Softwork Weekend with Slade!!!

[cbeltrante]

When I first started my RMAX journey over 2 years ago I was interested mainly in the fitness aspect of RMAX and not so much the martial aspect. Even though I would read the post about Flow-Fighting and follow it on the forum I really wasn’t too interested in it as much as the fitness part.

I started taking Aikido in February of 2005 and then realized as I continued my Aikido practice how helpful Flow-Fighting could be to me, but I still wasn’t hooked.

Then last August, I and other CST Instructors held our 1st Annual CST Carnival in Mercer County Park, NJ and that’s when I met Slade Billew for the first time. It was during his presentation of Softwork at the CST Carnival that I really saw it live for the first time and was amazed not only by its execution but how much fun everyone was having doing it. I was immediately hooked and was interested in learning more about it.

I went home that day and purchased Coach Sonnon’s Softwork DVD to learn even more about it. After a couple of weeks Al Livelsberger asked me to get together and start to explore Softwork, I said sure.

Al and I got together a couple of times to practice but we both agreed it would be great if we could get somebody who was a Certified Softwork instructor to come up for a whole weekend and practice together. So I asked Slade about it and his immediate response was, “Sure, when do you want to get together?”. So we made plans and I talked to other friends that were interested in Flow-Fighting to get everyone together for this weekend of fun.

So the date was set for January 7th – 8th, 2006 and this is basically what Slade covered over the two days with us.

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Saturday

10 – 10:30
Intu-flow Intermediate

10:30 – 11:30
Prasara (structure)
Kinetic Chain: Standing squat to Reverse Long Arm Rollto Quad Squat to Side Plank to ScrewUp to Position of Assurance. Return to Standing
Shock Absorption: extremities, center line, one on one and two on one

11:30 – 12:30
Joint Studies
Neck, Shoulder roll, Elbow, Wrist pull, Spinal Wave, Leg plant and hip twist, Knee twist, Ankle step
Preliminary Snag the Sweater drills

12:30 – 1:30
Exploring the Joint Mass Center
Games – Back to Back pull, side to side push, Pick up
Close body strikes, spine and hips and shoulders
Exploring using those strikes to effect structure

1:30 – 2:30: LUNCH

2:30 – 3:30
Prasara (movement)
Kinetic Chain: Position of Assurance to Screw up to Twisting Spinal Arch to reverse long arm roll to long leg roll to PofA
Recovering the JMC – Alternating close body strikes to take JMC then asymmetrical then symmetrical then the up against the wall drills – everyone trying to get to the center and then everyone trying to get their partner to the center.

3:30 – 4:30
Weaponizing your architecture applying three blows with one limb. Moving towards strafing while snagging the sweater
Dependent Striking

4:30 – 5:30
Withdrawal (Deformation) – moving around force impellent force, then moving the force to its end, and then using collapsing architecture to create planes. Eventually adding multiple partners.
Then progressed from random attack Snag the Sweater to asymmetrical and symmetrical bear cub drills.


Sunday

10:00 – 10:30
Intu-flow

10:30 – 11:30
Prasara: (Movement)
Worked on the first two Kinetic Chains of the Tumbleweed flow
Touch Response working from one on one one limb to one on one two limbs to two on one drills. Inserted the grip change drill from IOUF to get people moving their whole bodies together.

11:30 – 12:30
Explore Confirmation & Revolution using kicks in a Snag the Sweater environment.

12:30 – 1:30
Breath Access: start from knee on diaphragm explorations.
Then add movement of the partner on the bottom. Then make the drill symmetrical with both partners feeling for breath access.
Begin working on Grounded movement against kicks

2:30 – 4:30
Prasara (breath)
Finish Tumbleweed flow inserted a few minutes of be breathed to prep trainees for allowing the movement to breath them as they explored
Discussed Recovery and maintenance of the Upward Performance Spiral
Worked on breath access starting from a neutral position asymmetrically, then neutral position symmetrically, then what I call the wounded shark version, where more then two people start and everyone goes for whoever ends up down first.

Static Drill: Failed standing kick to grounded partner smoothly transitioning into breath, then failed kick to breath access fluid, then wounded shark version of this.
Finally tying everything together starting from random attack snag the sweater continuing to the ground, Softwork. Working up to dynamic Softwork, and finally three rounds of the same drill getting closer to Hardwork.

At the end we had some fun with a few extra drills. One mass fighting drill where everyone stood in a circle and secretly picked a partner, At the go command everyone stayed in the tight group, but went after the partner they had chosen, while trying to avoid anyone who was attacking them. Finally ended with the designated hitter drill.

__________________________________________________ __________


It was a fun and learning experience for all of us and I for one am looking forward when we all get together again and do some more Flow-Fighting exploration!!! It is one great journey!!!

Here are some pictures from our Flow-Fighting weekend!!!!

