I spent the time in Czech at the end of February priming everyone for the Summer Course in July.  We worked on the importance of studying each bit of advice from the classics in synergy with the others.

“Raise the head as if suspended by a rope from above” goes naturally with “lighten the top of the head”.  There were a few problems with ‘lighten’ in translation, but when everyone realised that they didn’t need a light bulb on the top of their head, (which I would argue with) they realised that when they tried to ‘straighten’ the head they invariably tensed the neck muscles, but when they ‘suspended’ and ‘lightened’ they felt like it was ‘floating’ upward and the entire body moved with a lighter feel.  Add on to that the feeling of tying a weight on to the bottom of the spine and it allowed a gentle opening of every vertebra in the spinal column and access for the bodyweight to the soft tissue of the legs.

This also opened the waist and allowed it to ‘loosen’ and freely drive and manipulate power through the entire body.  The head was the start of the ‘5 bows’ (spine, arms and legs) and the spine itself consists of a separate 3 bows, the upper spine is bowed by the action of the head, the upper back by the ‘sinking of the chest’ and ‘raising of the back’ and the lower back by the softening into the legs and pulling the PC muscle to draw the coccyx forward.  The whole bowing process is driven by ‘peng’, which opens the joints and soft tissue, allowing a free flow of energy and with an action like blowing up a balloon ‘frames’ the entire body with ‘animated’ energy.

We looked at how to put our ‘strength in the tendons’ by angling and rotating the joints to ‘reticulate’ them through the body connecting the power down to the feet.

We finished by working on ‘continuous movement from the waist’ to make the connected, light, framed and spiralling power become actualised into that essential Tai Chi motion that repels all boarders!

By pre framing everyone’s mind for the Summer, it means that as they are already moving in that direction and won’t feel too uncomfortable as we apply these ideas throughout the form!

Don’t forget that on the Instructors Course in April we’re working on the Jian and Dao with a deeper level of skill, so bring your wooden swords!

The training of our minds is generally considered to be just as much a part of the martial arts as the training of our bodies. There can be no doubt that the mind needs to be correctly conditioned if the martial artist is to perform at their peak. So how do we go about training our mind in the most effective and efficient way?

To train the mind we have many methods available to us. We have the older methods such as meditation and the modern methods coming from sports science; all of which can be very beneficial. Personally through, I feel that our mind training works best when it is a fully integrated part of training. Mind training is not something separate or additional to the physical aspects of the martial arts; mind training should always be an integral part of training.

Hironori Otsuka – the founder of Wado-Ryu Karate – said that there are three kinds of strength: physical strength, technical strength and mental strength. He went on to say that if any type of strength is deficient it would be “the downfall of the individual”. Good martial arts training should therefore develop us physically, technically and mentally. It is the mental aspect of training that we will be focussing on in this article.

Live combat is extremely stressful and therefore our training needs to ensure that we develop the mental fortitude to deal with that stress. Quietly meditating can be good for our health and a great antidote to the stresses and strains of everyday life; however, it will do little to prepare us for combat. Our martial training should be as close to real combat as safety and skill level permit. And that means training needs to be stressful.

We need at least two sessions a week that take us to our limits. The training should be fear inducing and intense. If you find yourself dreading these stressful high-intensity sessions then you can be sure that your training is headed in the right direction and that these sessions will mentally strengthen you.

Whether sparring, drilling techniques or working out on the bag, we need to be constantly mindful of the quality of our techniques so that our training develops us technically. We should also train with intensity and to the point of exhaustion in order to develop ourselves physically. Intense and technically precise training is very demanding and the temptation to take it easy, reduce our standards or quit before we reach our limits is always present. It is when we do not succumb to these temptations and keep pushing forward through the discomfort and distress that we will develop the mental strength, resolve and fortitude so central to the martial arts.

To develop our physical strength, we need to attempt activities that are currently outside our capabilities. To get stronger, we attempt to lift more weight that we can comfortably manage. To increase our aerobic and anaerobic capacities we try to do more than we can currently do in a given time. Through attempting to accomplish that which currently lies beyond our reach, our bodies will adapt, our physical fitness will be advanced and the task becomes easier to accomplish. Things are very similar when it comes to developing ourselves mentally.

