Originally Posted by
cujo
I’ve recently returned home from a great trip to Montreal, Canada, having spent the last week of intensive training with Coach Kris Iatskevich and his team at the ISWA. The week has been an incredible experience with Kris and his team sharing some great technique and grappling strategies with me. The standard of grappling I was exposed to was of an incredibly high standard, with even the newer members of the team demonstrating some immense technical ability during sparring sessions.
My trip came about following web based conversations with coach Kris about CACC wrestling, fro these conversations it was easy to see just how much CACC means to Kris and how passionate he is in keeping authentic CACC wrestling alive. Following our conversations, Kris was kind enough to extend an invitation to me to come and train with him directly with his team in Joliette. I had been playing around with several CACC concepts in my own training and was keen to gain first hand coaching so took Kris up on his kind offer.
On my arrival I was met at the airport by Kris, We promptly drove to one of Kris’ schools and got straight on with our training. As soon as the class begun I noted there was an instant feel of “family” at the club and I was made to feel very welcome. I sparred with one of Kris’ students later on in to the class and found it quite difficult to catch him with any submissions, his defensive game was outstanding and he was able to shut down a lot of what I had to offer, after sparring with him asked how long he had been training, needless to say how impressed I was when he told me little more than 6 months! I’ve been training in other grappling arts and can usually hold my own against someone who has been training this length of time!
The remainder of the week was spent going through the fundamentals of CACC, this was a mixture of both private and class sessions. During these classes I had the opportunity to roll with several of Kris’ students, rolling with these guys was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, even the lighter guys felt like they weighed a ton and were able to control me to great effect, nothing ever felt “muscled” just applied effectively, no doubt a result of the drills Kris and his team practice in every training session. Being underneath these guys was just no fun at all, you felt smothered and in pain, unable to move, unless they were baiting you to do so!! As the week progressed Kris and his team showed me how this was achieved, in itself a set of techniques that have been practiced diligently, all of which are designed to make the man on bottom frustrated and make mistakes. You really have to roll with these guys and feel what it is I am attempting to describe!
Kris in himself, is one of the best coaches I have ever had the pleasure of training with, he is kind hearted, generous, just an all round nice guy, he holds nothing back and is always willing to help you where you need it. Talking with Kris over a beer, you can see just how passionate he is about CACC, he is completely devoted to the sport and is making every effort possible to ensure the knowledge and skills are passed on and the art is kept alive and well! I feel honoured to have trained with Kris and his team and look forward to continuing my own development under his guidance, I just can’t thank him enough for making me feel so welcome, he is a great coach, mentor and a true friend.
I look forward to the next time!
Jamie Phillips
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