We have been back from the Borneo jungle a week now and it is a relief to say that everyone we took out came safely back.

The Borneo trip was the adventure that I hoped it would be.

We stepped back in time….. 140 million years to be precise and submerged ourselves in undisturbed, pristine jungle.

One of the expedition members commented to me, as he looked around in awe at towering trees, vines hanging down and the river flowing past, that he never expected it to be quite so stereotypical; like scenes from a film in his imagination.

Aside from our group of explorers, we didn’t encounter another soul during our week in the jungle. The world shrunk and grew at the same time.

But it was hard, very hard indeed. In fact for some, there were times when taking another step really was too much.

The lack of flat ground and how tough the terrain is in the jungle was a huge surprise to the expedition members. Like the Grand Old Duke of York’s men, we were either going up or down and it was steep. Many of the climbs were what the locals called ‘knee to forehead’. So termed because as you climb, your knee is literally hitting your forehead! Each person was also carrying 20kg in their pack, food and everything needed for a week without resupply.

We walked all day, in soaking wet boots and by day two, some peoples’ feet were literally falling apart. Skin sloughing off and blisters that quickly became open wounds. I was running a foot clinic each morning to treat their sore feet, tape them up and just keep them going.

So what helped?

Firstly it was Systema Breathing and sensitivity. One of the things that you have to understand quickly is that you can’t fight the jungle. It will always win. You have to learn to move softly, smoothly, efficiently, cleanly. Treading softly saves your feet and your energy levels. It also allows you to change direction and step back softly when a, ‘take a step back’ plant, with razor like barbs catches hold of you and literally makes you step back to unhook yourself.

Although not new, the effect of the breathing skills were a revelation for the team. We did a short lesson on it at the start of day 1 and literally 10 minutes into the walk, people were utilising it to full effect. One of the team who has been training with me for over 5 years came to me and said, ‘I never truly appreciated the importance and power of the breath work until now.’ This is true of much of Systema. It prepares you for physically and psychologically extreme situations and when you are in them, you finally understand the importance.

Accumulating relaxation and recovery.
The focus on conscious breathing allowed people to clean themselves with each step. So rather than accumulating tension and fatigue with each step, you accumulate relaxation and recovery. You literally try to gain strength as you go along.

Running it like a Platoon.
The second thing that helped was a military approach to communication, leadership and control. During the week in the jungle, the team had a good insight into what being part of a platoon was like.

The group were split into teams with a leader appointed for each team that changed each day. Each person in the group was paired with a buddy who knew where they were at all times and was there to help. So each person was one of a pair, each pair was one of a four and each four was one of an eight.

The team were surprised that every moment was occupied. No-one recalls being sat down thinking, ‘I wonder what to do now?’ They were either preparing to do something or in the midst of doing it. From setting up or taking down sleeping areas, to cooking and eating, washing, looking after their feet, walking all day or finally sleeping, every moment was full.

Far from being burdensome, this gave them a focus. The calls, “Group leaders on me!” or “Two minutes to move!” will echo long in peoples’ memories. The constant activity was a comfort because there was no time to over think or ‘psyche’ themselves out of what lay ahead or was left behind.

Keeping people busy kept them alert, focussed and ‘switched-on’, which was vital in a location where a foot wrong could easily take us from a hard walk to a survival situation. If someone had broken an ankle or cut themselves badly with a Parang (local large machete for jungle usage), getting them to a hospital would be a long, hard undertaking. Even with a Doctor, Paramedic and Nurse amongst our team of adventurers and with full evacuation plans.

The Last of the Mohicans.

During the trip we were accompanied by 4 guides and 6 native Iban trackers. The Iban are the last headhunter tribe in Borneo.

Spending a week with the Iban in their native environment was an indescribable privilege. As a boy I watched ‘Dances with Wolves‘ and ‘The Last of the Mohicans‘, where people lived alongside ancient cultures and were transformed by the experience. I dreamed of what it would be like and lamented that those days had passed. The privilege of spending a week with them was not lost on me. It brought a tear to my eye.

The way they moved through their jungle home and lived off it was awe inspiring. One particular moment was just like a page out of a book.

The Iban showed us how to fish one night, using bamboo and man-made hooks, that literally took them seconds to prepare and start using. Just as they were showing us this, one of them pointed and said a word which meant, “Look!” As I turned, the chief’s son was walking across the river, he dived into a deep pool in the way that natives can, naturally, silently, deliberately. Seconds later he came up holding a fish!

I had read a passage in the book, ‘Into The Heart Of Borneo’, about a naturalist going deep into the jungles in search of the lost rhinoceros where that exact scene was described perfectly. That moment alone was worth the trip for me.

Others came on the trip for different reasons. Choke points in life, a sense of adventure, the desire to do the trip of a lifetime, completely ‘stepping off the grid’ for a period of time, re-engaging with a natural environmental and adjusting perspective on life, amongst the many reasons for undertaking such a testing and rewarding expedition.

I am immensely grateful to and dare I say proud of each and every one of the individuals who came on this expedition into the Borneo jungle. There wasn’t a single fall out between them. Their fortitude in adversity, sense of humour, respect for the environment and its peoples and the speed with which they acquired the necessary skills to survive the jungle humbled me. I knew what to expect…. they didn’t.

Alvin, our main guide and a veteran of the Indonesian Campaigns, who acted as my Platoon Sergeant, echoed the same sentiment. He said that they were the real heroes. Both he and I had experience of the environment; they came in and just got on with all the physical and mental tests that lay ahead.

Off the back of the huge success that this trip has been, we are already talking about the next expedition in 2021.

It will be another remote experience, giving you a feeling that you could be the first to walk there. It will also be led by native guides.

Some of you have asked about coming on the next one and I will be in touch with you as things firm up in the coming months.

My very best wishes for your training and health as always,

Matt.