Any training that induces fear, a desire to quit or a yearning to take it easy has the potential to make us mentally stronger. A good training session should be technically, physically and mentally demanding. To develop, we need to be reaching beyond that which we are currently capable and that which we currently find comfortable.

When our training is stressful and mentally demanding, our minds will adapt to this stress and ensure that we are able to deal with the stress of combat and therefore function when it counts. It’s not just a matter of throwing ourselves in at the deep end though. Just like all other aspects of training, the increase in intensity needs structured and relevant to our current level.

If our training consists of what we can already achieve then it will not be physically or mentally demanding enough to stimulate growth. We need to be outside our comfort zone in order to progress. However, if we are too far outside our comfort zone we may find ourselves overwhelmed and this will again ensure we don’t progress. The key, therefore, is for our training to push us outside our comfort zone by just the right amount. In my mental strength book and DVD I call this being in “the zone of development”.

A useful analogy is weight lifting. Too little weight and we remain in the comfort zone and therefore we don’t stimulate growth. Too much weight and we overstress ourselves, we may suffer injury, and again we don’t grow. To strengthen our bodies we need to lift the right amount of weight. Things work in a very similar way when it comes to strengthening our minds.

We use physical resistances (weights) to stimulate an increase in physical strength. We use exposure to fear, discomfort and distress to stimulate an increase in mental strength. The collective term I use for the feelings and thoughts that we can use to develop mental strength is “mental resistance”. If our training is to develop mental strength then it needs to include the right amount fear, discomfort and distress (enough mental resistance to move us into the zone of development). This is true martial mind training. Training that involves working through mental resistance has far more value and effect from a martial perspective than any amount of sitting cross-legged and counting your breaths.

For many years I’ve made use of numerous forms of mind training and they all have value. However, when it comes to making us better martial artists there is no getting away from the fact that exposure and adaptation to fear, discomfort and distress is the most vital and most effective form of mind training.

Of course martial arts are not only about combat. True martial arts training should not only make us formidable warriors, it should also develop our characters. Some feel that the martial arts are either completely combat based (jutsu) or solely about character development (do). I’ve never felt that these two aspects of the martial arts are in any way mutually exclusive. Indeed, I feel that there can be no character development in the martial arts without intense and pragmatic combat training.

In Karate-Do Nyumon, Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan Karate) wrote, “Do not think of karate as belonging only to the dojo … the sprit of karate practise and the elements of training are applicable to each and every aspect of our daily lives.”  He goes on to say, “One whose spirit and mental strength have been strengthened by sparring with a never-say-die attitude should find no challenge too great to handle. One who has undergone long years of physical pain and mental agony to learn one punch, one kick should be able to face any task, no matter how difficult, and carry it through to the end. A person like this can truly be said to have learnt karate.”

It is the severity of our martial training that makes us mentally stronger and this strength will inevitability spill over into our daily lives. Is it a coincidence that the toughest, hardest training, most potent martial artists I know are also warm, gentle and successful people?

Leading martial realist Geoff Thompson is an inspirational man to be around who has taken the qualities gained from his intense martial training to become a BAFTA winning screenwriter. Peter Consterdine must be the most fearsome martial artist I’ve ever trained under yet he’s an absolute gentleman who has been very successful in business. As anyone who has attended Peter’s Thursday morning “training day” sessions can tell you, these sessions induce plenty of fear, discomfort and distress. They are therefore perfect for developing mental strength. Through training in this way everything else, both inside and outside the dojo, seems easy by comparison; just as Funakoshi states it should in Karate-Do Nyumon.

Intense martial training develops our mental strength and makes us capable of living our lives as we would wish to. Through our martial training, we not only get mentally stronger, we also get accustomed to reaching beyond ourselves. We are therefore more capable of reaching beyond ourselves in other areas of our lives. Our martial training gets us used to discomfort and helps us to understand that such discomfort leads to growth. If our training is easy, we don’t improve our martial skills. Likewise, if our lives are ‘plain sailing’, we are also not developing ourselves or our situation.

It is through attempting difficult tasks that we develop the ability to accomplish them. The key thing is to ensure that we are consistently pushing ourselves and spending time in “the zone of development”. As we attempt to reach beyond ourselves we will face obstacles that will develop the skills and strengths we need to achieve our goals.

