Spring Ross Camp

Forum Brothers,

I would like to to tell you about my recent experience with the Ross performance enhancement system and the Ross Instructor development Program Camp. After a long, tedious journey by bus to Lancaster , Pa, I was ready to train. The other camp attendees were all very friendly and eager to share their experiences with me. The first night after everyone arrived, Mr. Sonnon and Mr. Fabel discussed the Pedagogical and philisophy of Ross training system. A few of the unique things I noticed off the bat was the atmosphere and attituyde of the instructors and more experienced Ross practicioners. There was no ego and everyone was always joking( although when they were training, they were doing some serious training).

After dinner, I was introduced to basic Biomechanics. I noticed that if I tried to use strength, I became tired quickly. And the unique presentation of the material made it easy to pick up on. After a couple of hours, the campers went to the picnic area and chatted for awhile. Then, it was off to bed

The next morning,we started with a warm up of some biomehcanics. I felt more comfortable and I noticed that when doing the squat series( which if you have the grapplers toolbox, you know what those are like) I had more flexibility and I was using my joints and natural balance instead of muscle( I am going to create a seperate post about the benefits I have experienced from Ross). Soon, the other instructors arrived and we headed for a pasture were we were introduced to the health system, more mechanics, and acrobatics( and you know what is in a pasture!). THe thing I love about ross is that 1. It is presented in a way that trains you for success 2. Everything you learn from one school, like Acrobatics, can help you in another, like fisticuffs. Scott Sonnon taught the more experienced Ross people and later on, my group( the new people) , joined them. Scott is one of the best teachers I have ever met! His ability to relate Ross and the principles made it easy to grasp. And if I was having difficulty, either Scott or one of the other instructors were more than eager to lend assistance.

The great thing about training outdoors is that you learn to engage the ground more efficiently. Actually, you already know but the ground and the methods we were shown lets your body find the best way for you to engage.

Then we ate. And the food a the camp was soooo good! I bet I gained 15lbs!

Then, after an hour to let our food digest and to test some other participants, we got to the stuff. I was curious what the Russian CQC was like. We were introduced to a couple of principles. One was the explanation of the 3 points and how to send you advasary to the ground. We were also shown 3 methods(not techniques, there are not techniques in Ross) as they are known in Ross. I can't tell you how much these 2 things alone have improved my movement and ablility.

We then joined the group Scott was teaching. Almost immediately, we were introduced to some drills that required spontaneaty. Using the path of the least resistence and the aforementioned princples, we were all able to escape grabs by two noncooperative partners( all the training I experienced was "alive").

After lunch, we began the Renovated Sambo/ Judo module.

I have trained in several types of Jacket wrestling( Bjj, American Sombo, and Judo) as well as folk and greco. I would just like to say, I thought I was very knowledgable and quite skilled. But after experienceing this module, I realized how progressive Ross truley is. After understanding a few principle, like sharing/controlling the joint center of mass, I felt 100x more confident and skilled in my throwing and grappling abilities. It seemed. at first, unimaginalbe, that it could be so simple.

I will post some more later. I have a date right now!:)

thx keep posting

socal

Another aspect of Jacket wrestling( and fighting for that matter) was to control his respiration. I thought this was/is one of the most important things I came away with. A person's fear dfinately increases when you control his breathing. I saw tat with Ross, people who did not jacket wrestle previously was moving with skill quicker than with conventional methods of learning and training. Regardless of your wreslting style, Ross will improve your game to a new level.

Not only do you learn and progress faster physically at a Ross camp, but you also develope friendships faster too. Some of the training required a good amount of trust. And we were all there to help each other as well. The first thing I did when I retu8rned to my martial arts class was to begin to develope the same type of atmosphere.

That night, there was a discussion of what some of the goals of the American Annex to Russian martial art. The first was to share Ross. I thought that was great and I was kind of surprized. They stressed that there are no secret techniques only secret principles. It is very refreshing to have a group of highly skilled and talented martial artist be so forht giving with their knowledge.

The3 next day, we woke, got in line, and began a very unique and powerful aspect of Ross...Fisticuffs

I have been boxing for the last couple of years. However, I still had not totally eliminated my fear reactivity. We began with shock absorption. I feel no serious MMA fighter can ignore this aspect of Ross. The way it was presented, the other person was working on shock engineering. At first, I was a little hesitant to hit someone hard( Fear of hurting someon) but, after I felt my partner exhale and his structure flow with the attack, I knew tha it would be ok to hit him harder. I certainly did try but to no avail. Then, it was my turn. One of the great things about ROss is that your body will let you know if something can be more efficient. After a few hard shots, I was exhaling and with the progression, was taking hard shots. I am no longer afraid of being hit. My featr reactivity is much lower( I even took an accidental shot to the face and it was absorbed).


Then, after we went over a few methods( the 3 methods) adn applied them to fisticuffs, I realized immediately how it could easily be applied to Muaythai and Boxing.
And all I had was some small bruises on my chest( pretty good for some powerfully shots!)

The last module was Bayonet fencing. I learned more about fighting in this module than in 4 years of training( although those years helped I;m sure). The principles carry over from Sambo/Judo, Fisticuffs, CQC,the health system, and body mechanics, into the Bayonet fencing. I saw this qickly and was looking forward to learning a couple of more things before I left. And I certainly did. Figuire 8's.


Overall, this was the best martial arts seminar I have ever been to.

One more thing. Mr. Sonnon is an awesome martial artist. He carries himself like a true warrior and is humble. Not only is he in amazing shape but he also is the most skilled grappler/coach I have met. Did I grapple him? No. But I grappled a couple of his athletes. And to coach someone with less than a year experience and show them how to be their own authority should be the goal of every true teacher.

I was very sad to leave the camp. I learned so much and progressed even more than expected. But, I felt humble. Here I was, some hillbilly, training with some of the best martial artist in the world( and the funniest group of folks you'll ever meet!). They had no ego. They did not care about "winning". Nor did they but on aires. They simply trained, shared, and explored. They cared about each other not only as martial artist but as people. They were tighter than most families. It showed. I felt so honored that I was allowed to be a part in this experience,. It has already changed my life in so many ways. Sometimes we win belts and medals. We train to beat the other guy into oblivion. We receive reconition for our acheivements. Get belts. But, as I learned at this camp,that all that is not really that important. No one may remember you for what you did for yourself but they will remember what you did for someone else.


Jason

How long was the seminar?

Socal

It was from Friday at 5 to sundday at 2pm. A lot of discovery in a short amount of time


Jason

Wow sounds like. Thanks for sharing.

how much?

dravenhawk

Proud to be apart of the Clan!

Jason

Scott,
When is the next camp? How can we sign up?