Movement Masterclass and embark on this transformative journey, click here to register.

By integrating these insights and practices into daily life, you can unlock a more optimal level of movement and life experience. I look forward to seeing you in class and at the masterclass in September.

Here’s to moving freely, living fully, and see the world through the lens of freedom and calm.

Click the image below to find out more and register

All my best as always,

Matt.

Testimonial from a former Royal Marine Commando

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…”Instead of scanning my environment for threats, I now scan my mind and body for tension…”

 

 

 

 

The following testimonial is from Billy, an ex Royal Marine 45 Commando Sniper.

Hi Matt

It has been a couple of weeks now since your 2 day systema breathing weekend and the principles have remained solid and constant.
Since 2007 I have been having intermittent flash backs to Afghanistan where I served as a sniper with 45 Commando. The memories would be triggered by a certain smell or landscape. My imagination would wander and feelings and strong emotions would get stirred up. Before I knew it 20 minutes would elapse in complete unawareness of the present moment and my surroundings. This is not ideal at 03:00 when you are flying down the M5 at 80mph thinking the rear car lights are RPG’s) these uncontrolled thoughts and vivid memories had the tendency to ruin the rest of my day and leave me with an underlying bubbling anger.
During the outdoor exercise that you did whilst walking across the field I had a mini flashback to a raid I was involved in. However the difference this time was that instead of getting carried away I remained anchored in my breath which prevented any emotional attachment. It seemed to establish a present awareness that caught the thought before it took hold. Although the memory was still there it seemed more like a dream that faded the more I concentrated on the breath.
I have continued to apply the whole body breathing exercises during the waking day and it is becoming almost automatic. I have realised that for me this is not a one off thing to be done a couple of hours a week but a way of life where I remain ‘on watch’ over myself. Instead of scanning my surroundings for threats, I now scan my mind and body for tension.
An unexpected bonus of this is that the chronic aches and pains I have are also starting to subside and life is becoming brighter. Thank God.
Best regards,
Billy.

It is not just our Military that suffer from and live with these episodes. They are on a spectrum that we can all suffer from at some point in our lives.

Systema’s approach may work with everyone, but we all have more power to heal and clean ourselves out than we believe.

What Billy was referring to are not just breathing techniques. They are a deep understanding of how your breathing is linked to and affected by emotions, thoughts, movement, strain, tension and posture. There are tools to learn how to be sensitive to this and then how to manage it. Once we have the tools, they are then ours.

My sincere thanks to Billy for sharing such a powerful experience.

I have listed a couple of upcoming opportunities to explore this deeper. One on-line and one at an upcoming 5-day camp exploring the fundamentals of Systema’s approach.

Matt Hill

The 28 Day Challenge below gives you a day by day guide to Systema’s approach and is great for exploring breathing and movement for performance and healing.

The booking is also open for this years UK Camp on 04-08 July – the camp is now half full.

Click the links below for Matt’s Systema:

Where do you Train? – Optimise your skill, awareness & health

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Systema Logo - Where do you Train?Where do you train?

If, like many others, you only see training taking place inside the dojo or gym, you are missing out on most of your training opportunities. In fact when it comes to practicing a martial art, you may even say that you will never truly get it.

A martial art is a way of life. A way of approaching every aspect of your life. The way that you stand, sit, walk, breathe are all training opportunities. The way that you deal with people, situations or setbacks are some of the best training opportunities. The way that you observe people, rooms or landscapes are again, all opportunities to train. When it comes to Systema, they are ways to not only train your martial skill and awareness, but also your health. In fact one of the reasons that I appreciate Systema so much, is its moment by moment ability to become conscious of and thereby improve your health, mobility, awareness and relaxation skills.

The dojo or gym is where you learn a particular skill, that may be a technique, principle or concept. But you will never master it there. If the next time you think about it, is when you go back to the gym, even if that is every day, it is not enough. It has to be embodied. It has to become part of every thought, every movement. It is a way of thinking, breathing, moving, being.

For me, Systema is a feeling. I am either in a feeling of Systema, or I am not. This feeling is relaxed, balanced, smooth, calm. Wherever I am or whatever I am doing. As soon as I notice something pulling me out of that feeling into tension, I check whether it is appropriate or not, and if not, I release it and drop back into the feeling of Systema.

Our bodies communicate thier to us through feelings: Pain, happiness, fatigue, tension, emotion etc before concepts and ideas. These are our first internal representation of what is going on. So if you can establish your baseline feeling as a good (clean) one: light, relaxed, calm, balanced and notice when you are pulled out of it, you are well on your way to making Systema a habit.