Both in the dojo and in life, being in the “zone of development” will be very uncomfortable at first; however, it is that very discomfort that will develop your abilities and ensure that you eventually succeed. For example, if you take on a new job, it certainly won’t be as easy as the old familiar job, but any difficulty experienced will strengthen you and develop your capabilities. As your talents grow, there will come a point where the new job will become ‘easy’ and hence you have developed the capability to reach yet further.

To achieve great things we need great abilities, and the only way to develop great abilities is through great struggle. Once we understand that ‘resistance’ is a vital part of the process, we actually start to desire that resistance and the associated struggle. If our martial training is not challenging, we don’t improve. If our lives aren’t challenging, we will never achieve that which we are truly capable of achieving.

Our training gets us used to reaching beyond ourselves and helps us to understand the process of resistance and advancement. Our intense combat training (Jutsu) should lead to us applying the lessons learnt and the attributes gained to our daily lives (Do). We train in a way that takes us beyond our current limits, so that we can expand those limits. In life, we should also constantly reach beyond our current limits so we can develop our capabilities and lead the lives we want to lead.

I hope you enjoyed this discussion on mind training. I also hope it has got you thinking about how your training should include a mental element and how the attributes developed from doing so have applications beyond combat and beyond the martial arts. If you’d like to further your study of mental strength please get hold of a copy of my Mental Strength book or DVD. Thanks for taking the time to read this article. I sincerely hope you found it useful.

“With all this work we do to improve, do you think there’s a time that we’ll start getting worse?”

We welcomed the break in between Tai Chi classes, apart from the physical break, it gave us the chance to discuss anything from the latest kung fu movies to the deepest Buddhist philosophy with Sifu.

Teresa had a stressful job in accounting, worked long hours and would come into class looking tired, sigh with effort at the beginning and end of the class but the years would slip away as she appeared get younger and always seemed to lose her ‘cloud’ whilst training.

“Why do you ask that?” queried Sifu.

“I was just wondering what it was all about, we come along here twice a week, work and study really hard to improve our technique, train every day at home and chances are that we will eventually get worse over a period of time as we age and then die…..  is it all worth the effort?”

“Aren’t we the cheerful one!” laughed Joseph.

“It’s alright for you”, moaned Teresa, “but I’m nearer the ‘getting worse’ part than you!”

“Do you think it’s a case of ‘good and bad’ then?” asked Sifu.

“Of course it is” answered Teresa, “the purpose of training is to get better, otherwise there’s no point.”

“That’s not why I train”, said Sifu.

“Then why are you always correcting our technique?” asked Joseph.

“To help you enjoy your training more” answered Sifu.

“But that means that you’re just putting us under more pressure to get better” complained Teresa.

“I’m not putting you under any pressure”, said Sifu, “the only person that can put you under pressure, is you!”

“But when you’re correcting me I can’t help but feel pressured and when I’m doing my own training I feel pressured to improve to please you.”

“And whose fault is that?” asked Sifu.

“I don’t know now!” bleated Teresa….

“I train because I enjoy it” said Sifu, “the pleasure of getting up in the morning and looking forward to the meditation, the qigong and the Tai Chi form training.  The sheer sensual pleasure of clearing the mind, making it more aware and focused, stretching the muscles and fascia and moving the body through our animalistic routines……  I love it!”

“But you must train to improve as well” asked Teresa.

“The better I get at it, the more I enjoy it” answered Sifu.  “The point is that it enhances my pleasure, it’s not WHY I train!  You are treating the learning process as a burden, if you’re not improving fast enough you feel guilty, you’re training to please me….. how daft is that?

Tai Chi is learned by osmosis, the knowledge gradually soaks in; the paradox is that the harder you try, the worse it gets.  You have to let the information hang in your mind so that the body can absorb it in it’s own time.  We learn the language of our body, we encourage it to function better.  The learning process is a part of the whole sensory experience, as it improves it becomes more pleasurable.

The point of Tai Chi is that you learn to de-stress, not put more pressure on to an already stressed mind and body.  Tai Chi is MY time.  I don’t do anything until I’m ready, I meditate, when I feel ready, I do my qigong, when my mind and body are ready, the form does me….  It’s said that Tai Chi is like a great river, when you are prepared; it sweeps you up and carries you along on the experience.

