SFL Episode 44: Tommy Floyd

"What is real life? My understanding of 'real life' is that it's the degree of tension you have within your body...What will change in a real situation if a guy grabbed (that kid) and threw him in a trunk? It's that his mind, his body, his internal state are going to be on a whole different level of processing."

Eye-opening interview with Tommy Floyd, owner and Chief Instructor at Systema Floyd, based in Palm Beach, Florida.

For more than a decade, Tommy has been teaching Systema to kids as young as 2 years old, and now has over 300 students attending regular classes and camps at his schools. He has recently garnered a lot of attention on social media, following coverage of his advanced level camps for kids - which included such hot-button topics as abduction escape and active-shooter survival

Here, we talk about what motivates his focus on teaching kids; how he strikes the necessary balance between "serious" and "exciting"; how working with kids has taught him much about the concept of training for 'real-life'; and his plans and ambitions for the future.

Visit Systema Floyd online at www.systemafloyd.com.

SFL Episode 43: Systema For Executives, with Bryan Johns

"You can find anybody who's managing a company, and it's the guys who run towards problems, the people who run towards discomfort. And not because they crave conflict. But because there's a problem that needs (to be) solved."

Musings, obersvations, and hard-earned lessons from business manager, investor, CEO and NC-based Systema practitioner Bryan Johns.

Here, Bryan offers his vision of Systema for Business Executives, and how martial arts training - and Systema in particular - has helped him progress from ne'er-do-well kid to USAF engineer to President of a global engineering company.  

   Why black belts and MBAs matter less than you think
  The power of fast, iterative problem solving
   The dangers of outsourcing responsibility, and the benefits of assuming it

  And Bryan's 3 cardinal rules of Systema and Life (TM)

 1) Practice the principles, and the techniques will take care of themselves
2) You don't have to go to every fight you're invited to
3) Where you're at (emotionally) matters

A long one, but a good one if you're interested in leveraging you training for all asepcts of life and work.

Systema For Life Podcast - Episode 42: Rob Poyton

"You have to find an internal point of support for your work. The floor is a very obvious point of support...but if you're on one foot, or your heel is lifted, you have to find a point of support within the body somewhere."

Fun and enlightening interview with Rob Poyton, Chief Instructor at Cutting Edge Systema, based in Bedford, UK.

Rob became highly proficient in T'ai Chi and other Chinese internal arts before finding Systema, and is the former Editor of Tai Chi & Alternative Health, and of Tai Chi International magazine. His articles on martial arts have been published in Combat, Martial Arts Illustrated, Men's Health, Maxim, and elsewhere.

Rob is also the presenter and producer of an extensive series of Systema training DVDs designed for solo and group use, and teaches Systema workshops and seminars throughout Europe.

Here, we discuss his path into Systema; commonalities and differences between Systema and other "internal" arts, the value of form (vs formlessness), principles of grounding and mobility, and discovering freedom within structure.

Find out more about training with Rob - and order his solo training DVDs online - at systemauk.com. Tell him Glenn sent ya :)

www.systemauk.com