Daniil Ryabko May 2017 Tokyo Seminar & Special Classes review

25th May Special Class 1

Great first special class with Daniil Ryabko tonight. We learned about a breathing method that allows the body to maintain relaxation or relax as if ice is melting. We also learned about not being emotionally involved in what we're doing. Daniil said this is the way professionals work. To help everyone understand this feeling, he explained to us that "it was like picking up a bag of potatoes." 

26th May Special Class 2

Another outstanding class by Daniil Ryabko today. We started by walking with our eyes closed, so that we could recognize when fear comes up. And we used breathing and raising of the hands to rid ourselves of this fear if needed. 

We then carried on this work by having from one to three people pushing you with your eyes closed. The main principle was to feel this inside tension and relax yourself gradually with breathing. This enabled you to find your balance again, naturally returning the tension back to the partner. 

27th May Seminar Day 1

Daniil went deeper into the principle of relaxation today. In different situations we felt the tension that our partner was giving us or the tension we were giving ourselves and we relaxed ourselves, so that we ended in a natural balanced posture where you feel no pressure at all. This naturally transferred the tension back to your partner which made them "fight themselves." Daniil said not to worry about the other person but just to "always work on yourself." This principle could be used in any position, for example on the ground or standing up, when being pushed or pushing someone and when being locked.

28th May Seminar Day 2

Daniil showed us how to work against pushes with the fists to the entire body in a more dynamic way. As with the previous day's work, it was important to relax the tension that you feel, so it returns to your partner. Instead of working from deep tension we worked on it immediately from surface contact or before contact. This was also applied to knife work. 

Big thanks to Daniil Ryabko for a brilliant seminar and Systema Tokyo for organising the seminar.