Reply to Neil

[bobyakka]

Hi Neil,
Sorry to hear you couldnt attend a ROSS seminar as it was cancelled. i organised the Sydney seminar on ROSS cqc. It was brilliant, a real eye-opener. It was so good we are organising another seninar for Scott in July 2000. Email me at bobyakka@hotmail.com for more info.
The seminar began with biomechanical warm ups, progressed to russian dance and then apply the dance moves to combat, both armed an unarmed. It was amazingly simple, efficient and NATURAL. Everything you read was true about ROSS, including all the big words Scott Sonnon uses (ha Ha!!!) I especially liked how the movements for combat were the same for armed and unarmed combat.
Dont worry about getting hit, we learned how to absorb impact to face and body, such that Elvis Sinosic who drew with Frank Shamrock in NHB, hooked Scott several times on the chin ( not softly either)
without hurting Scott at all.truly amazing stuff
If you have any questions, send them to my email address
Thanks
Robert Yakimov

[ajn]

I also attended Scott Sonnon's seminar in Sydney last year. It was as good as Robert says.

What I find most interesting about ROSS is that it is not a new set of techniques you have to learn, but rather ways of educating your body to move with maximum biomechanical efficiency. ROSS doesn't attempt to replace your technical base, but allows you to explore ways of performing techniques with greater efficiency, and less fatigue and damage to the body. Like the speces between the notes in music, ROSS gives you ways to link your techniques together, particularly linking techs on the ground, standing, and in between.

The Shock Absorption is quite impressive when you see Scott demonstrate it, but he also gave us enough of a taste in the seminar to show us that it is something any of us can learn to do.

Scott runs forums on http://www.mixedmartialarts.com and his own site, http://www.amerross.com. Checking them out should give you a taste of what ROSS is about.

I've also found Scott an excellent video presenter. There aren't many videos where you can actually benefit from practice without close instructor follow up, but Scott's are an exception. He is also very good at answering any questions customers have about the tapes.

I know one of Systema's reps in AUS, PJ Watson of Combat Systems International in Canberra. He trained at their HQ in Toronto, and came back very impressed, incorporating some of their stuff into his own already eclectic instruction.

Seminar attendance was pretty small, but I have the feeling the next one will be rather more populated once word of mouth from its attendees gets around.

Andrew Nerlich, Sydney AUS