# Systema and getting hurt



## Klondike93 (Jul 4, 2002)

Have any of you ever been hurt very bad while training in Systema?

I've had some bruises and sprains, but about two weeks ago I suffered a Hematoma to my left arm. It's a busted blood vessel that causes the area to swell and turn some interesting shades of blue and purple. It hurt like hell for about 48 hrs then the fancy coloring set in. Now it's turning a nice shade of yellow and the arm is real sensitive around the elbow. Oh yeah, it itches like crazy too.

We were doing what I call the stick drill. My instructor has everyone form a circle and he stands in the middle with a big stick and starts swinging it at you. Your object is to not get hit by moving, rolling, parrying it over your head, etc. 

Well I got hit in the back of the left arm at some point, I don't remember when or how it hit me, and later that night it swelled up and has become useless for a little while. My instructor wasn't swinging the club hard, or fast or with intent to hurt so I was real surprised this happened. He took some pictures of it and I'll post them when I can.

So, has anyone else had any interesting injuries from Systema training?


:asian:


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## GouRonin (Jul 4, 2002)

I once had a foot long bruise that was about 1 inch wide on my *** but luckily I have video to prove to my wife how I got it at Systema class.


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## Klondike93 (Jul 5, 2002)

How did you get it? What did you get hit with, his foot?


:asian:


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## GouRonin (Jul 5, 2002)

The drill we were doing is when you get whacked on the stomach with a stick.

To show us how dependant we were on the visual timing of it he had us turn around and then smacked us on the *** so we couldn't see when it was coming. Then we had to deal with the energy and the shock etc of not knowing with proper breathing and relaxation techniques. When we weren't looking he pulled out a riot baton and used it instead.

Ow... I took about 3. A few other guys did too. No one got above 3 strikes. Then I had to drive home 2 hours.


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## Klondike93 (Jul 5, 2002)

I'm familiar with this drill, though not to that extent, yet.

When my arm got hurt I only had to drive about 30 miles to get home, but by the time I did I couldn't straighten my arm at all.
The only way to get the pain to subside was to go to bed with my arm on a couple of pillows. Brad, my instructor, gave me some Russian "bruise" cream he brought back with him on his last trip
but I'm not sure how much it really helps yet.


:asian:


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## GouRonin (Jul 5, 2002)

_"Uh honey? Why is there a big line bruise on your @ss?"

"Don't worry. It's Systema."_


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