If you have the ambition to ‘improve’ – you won’t.  The ‘grand ultimate’ (the translation of the term ‘Tai Chi’) is lost at that point.  You are exhausting yourself further by pressurizing yourself instead of allowing your practice to nourish you.”

“But isn’t the purpose of life to become the best you can” asked Teresa?

“The purpose of life is to engage as fully as you can in every moment, the paradox is that more you can do this, the better you get at everything because you are fully engaged with whatever you are doing.  There is a difference between ‘wanting’ to be the best and actually ‘being’ the best.  Remember you are a human ‘being’ – the word ‘being’ is often forgotten!

Only you can make yourself happy, only you can make yourself unhappy, only you can put yourself under pressure, you don’t need to do this.  Tai Chi gives you a route out by a process of direct experience and learning by the most advanced process.  A happy person learns and experiences best, this is a simple decision that you can make and then form it into a daily habit.  Training and learning then becomes a pleasure and a part of the daily routine to look forward to.”

“But then what happens when my body starts to deteriorate and my training is not so easy?”

“It’s still enjoyable because improvement was not why you trained….”

“I think the penny has just dropped” smiled Teresa, “I’ve just been punishing myself with the tool for making myself happy…”

“Exactly..” said Sifu returning a big smile

MARTIAL THERAPY WORKSHOP
7 March 2010 – 11am to 3pm

Shi Kon Martial Arts Centre
Chatham Hill
Chatham
Kent ME5 7BB

Gavin King and Benito (his skeleton) will be holding a special workshop on unlocking your health and happiness through simple massage techniques, qi gong and relaxation exercises.

SUITABLE FOR NON-MARTIAL ARTISTS
(PARTNERS AND FRIENDS WELCOME)

£20 DOJO MEMBERS - £30 NON-MEMBERS

PLEASE BRING A LARGE TOWEL/BLANKET AND A PILLOW

Ring 07834 555 772 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details or to book a place.

Some martial artists are obsessed with fighting; they think about, dream about it, talk about it, write about it and think if you’re not actively ‘fighting’ every training session you 'ain’t a proper martial artist'… this  attitude I think is worthy of contemplation.

I personally agree with the need to challenge ourselves in allow for growth.  Growing up amongst martial artists and those who engage in physical pursuits has given me very strong sense of the type of personal growth that can be achieved when we challenge our perceptions, horizons and fears and the various methods we can employ to do this.  This experience has also shown me how insular and narrow minded we can become when we take on the wrong opponents and fight for the wrong reasons – in these cases instead of broadening our horizons we can actually isolate ourselves from the world and compound our fears.  So without direction and objective reasoning ‘fighting’ can take us to unhealthy places.

In truth I think ‘fight’ is the wrong word to use and a reason why some ‘fighters’ can’t see beyond the end of their noses.  Myself personally I’ve never really enjoyed fighting – it always seemed rather barbaric and uncouth and went against the grain of the dignified image of the martial artist I've had from a young age.  What I have always longed for is experience and the stimulation I get from entering the unknown.  My personality craves knowledge and wisdom; I like to know how something feels and how it interconnects with everything around it.  Trouble is that rehashing the same experience over and over for me soon loses its appeal, it gets boring and I need to go out and find something else to do to occupy my cravings with.  Without broadening my horizons I do not find anything to satisfy this need for stimulation… this quirk of character has blessed me with a very interesting life, both inside and outside of the martial arts.

Part of me can’t help but question if these so called ‘fighters’ are the ones we need to be looking to as role models – are they really the brave and the strong when they constantly engage in the same style of fight day after day, week after week, year after year?  How long do we engage in a ‘fight’ before it ceases to be a ‘fight’ for us?  After which what is the point of continually engaging said ‘fight’?  Will continually doing something we are comfortable with encourage growth?  The human ability to adapt and evolve leads me to think not.

