SFL Episode 116: James Sommerville - Meditations on a Russian Martial Art

This week we talk with James Somerville - Toronto-based Systema student, academic, and author of Meditations on a Russian Martial Art. James has a PhD in History from Queens University, and wrote his thesis on the dictum Know Thyself, as popularized during the Italian Renaissance era. As such, the book presents an interesting - if somehwat critical - take on the origins, practice, and historical context of Systema. Here, we discuss several core themes from the book, including:

• What motivated him to write the book

• Systema as a modern military art (vs an ancient / medieval one)

• Martial arts as performance arts

• The mixed implications of Systema philosophy

You may not agree with everything the James has to say here, or in the book itself. But at the very least, it is a thought-provoking account of his very personal quest to understand and contextualize the art. 

SFL Episode 115: Jeff Shearer

This week, a light-hearted conversation with Arizona-based Systema Instructor and world-class cybersecurity expert Jeff Shearer.

A warm, generous, and fiercely intellgent guy, Jeff trained with us for many years at NC SYSTEMA, before moving out west and starting his own Systema group near Phoenix, AZ. Here, we discuss:

• What drew him to Systema practice and teaching

• Systema and cybersecurity - similarities and differences

• Achieving a dynamic balance in work, relationships, and understanding the self

Mentioned in this episode:
The Three Marriages, by David Whyte

SFL Episode 114: Barbara Tversky

This week, a deep dive into human psychology and cognition, with author and esteemed psychologist Barbara Tversky. 
Professor Tversky an Emirita Professor of Psychology at Stanford and Columbia Univeristies, and is one of the world's foremost authorities on memory, spatial thinking, creativity, and embodied cognition - all highly relevant themes in Systema practice.

Her book - Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought - posits that spatial thinking is the foundation of all thought, and that how we sense and perceive the world shapes our thought patterns, emotions, and decisions.

Her depth of knoweldge on this subject is staggering, and we were barely able to scratch the surface in this extended, 90-minute discussion. But for unabashed brain/movement/cognition nerds, this is well worth the time.

Here, we touch upon:

• How our actions mould our perceptions of the world

• why spatial thinking and gestures precede language and words

• why people cannot help but mimic and coordinate actions

• how wrestling and complex movement improves math and science scores in kids

Learn more about Barbara Tversky and her reserach here.

Mind in Motion, on Amazon books