I am currently writing my next book, ‘Living Systema’. It is about taking the concept of training out of the dojo or gym and into your life. A way to bring your training to every moment to improve your skills, awareness and health. A way to make the act of living your training. In short, the way to improve yourself.

I will share these concepts more during the 4 day camp coming up in Wiltshire at the end of June. One of the key benefits of the camp is to make you more aware and conscious in every moment of the 4 days. Training outdoors is a one of the best ways I know to breathe life into your training. 

I look forward to sharing these ideas with you.

Respect and best wishes,


Matt 

I will also be sharing many of these ideas at the upcoming course in Marple, Lancs on the 21st May. Email me for more details.

Click the links below for Matt’s systema:

Upcoming Courses:

  • 20-21 May – Matt Hill Marple Seminar, UK. Contact Chris Wallace of Systema Marple to book.
  • 29 June – 02 July  – UK 4 Day Systema Summer Camp – Wiltshire with Matt Hill. Click here for more information and to book.
  • 22-23 July – River Wye Canoeing and Camping Trip. Click here for more information
  • 28 Aug – 02 Sept Sweden Total Immersion Systema Camp with the Systema Twins. Nearly Sold out. Click here to get one of the last remaining places.
  • 16-19 Nov 4 Day Systema Intensive with Matt Hill – Wiltshire. Click here for more information.
  • More dates to be added soon.

Systema 4 Day Intensive – Wiltshire 16-19 Nov

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Nov Intensive 2017The 4 day Intensive is running on the 16-19 Nov in Melksham.
The aim is to cover the range of systema work, including some outdoor and environmental training (weather dependant).
We will also cover elements from the Systema Twins recent Sweden Immersion Camp and Vladimir Vasiliev’s upcoming UK Camp.
Systema Progression:
The course will progress over the four days covering, ground, standing, stick, knife, multiple attacker, environmental, and testing phases leading to an optional video recording of the final testing phase for you to keep and if desired send to Vladimir Vasiliev for feedback and instructor validation/renewal.
Health and Conditioning:
We will also cover the Systema approach to mobility, stretching, massage, deep and functional relaxation and conditioning work.
It will be intense but a lot of fun, with time for relaxation and use of the studio for your own free training. There is already a lot of interest and limited spaces.
Please let me know by return ASAP as to your interest.
The cost is £199.

It will be a small group with lots of opportunity for questions, discussion and peer learning. The aim is to make big leaps in your understanding, teaching and execution of Systema.

To pay by paypal click here: (Cost is £207 to account for paypal fee)
To pay by BACS please email me for details.

 

Best wishes for your training and health,


Matt.

P.S To help keep costs down there is also the opportunity to sleep on the mat at my gym for a nominal nightly fee. First come first served.

Systema books available on Amazon:
Systema Health

Click on the image above to order your copy of Systema Health from Amazon

Systema CombatClick on the image above to order your copy of Systema Combat from Amazon

Training Tools – Systema Combat

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Systema CombatThe short extract below is from one of two books being released shortly. This extract is from Systema Combat. It highlights some useful tools that can enhance your training and be applied to any martial art.

Begin with pushes not strikes. In many of the drills you push or strike. As your skill develops this will naturally progress to faster and stronger pushes and/or strikes over time. Try to spend a lot of time with just pushes. Your reward for this patience is a strong, deep strike that is readily deployable when needed.

You are both working, all of the time. With all drills in Systema whether you are feeding attacks or receiving attacks you are both working, so make sure that no part of the work is done mindlessly. In many ways you learn Systema by having it done to you. The skill is transmitted body to body. So when you feed attacks in to your partner, be completely aware and conscious and do it with every fibre of your being.

Adjust the volume. First work at a slow walking pace to build the skill, then at a fast walk, then at a run. If you find yourself continually making mistakes slow it down, find and fix the problem and then gradually speed up again.

Variety is the spice of life – and Systema: Don’t always stand straight on. Vary it. Stand side on, with your back to the partner, oblique. Work all of the angles. Remember that Systema is not training for a ring or mat where you are ready, it is for outside where you could be in any position at any time and in any state of readiness.

Play, experiment and explore. Systema does not teach through a set series of kata or techniques. It is important to note that the pictures shown are intended as a guide only and show just one way of doing things. There are in fact an infinite number of ways to respond in almost every case. Play with the principles, experiment and explore infinite variety. Try it with your eyes closed, in a corner, in a tight space, with hands tied etc. Have fun but stay safe. My deep desire is that through the logical progressions in these drills, you will begin freely creating your own drills, to the extent where you are training in Systema in every moment. By all means use my progressions as a guide, but you then have to just move randomly and naturally. Try not to form patterns in your movements.