As I said part of my character chases after experience and the martial arts have provided me with a wonderful means to satisfy this need.  When I moved up from the kids class into the adults class as a 9 stone dripping wet 15 year old I was battered every session, but after a while I learnt how not to take as many beatings.  At 16 I joined one of the toughest kick boxing camps I could find and started the process again.  A few years later still with a baby face and bum fluff on my chin I started working security at the nightclubs and had to adapt to that environment.  As a result of all of this experience my training stopped satisfying the cravings so I started my own group and we systematically worked our way through practically every style of fighting you can imagine, travelling, studying and ‘fighting’ with many different people, but again all of this soon became bland and easy and the growth almost ground to a halt.  And then I found shiatsu…

Starting shiatsu took me out of my comfort zone and put me in an environment outside of the world of fighters and martial artists – I started to associate with people who’d never had a fight in their life.  On my very first lesson we had to pair off and introduce our partners to the group once we’d found out a bit about their personal history.  My partner introduced himself, and this is the god’s honest truth, with, “….I’m currently on anti-depressants and having counselling after being abused and a victim of violence and have anxiety attacks because of it.” You should have seen the look of dread in his face when I replied, “My name is Gavin King and I’m a bouncer and a martial artist!”  I just didn’t know how to deal with people like him – I was an alien in this world and it scared the crap out of me.

In this world matters couldn’t be rectified simply by training harder and applying a bit of spite, but these were the only tools I had.  Everything in the martial arts had taught me that being fast and first won the day, but these things meant nothing to these people and I was defenceless and open.  And at first every comment hit home and caused me emotional distress – you’re tense, you’re anxious, you’re not being sensitive to your clients needs, etc, etc.  These were like battle cry’s to me… a voice inside me kept saying well let’s step onto the mat and see who’s anxious, who’s tense and there we’ll know the truth!  The thing I failed to realise is that this was their mat, so I made it mine.  Now I was back in the children’s class again and relishing the first real ‘fight’ I had in years.

Around about the same time I happened upon a lesson with Steve who systematically tore apart everything I was doing; my thinking, my movement, my aggression and showed me my glaring weaknesses.  I found a new fight, tai chi.  Having the mental fortitude to do 10 rounds all out on the bag for me was easy, full contact sparring wouldn’t even raise a earbrow, standing on the door in front of a thousand people became just a job… don’t get me wrong I still got knackered on the bag, got battered in sparring and felt the brown adrenaline on the door, but it wasn’t anything special after a while, it was something I could do.  Being able to do a 20 minute form continuously without the slightest pause in my movement still to this day eludes me – my mind flutters, my body tires and I just don’t have the skills to deliver the goods.  Tai chi is glorious for someone like me because it has no hiding places and there is no cheating - a bonafide unadulterated challenge!

You see it’s all good and well these people telling us to ‘fight’ but who are these guys actually  fighting?  What are they doing that is so special?  Most of those dishing out this advice haven’t even got the goods to be able to handle running their own lives, many are plagued with self doubt, are insecure, penniless, aggressive and to be honest are pretty undesirable people to be around.  These people don’t fight; instead they insulate themselves by cowering in the arenas they are comfortable in.  It’s not something to admire or even aspire to.  In one of my classes I have the pleasure of teaching a lady who has multiple sclerosis and has trouble simply standing let alone marching through a twenty minute form, but she still soldiers on.  That’s a real fighter; someone who steps up to the plate and takes on a real challenge.  For me she is a martial artist worthy of looking up to!

So I guess what I’m really saying is that if you’re going to be picking a fight, make sure it’s a good one!

When I was in my early 20’s I got my first place and moved out of my parents home.   The independence was great, no more being told to pick up dirty socks off the floor or being berated for being too loud coming in after a few drinks.  It didn’t take too long for me to realise that liberation came at a price and whilst not being told to do the dishes was exhilarating  the downside was that if I didn’t do the dishes no one else did either.  Very quickly my lovely new bachelor pad resembled a cesspit and became a rather unpleasant place to live.  Another realisation was that the longer I left between cleaning sessions the more the rubbish built up making the task so huge it appeared impossible.  Things became so bad that I eventually sold the place and got married!

Although most of us appreciate that keeping our homes clean and clutter free is an essential part of making them pleasant places to be very few of us pay the same consideration to our own body.  Just like with a home without regularly maintenance and house keeping our body will quickly become a very unpleasant place to be and the longer left between spring cleans the more crap will accumulate.  It is alarming the amount of people I meet who do not like to live in their own skin and scary the number who actually hate it – and as the world spins quicker the number of those dissatisfied with the own internal environment is increasing at an epidemic rate.