The Livelsberger Brothers
http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/AlCraig.JPG

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Dale and Joe finding their Flow!!!!
http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/DaleJoe.JPG

http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/DaleJoe2.JPG

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Slade "The Teacher" and Jason his young Paduan!!!!
http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/SlaJason.JPG


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Group Flow
http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/GrpFlow.JPG


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Flow-Fighting Weekend Group Picture
http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/GrpPic.JPG


Here are some video clips from the Flow Fighting weekend with Slade. I hope you guys enjoy the videos as much as we enjoyed the experience!!!

Flow-Fighting 1 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid1.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 2 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid2.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 3 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid3.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 4 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid4.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 5 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid5.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 6 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid6.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 7 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid7.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 8 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid8.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 9 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid9.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 10 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid10.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 11 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid11.mpg)

Flow-Fighting 12 (http://www.beltrantefitness.com/images/FlowVid12.mpg)

I have to close by saying that Slade Billew is not only a knowledgeable and experienced instructor but he has a way of making you wanting to have more fun and just wishing the day wasn’t over. If anyone ever gets the chance to do some training with Slade, be it CST or Flow-Fighting, jump on the opportunity you won’t regret you did it. You’ll not only come away with a real learning experience but also saying to yourself like a little kid just getting off a roller coaster ride, “Wow, I want to do that again!!!!”

I’d like to thank Slade for coming up from Virginia to lead this weekend and I like to give a shout out to the rest of my friends who showed up, Jason Balducci, Al & Craig Livelsberger, Dale Cavanaugh and Joe Goss, I’m looking forward to our next training session together and hopefully I'll see most of you if not all of you at the Flow-Fighting seminar that Coach Sonnon will be doing this July in PA!!!

Take care,
Chris

[bill cogswell]

Great post! I had the pleasure of having a one on one session with Coach Slade Billew once and he really helped me out with some Clubbell work, great guy!

Those pics are huge by the way ;)

[Scott Sonnon]

Great work, gang.

Ah, mud... :twisted:

[bill cogswell]

LOLOL @ the comments on video clip #6! :lol:

[dc1976]

This turned out to be an awesome 2-day event and a great time shared by all. It was cold, wet, and muddy. But the smiles kept us so warm, I don't think none of us minded the chilly weather. Besides, most kids like playing outside in the dirt.

Could I get a round of applause for two great guys?
1)Chris Beltrante for his organizational skills and his hospitality. (great meatballs, Chris)
2)Slade Billew for giving his time to drive to PA, thoroughly instructing for two days, and helping each individual with their specific impediments. (well done, Slade)
3)And an extra round of applause for their dedication to the notion that we like to call RMAX-CST.

That goes for everyone involved, too. You all inspire me. Phenomenal efforts were given by each person. Keep up the great work, Tribe.

[JasonE]

Chris -

Awesome! I had a great time and counted myself lucky to work FlowFighting with Slade for just a few hours at your place in November. That's great you guys were able to make it work for two whole days of what looks like a fantastic time! :D Thanks for sharing the pics and vid clips!

[Cody Fielding]

Truly looks fun,

C-

[cbeltrante]

It truly was a fun time for all maybe next time we can get an even bigger gathering of RMAX tribe members to have a fun time together.

Jason,

Wish you could've been here, next time we'll have to schedule it so you can come out to the East Coast and play with us!!! It'll be good to see you again and train together!!!

Dale,

Thanks brother and as far as the meatballs, there's plenty more where they came from and you and your family are always welcome over my house for some good food and conversation!!!

Take care,
Chris

[Coach Billew]

This was a great time!

It was so much fun to train with such an enthusiastic and creative group of athletes.

Chris,

Thank you so much again for suggesting this, and letting me stay with your wonderful family for the weekend. (Chris has the cutest kids you've ever seen.)

Dale,

It was such a pleasure training with you again. Your martial knowledge is as educational to me as I hope mine was to you.

Also I want to thank Joe, Craig, and Al for all their hard work and big smiles over the two days.

I must also say a special thank you to Jason and Greg for letting me use our training sessions here in Richmond to test run all of this stuff. And of course extra thanks to Jason for being such an excellent demonstration partner over the course of the seminar.

Scott,

The mud was great, and caused Dale and I to reminisce about the old 'farm' days several times.

Jason,

We will definetely have to get you out here for the next event.

Bill,

It was a pleasure training with you, and you would be welcome back up here in Richmond any time.

[THEFORMERONE]

An outstanding weekend with a great group of CST Athletes and Instructors!

Kudos to Chris for hosting this event with a very welcoming attitude and generous show of hospitality. Dale, we will roll again bro! Joe, Al and Craig I appreciate you all helping to create such a conducive atmosphere for FlowFighting training. And of course to Slade, for all the kicks, punches, locks, throws, and bruises in the mud, I would not have missed it for the world.

Hopefully, I will get to see everyone again at the FlowFighting seminar in July. Keep up the good work fellas!