It all boils down to movement. Really Systema is the study of movement. We study body movement, relaxation, breathing and footwork so as not to rely on strength or speed. There will always be a time when you lose those. In Systema, we train to survive and prevail through superior movement.

Work from contact. An inevitability of combat is that you will get hit. In Systema we do a lot of work from contact, for practical and psychological purposes. There will be times when you haven’t had chance to block, redirect or move. Contact drills teach the body and psyche to deal with hits and to  look after themselves. You learn body intelligence.

Finally, it begins and ends with the breath. Systema begins and ends here. Try to notice every time you hold your breath. Every time you hold your breath and move, tension and fear will come into your body. To be truly free in your movements, you have to be free in your breath. Always look to make your breath the engine or driver of your movement, not a ‘byproduct’ of it.

You can read more about Systema Combat in Matt’s new book, Systema Combat, available through Amazon and all good bookshops.

Best wishes with your training and and for your continued good health,


Matt.

New Systema Health and Systema Combat Books Available through Amazon

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A5 LeafletThe new Systema Health and Combat books are now available for purchase through Amazon in Paperback and ebook. They offer 25 health practices and 25 combat drills to enhance your health and combative skill respectively. These books were written to support beginners just stepping out on their Systema journey, and for beginners like myself, who have been studying much longer. For teachers they offer 50 easy to follow practices and drills leading to unlimited variations that can be used in classes or your own home.

Thank you and my very best wishes for your training and health.

Click here to see the books on Amazon

Strike Deep Seminar – Feb 14th 10am – 5pm

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Strike DeepStrike Deep

Melksham, Wiltshire. 14th Feb 2016. 10am-5pm.

This seminar is designed for those wishing gain a deeper insight into Systema Striking, for defence and for health.

You will look at how to strike heavier and deeper. To strike in such a way as to (in the words of Mikhail Ryabko) not break the attacker, but to break their desire to attack you.

You will learn to heal with strikes. To soften the recipient and remove their stresses and fears.

You will also learn to protect your own body while striking. The world of martial arts is littered with broken bodies and spirits. People are not taught how to hit properly, as a result they break themselves.

Neither are they taught to receive strikes properly. This causes unnecessary fear and injury.

There will be lots of free work giving you the time to practice the skills in a dynamic fashion, at your own pace.

The session will be underpinned with the Systema breathwork to overcome fatigue, tension, irritation, pain and fear and to improve endurance and performance.

We will finish with Systema Massage which, like the strikes, has to be deep to be effective. This session will heal, restore and rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit.

Price £49

Member rate £39

Price on the day £59

Spaces are limited. Click here to secure your place.

Matt.

Systema Vs Bullying

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Systema Against Bullying

Louie has been training in my family and Junior classes for about a year. A better brought up, nicer, more polite boy you couldn’t wish to meet. He is in his second year at senior school.

Louie didn’t tell me about the following incident, his Dad did. Louie was too shy. When I approached him he did talk to me though and together with his Dad Louie wrote this short piece:

It was lunchtime when I saw one of my friends in the distance on the main field of the school playground.

He was surrounded by some bigger lads that I had seen before, but didn’t know too well.

The next thing I saw was that my friend had been pushed. Straight away I knew that he was being bullied, so I began to run over to see if I could help. Before I got there one of the bullies had punched him in the stomach and he crumpled to the ground.

I felt a combination of fear and anger. Fear because I was about to rush into a confrontation and anger that my friend had been hurt. My Systema breathing started immediately to calm and relax myself.

I shouted ‘enough!’ to them to try and get them to stop. One of them came to try and push me away but they weren’t able to get much power into their push because I had already started to soften my body just like Matt had taught me. He kept trying to push me but his pushes kept slipping off as I moved my body with the pushes.

I was still focussed on reaching my friend, so the next time he pushed, I moved my body to flow with it and stepped in and countered with a push of my own, using his push against him, which sent him off balance and out of my way.

The main bully saw this and also began to move away. My friend had begun to get back to his feet and I asked him if he was ok.

I now realised that all of the bullies had gone away and it felt great to have saved my friend thanks to Systema.

Louie aged 12.

As they say all it takes for bad to prevail is for good people to stand by and do nothing. Louie didn’t just stand by.

I thank Louie for the great example of how Systema can be used to confront bullying. Without undue damage to himself or anyone else, Louie acted in an effective and proportionate way with strength, courage and humility.

Junior classes run on Monday early evening and Family classes on Saturday mornings from 9am.
At classes children learn much more than just the physical skill of how to look after themselves or others.

The unique drills and practice of Systema teach them how to be calm, stable, strong and resilient in life, not just in an altercation.