In the outside world we appreciate that if rubbish and filth are allowed to accumulate disease will follow, but the only time most of us even pay the slightest attention to the world inside ourselves is once disease has taken hold.  Only once our body becomes uninhabitable do we give any thought to taking care of it – up until this point it’s ‘party time’ 24/7!

Disease (‘dis-ease’) does not target the strong; it doesn’t look for a tough fight.  Like any predator it targets the weak and vulnerable looking for an environment it can grab an easy foothold in before attacking.  So in order to prepare ourselves for the fight we need to give our body a fighting chance by ensuring that it has a strong foundation from which to defend itself.  But like with my old flat, once the filth has piled up beginning the cleaning process starts to look like mission impossible… which is why the task needs to be broken down and tackled one room at a time.

With my clients, some of whom have multiple serious conditions, I help them break down the task of ‘cleaning house’ in order of importance to make things managable and bearable.  Quite often the first room that needs cleaning is their mind – breaking down the habits, addressing the patterns they’re not happy with and looking at ways to systematically work through their issues.  All too often people fall into habitual routines that unless broken make it impossible to achieve long lasting healing.  A common one I see is people will say something like “My body is aching and feeling like death warmed up…. So I’m going to wake it up with a heavy session down the gym!” which to me is like saying, “My house is a pigsty after that party last night… so I’m going to have another session tonight to forget about it!”  And all that results from this mega session down the gym is a total crash in a couple of days time as the body reaches the point when it has to shut down everything else down so it can tidy up - que the colds, flu, joint pain, bad backs, depression, etc, etc that then move in for the kill once the body is busy trying to sort out the mess!

When the body is a clean and tidy having a party is fine and actually enjoyable, but I see so many people who ‘party’ just to forget that how unpleasant a place their body is to be.   I think it really is a shame when someone doesn’t enjoy living in their own skin and see the martial arts as being a wonderful tool to ‘clean house’ - but when abused they are also a great way of increase the rubbish we load our body with.  Look at your training and make sure it is making your body a pleasant place to be… once it is the parties get even better!

The goal of any martial artist is to overcome an attacker as quickly as possible with minimum amount of force and time. All humans are genetically born with abilities and instincts to survive in extreme life situations, but the training methods of improvement of these abilities are different in each Martial Art. Different styles of combat around the globe developed their own methods of self defense and pass the knowledge from one generation to another. Systema SpetsNaz “Russian Style” Combat carries old traditions of the Cossacks and the modern training of Special Forces. One of the unique aspects of Russian System that it was created based on laws and principles of anatomy, physics and mechanics. There are no techniques to memorize; the motion itself serves as the technique utilizing internal wave energy, making the applications efficient and realistic for combat. Life is one continuous motion; constant change and adaptation are elements of survival. Russian Style utilizes same elements of natural flow of energy in offensive and defensive techniques applying internal and external exertion of force.

Technique of No Contact Combat draws its knowledge from historical experience of Russian Warriors and developments of science in the area of reserve human’s abilities. This system is continually upgraded, discovering new psycho-physical abilities of the human mind. Throughout the history, Russia was involved in many wars acquiring a great deal of combat experience.  Russian fighters were not scared of death, their mental training gave them courage and wisdom to survive and win; sacrificing their life for their country, family and friends was and still is considered a great honor.

The energy which makes the person fall without physical touch is applied to the energy field of an opponent. It works similar to the remote control of the television, creating wave impulse which directs the motion and stability.  In Asian Martial Arts, chi can be extended beyond physical body - in Russian Martial Art the concept of chi is used in similar way, adding modern developments of science as well.

Psychophysical training prepares SpetsNaz fighter to last a long time without food or water, travel long distance by foot, ignore physical and mental pain and rehabilitate himself in case of an injury.   This method is an excellent tool for the improvement of personal health, in overcoming stress, strengthening immune system, improving breathing and central nervous systems, clearing mental functions. Training prepares and individual to become emotionally balanced, achieving positive results in personal and professional sides of life.

To develop the sensitivity of the chi, exercises are practiced in a relaxed physical and mental state. Meditation techniques with breathing applications are used to tap into the sub consciousness, generating invincible spinning power, which catches an attacker and makes the body drop to the ground as if it was thrown or knocked down.  It is considered as the highest level of mastery in Martial Arts.

