Back to Basics:Getting out of line......

It's no secret that Andrey Karimov's style is quite specific. One of the overall themes of Cossack fight style is to move the hell out of the line of attack and only counterattack if necessary. All with as little energy expelled as possible. My own personal theory is perhaps this methodology was adopted to conserve energy in the long haul for other serious warfare trials and tribulations fought by the Cossacks. Whatever the case may be, I LOVED the "less is more" technique. In all practicality, a fight should last no more than a minute. Anything after that, and you may be screwed, royally. So the best thing to do is avoid a situation(if possible), react calmly, and get out of the line of attack. Seems pretty basic, right?
Yeah, no. (Da, nyet..if you're Russian).
One of the VERY first things Mr. Karimov reviewed with us, as a whole, was how to step out of the line of attack. It seemed like it should be easy and really, just watching him, you'd think it was. After about 2 hours of just trying to work this method, I quickly realized that my internal training bad habit brain was misfiring. How could I NOT pick this up? Luckily for myself(and anyone else who was stuck),the gym floor was visibly lined. And even better,Andrey Karimov and Yuri Sheshukov teamed up and combined this with dancing to get us to really grasp what was going on (keep in mind, this was very event-specific for this seminar and not the usual 3 day type workup you would receive otherwise).
Finding the "line" of attack was pretty simple... attacker comes at you...this is your line.
Evading this space became very tricky for whatever reason. My brain scrambled relentlessly in hopes to just be able to move out of the way. Once I got the "move out of the way" part down , I had to learn how to move out of the way to one side or another, completely.
Again, sounds simple. 'Twas not.
One of the main things Karimov teaches is that (your) "legs save". Meaning, move your legs, your body comes with. Move your hips, and your overall structure will solidify with a more solid bearing. Again..I have hips, I move them, alot... but why can I not move them in training?

This is where the dance came in. After what seemed like hours of the class as a whole stepping on ourselves, making complicated and multiple steps for a simple side move, Karimov and Sheshukov resorted to what is similar to line dancing(but in a circle).With the balalaika playing at a moderate speed, we meandered at a slow place from shifting our bodies from one lateral point to another, all with minimal energy and steps. Think "step-ball-change to the right, step-ball-change to the left" all while making sure there was ample clearance and, at least try to end in a parallel fashion near your attacker(this was also incredibly tricky).
At most, this movement should be 4 steps, depending on how close you are in the line of attack. Anything more than that and you will find yourself not only tripping over your own feet, but perhaps landing even closer to a weapon, multiple attackers or even worse...implanting yourself on the ground due to lack of stability.

Get out of the way!

Once the rapid pace of the music picked up, our rhythm in this drill picked up...we moved in a circular motion around the room evading our imaginary line of attack for at least an hour or more without stopping. We even added arm movement(Cossack style for men, the women had handkerchiefs in place to remind us to block our life zones). The women used the frontal triangular method of blocking the upper body while moving and the men learned a more fierce striking and swiping method of pushing and rotating the attacker's upper body (structure breaking)while moving out of the line of attack. To further make sure we understood the process, Karimov and Sheshukov incorporated the almighty stick.

removing the body from the line of attack

removing only the head from the line of attack

And guys, you would get hit if you didn't get out of the way. Imagine handing a small child a baseball bat in a china shop and told him to have fun. This, was probably the quickest way I got it together. While it was not complete pressure testing at it's fullest, it was enough to get the point across.
Oh...and this wasn't just one session...this particular basic concept was a combined 6 - 7 hours of work throughout the next few days,if not more. Why? Because most of us were stuck in not using our bodies effectively and efficiently and neither instructor gave up and called it quits until we all got it. Each new methodology we learned in the forthcoming days, the "getting out of the line" technique was used. Knife disarming, sword work, hand to hand...all of it required a new, heavy dose of getting out of the line.

And as I pour through countless saved "Systema" videos from the last few years, specifically of what is considered "basic" type training, I notice that this is not readily taught here. It should be. And maybe I have just never heard anyone really mention it. I certainly struggled with the concept as did many others involved in the seminar (although most people had NO prior Systema knowledge at this specific event).It's basic level skill and could save your life.