Over many years of attending seminars, I have learnt to be content if I only pick a couple of new ideas or techniques from a seminar. I am happy to say that I limped away from the seminar held in Sydney with much, much more than a couple of new tricks.

The seminar covered a wide range of techniques which were very useful for both beginners and more experienced practitioners, but what I found particularly enjoyable and, what I have retained as a key learning from the seminar, was Alex's teaching methodology and its underlying philosophy of "movement as defence".

Alex taught us in a structured way that started with simple movements, then combined these into more advanced exploration of technique and ended in free-play. Alex's emphasis on free-play conducted in a fun and cooperative spirit was very inspiring. As he said "it allows us to explore biomechanical possibilities" and not get locked into a particular stance or styistic mode.

I believe it is a methodology that, when practiced in the right spirit, truly inspires creativity and spontaneity in martial arts movements.

So rather than just learning a couple of new techniques I have come away from a seminar with a methodolgy and philosophy that can be applied to any form of technical or situational defence training. It will definitely raise the standard of my skill and is already providing an enjoyable platform for unleashing more creativity and fun in my training.

However, the seminar wasn't all fun and games. As a recipient of Alex's punches I can testify to their pentetrating and organ jolting power.

It was also a pleasure to meet some nice people in the Aussie Systema and martial arts scene.

All-in-all a terrific experience. Cheers Alex.

By Miles Henderson, Holistic Combat Arts, Canberra, Australia