[Geoff Dixon]

Jason,
great to see you guys are working hard. I'm jealous. besides the few people I train in flowfighting, i never get a chance to work out hard with skilled people and so I'm mostly relegated to solo practice. Once the weather breaks, let me know if you guys are planning a session like this again. if not, I'll see you and Slade at flowfighting in July.
peace, bro
geoff dixon

[Joe Goss]

Thank to Slade and Chris for holding a great weekend of events. The meatballs were excellent Chris. Thank to Craig, Al, Jason, and Dale for showing up, and sticking with it through the wet, cold, and muddy ground. I hope to run into you guys sometime soon.

[cbeltrante]

I just want to add that it was a pleasure working with everbody and if everybody would like to get together again in the near future I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be too hard to persuade Slade to come back up for another fun weekend when his schedule permits.

So if anybody would be interested in another fun weekend of Flow-Fighting, respond to this post and maybe we could workout something in the future to have a fun time together again when the time permits. This way I'll know who to contact when it happens again!!!!

Take care,
Chris

[Joe Goss]

I would be honored to attend another weekend with you guys. Count me in and let me know when the time draws near.

[dc1976]

You can definitely count on me to be there. Joe said he would come too. And this time, we'll kidnap my brother and...

Well...

He'll be there. I promise. :D

[THEFORMERONE]

Brother Geoff,

It will be good to see and train with you again in July (if not sooner!). I'm glad you are working your flowFighting, solo or not, its good training. Good to hear you are breakin' again too man, you had crazy skills last time I saw you, I can't wait to see what you pull next time we meet. Till then my friend...

[bill cogswell]

With enough notice I would love to attend a Softwork workshop for sure :)

[Dave O]

Looks like everyone had a great time.

Count me in, if you do something like this again. That is as long as you do not mind having a beginner attend.

Cheers,

[Coach Jones]

Hey guys,

First let me say that you guys rock! You're doing some great, groundbreaking work there. Awesome job, absolutely awesome!

That said, we need to make sure that we make an important distinction here. Softwork (even that which progresses to Hardwork) does not constitute the whole of Flowfighting.

Flowfighting, is still in the pipeline being hammered out so that it, in it's entirety can be brought out at the upcoming Fowfighting seminars. I don't want this to sound like i'm hammering you guys, i'm not at all. You guys are doing great work and I totally support you. The only reason I mention this is to ensure that the public at large doesn't misunderstand that Flowfighting is out "on the street yet" and that there are already certified Flowfighting instructors, workshops or classes.

At the first Flowfighting seminar, the cat will be let out of the bag as it were, and everyone will be able to see how all of the aspects of RMAX come together seamlessly. One building off of the other.

While Softwork is an invaluable part of Flowfighting, it alone (even blended with other CST concepts and methods does not make up the whole of Fowfighting.

Again, please don't take this to be in any way negative. You guys will be way ahead of the pack when it comes time for the first Flowfighting seminar. I just wanted to clarify to make sure everyone is on the same page and that we all understand that Flowfighting is coming, and when it hits it will really turn some heads.

Thanks,

[Coach Billew]

Brandon

That is an excellent point, and an important reframe.

Thank you for keeping us clear and honest.

We will keep to the Softwork name for future iterations, until such a point as some of us are certified to instruct Flow-fighting.

I can't wait to see what you guys are cooking up for July.

[Jarlo Ilano]

Slade moves like water!

Sounds like a great time!

And I too am interested in what FlowFighting brings!

[cbeltrante]

Brandon,

Sorry about that, and believe me what you said isn't taken in a negative way at all. I changed the post topic to Softwork and if we have another get together before the Flow-Fighting seminar in July we'll make sure that we use the term Softwork. Thanks for the heads up, it's appreciated!!!

Take care,
Chris

[Coach Jones]

Thanks for understanding, brother. I really didn't want it to sound like I was down on what you guys are doing. I lOve it! Just for those who haven't been around for very long, we need to make sure we make it clear.

Again, awesome work!

July is going to be...amazing!

[cbeltrante]

I'm looking forward to July and preparing as best as I can for it. I'm waiting impatiently to see what you guys have up your sleeves!!! :twisted:

I'll see you in July bro!!!!

[Scott Sonnon]

The format of FlowFighting is as innovative and unique as the CST Athlete Development Program - a superb contribution to the martial art community as CST is to the fitness community.

Great work putting in the dues, guys.

[KD Jones]

So, the clips are, in fact, all pure Softwork, right? (I'm asking this because the only Softwork I've seen to this point is in the Softwork trailer).

Also... just a picky little thought... it might be well to change the "FlowFighting" references in the posts, if only because a search for FlowFighting will bring up these "FlowFighting" clips and comments.

Could cause some confusion to meatheads like me who can't read entire threads...

(By the way, I'm digging the vids. Thank you.)

[Chuck Kechter]

Cool Vids!

There's some smooth play there!

Great "job" guys!

[dc1976]

Thanks to everyone for their kind replies. I hope to see you all at the next events. Peace.