SFL Episode 61: Jeff Sodeman

Conversation with my good friend - and fellow Instructor at NC SYSTEMA - Jeff Sodeman.
A highly accomplished martial artist in his own right, Jeff has trained Aikido and Systema for over 25 years, founded the San Diego Systema and Aikikai (California), and ran it for over a decade before moving to North Carolina in 2015.

Here, we get into:

  • how Jeff came to martial arts...via rock climbing

  • parallels between climbing, combat, and conditioning

  • exhaustion, efficiency, and psychological endurance

  • differences and similarities between Aikido and Systema

  Jeff now teaches regular group and conditioning classes at NC SYSTEMA.  Find out more at www.ncsystema.com.

SLF Episode 60: On Habits (Part II)

Another spirited conversation with health and wellness guru Howard Jacobson (WellStartHealth.com) on the subject of habits and positive behaviour change - a continuing theme we are both fond of, in our respective fields. Here, the discussion ranges through:

  • how your environment influences - even dictates - your mindset

  • how small, targeted, habit interventions can have powerful, lasting effects

  • setting the scene for focus and 'deep work'

  • why relaxing isn't as easy as it sounds

  • how Systema training highlights our bad habits, and show us the folly of trying to 'out-think' them

Find out more about Howie's healthy habit-change exploits at www.wellstarthealth.com

SFL Episode 59: On Internal Power (with Gene Smithson)

A rare, frank, and wide-ranging discussion on the subject of internal power - a topic that creates a great deal of confusion, controversy, skepticism, and even ridicule in the global martial arts community.

Some seem to regard internal power as a mystical, magical force that only appears in white-bearded masters after decades of study. Others believe it to be an emergent property of perfect biomechanics, or simply do not believe in it at all.

Texas-based Systema Instructor Gene Smithson has studied and taught chigung, taiji, and other "internal" martial arts alongside Systema for many years, and is uniquely qualified to help us untangle and demystify the concept. Along the way, we cover:

  • the real meaning of chi, ki, or internal power

  • differing viewpoints on power

  • psychological and spritual aspects of power

  • the relationship between tension, power, and natural human behaviour

  • the physical prerequsities for the expression of internal power

 This may well be my favourite discussion to date.


Find out more about training with Gene at Austin Systema and Tai Chi Chuan, here: http://www.austinsystema.com/