Sometimes a change of plan helps to change the course of the lesson. There was going to be a wedding reception held in the main hall today, so the class was held in the smaller hall at Tempsford, which was ok, as there was only about ten of us. I'm not sure what Rob had originally planned, but as usual the flexibility that Systema offers enabled an off the cuff session that turned out to be a good one and covered quite a bit in the two hour session, push work, knife, heavy strikes as well as gloved up sparring. Pressure testing take various forms, Physical and Psychological. Testing our endurance in physical strength, as well mental toughness is something most of us have doubts as to our abilities and continually strive to push ourselves further to overcome our fears of the unknown; one of the best simple tests of this is the twenty count press up, or the static press up held for as long as possible.. but one other test that makes you dig a bit deeper is milling, basically going toe to toe and slugging it out. Taking a good shot can be difficult to overcome, especially when blindsided, being able to recover and still protect yourself takes a lot of special stuff and to expose yourself to this is a necessary experience in my view. Too many martial artist live in a fantasy world where they think years of very little or no contact is somehow going to prepare them for the real world. Getting hit is sometimes very unpleasant and I’m the first to admit its not my first choice when training, but to not go there is a big mistake… exposure to digs and knocks on a regular basis doesn't make you immune, but at least you’re familiar with the feeling and know what the experience feels like and is a realistic indicator of how you are more than likely going to react in a real situation. As Rob has said on many occasions “training is

read more: Pressure Testing