systema + teens

Well, systema conditioning drills, anyway. It's hard to read shy teenagers' reactions to things, but I'm pretty sure underneath their eye-covering bangs they were refreshed by the sheer unusualness of the drills. Well, the skinny kid seemed so, at least, the but the chubbier kid was having some issue dragging himself over the carpet, and getting stepped on. But he did have more energy for grappling, so it all balanced.

I did note in both doing the drills which involve pushing each other over from a systema squat (you want strong legs? do it.) and the grappling, fighting from the knees like we used to is both relatively incredibly hard on the knees, less mobile, and in reality useless for non-squishy surfaces. On the other hand, the squat, while more vulnerable to being knocked over, it supremely more mobile, I guess a perfect example of less stability equals more mobility - I'm going to say the squat wins out in the end, though, because of its more practical safety, it's expanded range of weapons (kicks and knees), and being able to stand up out of it faster. Now I'm just curious to see how it plays against people who really know how to grapple.