There are several steps in No Contact training. The first is to learn how to generate and use you own energy. Training prepares a student for the higher mental level, allowing the body to remember how it was initiated by using imagination and feelings. Training is done in the relaxed physical and psychological state – without the presence of thoughts, similar to being drunk.

The concept is to direct an opponent’s consciousness, an effect is exerted on the right hemisphere of the brain creating images and illusions. The opponent’s brain does not have the time to process the information making him chase the ghost. When a person is within this state of mind he becomes like a robot easily controlled. The task is to guide an attacker within the trajectory of the fall motion.

Start by finding something similar with an opponent: posture, breathing, same body motions with equal speed and rhythm using linear or mirror concept of copying an opponent’s movement. When connection is established, you become a twin or outward reflection.  The concept is to imitate the opponent’s movement and then change it. For example, you can suddenly squat and lean to the side – pulling an attacker in that direction. An effect is applied to the brain creating an illusion. If an opponent is punching towards the head blend in with the speed of the motion, imagine that your hand is virtually extending toward an opponent. This will create an energy field and invisible connection between you and opponent, between your and his bio-system. The next step is to break that connection. Attacker will feel emptiness and fall or miss the strike.

Human brain is affected in many ways; it reacts to the information that surrounds us. Visual and hearing receptors carry thousands of massages into the mind everyday. Lifestyle of the individual at home and at work affects him on physical, mental and emotional levels. For example, you can make someone blush just with one word. Scarring someone will make the heartbeat faster. The ability of psychological influence on individual or a group of people comes from individual mastery. Energy which is generated by the person is unseen, but attacker can feel it. After the physical connection is made by coping the movements, it creates a bridge – which allows crossing over into sub consciousness and guiding the attacker.

The main secret of Systema SpetsNaz No Contact Combat is an ability to blend in with an opponent unnoticeably. The system of psycho-physiological control of an opponent is a complex process. Everything is important:  the person who does it, an opponent, distance, body language and movement. Decision must be made quickly. Brain needs 0.5-0.7 seconds to process the information. The energy is transferred during that time, otherwise the connection will be lost and you need start from the beginning.

Another concept of No-Contact Combat is the use of verbal influence against an opponent like screaming or use of various sounds to create noise. This will shrink the consciousness and create feelings like stress, astonishment, fear and stupor. Unexpected signals affect the sensory part of the brain pressing down the fighting spirit of an attacker.  The major goal is make an opponent not just to lose orientation, but to lose the control of the whole nervous system.

There is a lot that could be learned using this system, but more important is to discover which natural abilities a person was born with, locate the source of your own energy and apply it to advance your fighting skills. Systema SpetsNaz “Russian Style” Combat is adoptable with other martial art styles – widening the knowledge of new principles, techniques and applications, helping to discover your own natural abilities and improve your fighting skills.

Oleg Spector
Chief Instructor – USA Branch
www.SystemaSpetsnaz.com

AUTHOR BIO

Oleg Spector has been in Martial Arts for over 30 years, training in Japanese Arts of Shotokan Karate & Daito - Ryu Jujutsu 5th Dan / Russian Style Combat 4th level.

In over the years, he competed in numerous tournaments on the International circuit establishing himself as a professional Martial Artist and International Judge / Referee.

Mr. Spector graduated   private college, earning a police science degree. He worked in the security and bodyguard field over ten years.  Since 1987, Mr. Spector has been teaching Martial Arts to the public at his school in Los Angeles.

Contacts: 818 – 508-8424 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The human body is the most advanced machine ever created and housed inside it is the most powerful supercomputer in existence - the human brain.   This super computer is capable of sending and receiving messages to and from the farthest corners of the body at speeds in excess of 180mph and has over 100 billion neurons (brain cells) just waiting to fire up to compute and guide our body through all the functions it needs to carry out.  Every aspect of our existence including our martial arts, is the end result of a computation made by the ‘human super computer’.

Unlike man-made computers, the human brain is ‘self-aware’ allowing it to reprogram itself in response to things it learns and experiences.  Self-awareness is the holy grail of computing and it is a process that martial artists have continually refined for hundreds of years creating a more efficient software program to run the body.  Understanding this ‘reprogramming’ process is truly what makes a great martial arts instructor and is also the key to becoming a great student.

