# Vladimir Vasiliev, Kidderminster 07/02 seminar review



## Clive (Feb 5, 2004)

Seminar With Vladimir Vasiliev 
Kidderminster 13/14 July 2002 

Day 1 

The day started with some fun tasks to get us warmed up. This first drill was gentle pushes and evasion. To loosen ourselves up. Our first exercise was linking arms as a group (100+ people) and going to the floor at once. Very funny and very messy, after about the third attempt it became very difficult. Now we progressed to moving from a seated position to laying position, this was attempted whilst we were still circled up we had to do this at the same time as the people on each side, there were legs and arms colliding everywhere, but it gave us a grounding into working in working in confined space/imperfect conditions. The next drill involved pushing/evading with a partner trying to make the partners hand slide off, trying to find the path of least resistance, this was also done whilst one person was in a wide stance and also both partners were in a wide stance, trying not to move the feet. Also was shown was how to use tension when contact was made. This led on to the introduction of some body mechanics finding structure/form disrupting points and the exploiting, this was done with both hands on a static partner. The emphasis being that tension gave you something to exploit and vice versa, relaxation would give you nothing to support, in some cases it seemed a good idea to create tension. 
The next part of the seminar looked at groundwork it started by lying on the ground and moving the limbs from someone walking round trying to stand on them. This was followed by a similar drill which involved letting the person make contact with the body part but using again least resistance to move the limb away from the pressure. This was followed by slow kick evasion, by one partner, the two using the slow speed to appreciate the body mechanics, finding our own solution to the problem. After the drills we moved on to scenario based work, in this exercise the mounted position was used, in my experience this is not a good position to be in. Here we were shown various techniques (the dreaded word) which gave a real emphasis on working against the ankles, arms and neck. Vladimir stayed on the topic of working from a disadvantage and showed various escapes from locks. From what I could see a lot of this work comes from the chin and the shoulders as well as the relaxation. The underlying theme was very much in tune from work from a disadvantage. 

Day 2 

Form, keeping the form is imperative, this can be maintained through various exercise. He who has a good form not only has the physical disadvantage but is psychologically superior. The spine acts as an antenna, so when this is distorted so is the input we receive. To maintain good form we were show (or made to do) various exercise which included 20/20 push-ups, keeping the breathing smooth and pushing the air we breathe out back into the body., storing and keeping strong. Though we were warned not to be too greedy as the body tenses up as we try to hold it in. Other useful drills included; pushing the partner who is static at three heights (standing, semi squat and full squat). A way of testing the spine was shown when you push down on someones head who is squatting if their spine is straight they will bounce back up. The pushing drill was repeated but in motion (again at the three levels). This should all be done in conjunction with breathing, keeping the head looking straight forward. Sitting up keeping the back straight and finally we did some breathing in the lying down position, isolating the body parts in time with breathing followed by the whole body (in wave motion). 
The next thing we looked at was movement, this is best illustrated with drills but the key seemed to be minimal and subtleness. Vladimir mentioned the three levels; evasion, movement and I cant remember the third but I think it was attack. There were many drills shown which were done when one person walked towards the other these included; (three levels), standing on the aggressors feet (three levels), evading and placing hand on opponents chest, same as previous but also pushing against any tension and finally locking a foot round the other persons leg and pushing with the knee. We then put all this together and did some free style work, it was very surprising how well we were able to escape and put the other guy down after doing these drills, though we were still avoiding the guy even if he was falling. The last drill on movement was simply striking the guy which led on to the next topic 
Striking, we were shown some extraordinary concepts in the art of striking. To begin with we did 20/20 push-ups to get our arms feeling the correct way, then did basic pushes with the fist. Vladimir then explained the three levels of striking  surface, muscular and organs. After experimenting with the first two levels we were shown how to work with organs and how each organ carried its own emotion e.g. Kidney was linked to pride. We then had to go round the body loosening organ, striking it and then getting the partner to relay the response, how they felt when struck. Vladimir went on to describe how the internal organs were structured in the body, hanging. In his analogy he said they were like when a cat holds her kittens in her mouth. He then demonstrated how when you can appreciate this concept it is possible to manipulate this, by moving this bag of organs. This was done by putting the hand on the partners back and visualising this bag and moving the person with it. It is easier to do this than explain! We first did this from a static position, then moving. 
We then touched on knife work putting all that we had learnt over the weekend and applying it to a knife attacker(s). The drills shown were pushing the knife against the body, again finding the path of least resistance and a lot of freestyle work. We then moved on to body guarding where Vladimir showed how this can be psychological as well as physical which involves subtle and non-aggressive body language to alter an aggressors course of action. The drills included coming out from behind the principal and standing beside, then coming out from behind and standing in front of the principal. Two people standing behind the principal using eye signals to convey the start of the procedure. Grabbing the principal and passing him/her behind yourself. We then added an aggressor and put all the components together.


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