Programming the human mind is an interesting task.  Unlike a computer you can’t just input a few instructions and expect a result – unfortunately there is no ‘Matrix’ style ‘I know Kung Fu’ program we can upload into the brain.  The human mind learns through direct experience – it will be put into a situation, process the information, respond appropriately and will then remember the outcome of that response.   Our mind learns by ‘observing’ the things that it experiences.  Take for example learning to throw a front kick our first attempt may cause us to wobble off balance and our brain will then remember this and will slightly adjust our posture, weight distribution and other factors to attempt to rectify this issue for our next attempt.  It really is exactly the same process your instructor takes you through correction and allows the mind to learn from past experiences and base future actions on those memories.

Over time, learning through experience allows us to refine the commands the mind issues to the body making our actions smoother and more efficient, it stores these refined commands for the latter use.  This means that in order to improve and evolve, our body needs to experience new situations from which it can gather the data it requires to keep its programming fresh and up to date.  If it isn’t introduced to new situations regularly it is forced to continue to use ‘old’ programming over and over again and the inherent danger here is that we become stuck in a rut and our mind merely runs the same outdated commands over and over again.  It is here that we become aware of the ‘loops’ that can occur in the programming which cause the body to repeat actions and patterns that can actually be harmful to it.  Knowing how to break free of the ‘loops’ becomes an essential skill necessary for progress in our martial studies and to resolve any trauma we may experience.

‘Loops’ in the programming can occur through trauma and habit and these cause the mind stop observing and reflecting on events and to switch to autopilot.  A common example of this that I see regularly is how people react after an injury.  When a part of the body is injured the body will take measures to protect it – if you hurt your shoulder your body will armour up and tighten the muscles around the shoulder to restrict any movement that may damage it further.  This is a ‘reflective learning’ process in action.  Alarm signals were sent to the brain informing it of an injury to the shoulder, it reflects on this and responds by locking down to prevent further damage.  Obviously this ‘lock down’ reaction is important because if something is injured we want to rest it and allow it to recover.  The danger is that the shoulder will now be fixed and not able to move.  Without movement the brain will not experience anything to keep its program up to date so it will ‘remember’ that when the shoulder moves it hurts.  The only way to take an injured area out of ‘lock down’ mode is through the mindful application of ‘reflective learning’ that sometimes requires us to pay a visit to a therapist, but with intelligent and sensitive rehabilitation training, is something we can achieve.

When I’m treating someone with an injury I first find out the extent of the damage to the effected area and how ‘locked down’ it is.  I do this by slowly exploring the injury using both movement and pressure – through gently applying pressure and small movements I can gauge the severity of the damage by observing the body’s reaction to the stimulus.  This gives me the limits in which I can work without causing the mind to panic and this dictates the extent to which I can challenge my client.  My goal with any client is to change the parameters of their mind by allowing their body to experience something new.  Pushing too far will shock the mind and confirm what it already knows however, carefully raising an injured arm in very tiny increments lets it experience that there is a little scope for movement before it panics.  The quality of the experience we give the mind has a direct correlation to the wisdom it will glean from it and this is the fundamental concept behind ‘reflective learning’.

The saying ‘variety is the spice of life’ is very true but as martial artists the type of experience we put the mind through dramatically effects the ‘learning’ it will reap from it.  Shocking the mind will cause it to remember trauma and it will protect itself by restricting and inhibiting movement.  It is very easy to overload the mind causing it to violently fallback on previous programming.  To make a meaningful change in the mind and body the learning experience must be gradual and progressive.

In Japanese martial arts there is the concept of shoshin or ‘beginners mind’, this is a mindset where a student leaves behind conceptions from the past allowing them to totally immerse themselves in the present.  In order ensure that our super computer is kept up to date we must constantly supply it with fresh data, but like any computer it will crash if overloaded.  Immersing the mind in the martial arts provides it with the perfect stimulus to evolve, but like a parachute, it only works when open!

Gavin King is a physical therapist and martial arts instructor based in Essex.  He can be contacted via email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or via http://www.shikon.com. You can keep up to date with all his articles and training via his blog on The Martial Archive at http://www.themartialarchive.com/gavinking.