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The
Systema
Russian Martial Art
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the 10th of June 1999, I was waiting
at Manchester airport for a flight
to Toronto and had time to reflect
on what had been an eventful six
months for me. For Christmas 1998
a friend of mine had given me
a video of "The System",
by Vladimir Vasiliev, and asked
what my opinion of it was. I told
him I couldn't comment on it until
I had actually tried it and in
my next lesson I used some of
the techniques from |
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the
video and they worked. A few phone calls
later and I had more videos and by the
20th of February I had become the first
person in this country to be affiliated
to Vladimir's school. So it was excitement
tinged with fear as I waited at the
airport, realizing that I was the first
Englishman to go to train in the Russian
Martial Art called "The System".
Vladimir
Vasiliev studied at the Moscow Spetsinstitute,
with ten years extensive military experience
with the Special Operations Unit in
Spetsnaz. He is a former trainer for
Russian paratroopers, swat teams and
elite bodyguards. The Russian style
of martial arts dates back to the 10th
century and throughout the history of
this huge country, Russia had to repel
invaders from all sides. They all attacked
with distinct styles and unique weaponry,
the battles fought on different terrains
during both freezing winters and sweltering
summers, with the Russians often greatly
outnumbered by their opponents. As a
result of these factors, the Russian
warriors acquired a style that combines
strong spirit with extremely clever
and versatile tactics, practical and
deadly against any type of enemy in
any circumstances. The style is natural
and free, has no strict rules, rigid
structure or limitations (except for
a moral ones). All tactics are based
on the instinctive reactions, individual
strengths and limitations and is specifically
designed for fast learning.
When
the Communists came into power in 1917,
they suppressed all national traditions.
Those practicing the old style of fighting
could be severely punished. At the same
time, the authorities quickly realized
how viable and devastating the original
combat system was and reserved it just
for a few units in Spetsnaz. Spetsnaz,
or Voiska Spetsialnogo Naznacheniya,
stands for the Russian Special Forces.
Within this highly acclaimed military
organization, there are a few Special
Operations Units used in the highest
risk missions. These professionals went
through severe training in all three
levels of human ability: the physical,
the psychological and the psychic. They
became true masters of the old Russian
system, further perfecting and continuously
using it, in covert military operations
and at the top levels of close protection.
What stands out in The System is the
ultra-fast learning curve, the incredible
simplicity of the techniques, complete
freedom of movement and the emphasis
on continual attacks as well as economy
of motion.
Unpredictable moves against single and
multiple opponents in any situation,
in any environment. The best part is
that you are also able to integrate
this into your own art and use its relaxed
and circular movement, which is similar
to ju jitsu, aikido and other arts.
When it comes to defense against weapons
The System is in a world of its own,
it's simply the best knife defense I
have ever seen in twenty three years
of Martial Arts and I've studied ninjitsu,
ju jitsu, and jeet kun do. I've also
seen Philippino knife work and this
beats the lot. When it comes to multiple
opponents, I've never seen an art that
can deal with it the way this one can.
In Japanese martial arts, most people
are given a system of theory and hope
for the best, but the Russian System
actually delivers. I've seen footage
of Spetsnaz troops fighting up to 24
people at a time. My own training has
now changed so much that I usually fight
up to three people at a time, since
coming back from Vladimir's school.
Vladimir Vasiliev is a native of Tver,
two hundred kilometers northeast of
Moscow. He opened his school in November
1993, three years after immigrating
to Canada. He and his physiotherapist
wife, Valerie, took six months to recoup
the initial $10,000 investment. Now
the school is grossing more than $5,000
a month. The school is located in a
cinder block industrial building in
Thornhill, Ontario. The first thing
I noticed at the Toronto airport was
the heat. I walked into a 34C wall of
heat, a startling change from the 17C
wall of cold I had left in Manchester.
The first culture shock was seeing a
policeman with a gun at the airport,
but I was also in for a surprise because
I didn't realize that the airport was
air-conditioned, so when I actually
went outside it was incredibly hot!
I got a taxi and made my way, about
11 local time, to Vladimir's school,
about 10 miles from the airport.
| When
I got to the school, it was everything
I'd thought it would be (I had
seen it on the video). I climbed
the iron stairs and entered through
the glass door which simply had
"Russian Martial Art - The
System" printed on it in
white letters. Inside it had white
walls, simple matting, and mirrors
down one side. There was a throwing
board for knives and the flags
of Canada, Tsarist, and post-Communist
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Russia as the only decorations. The
gym had a changing room but no showers,
this was not a place for poseurs and
a class was already in progress. Vladimir
turned around and with a great big smile
on his face approached me, ready to
shake hands. He said thank you for coming,
I said thank you for having me, but
he insisted "no, no, no, thank
you for coming!" With that we shook
hands and he led me into the main classroom
where I sat down and watched the lesson.
The first thing I noticed was that these
guys were big and this was mentioned
to Vladimir who just turned and laughed,
saying, "it doesn't matter."
There were several overhead fans that
cooled the room slightly and the students
appreciated this as they were absolutely
streaming sweat. There were some pretty
hard punches and kicks going on, this
was a serious sweat session and these
guys were really going for it. I thought
this is going to be a serious two weeks,
very painful, and I was right!
The class ended in a strange way as
everyone sat down in a large circle
and commented on what they had gained
from the class and the way the lesson
was taught. (When I got home, I incorporated
this into my own school). Vladimir came
over at the end to ask if I was training
that night. I nodded. He smiled, punched
me on the shoulder, and said "good
lad". I didn't feel good, I actually
felt extremely tired because I'd been
up for 30 hours, but I thought I couldn't
say no after that.
I did my first lesson at 7:30 that night
and it started like any normal lesson,
although some of the warm up exercises
were unusual. The System uses a lot
of shoulder movement, which is not apparent
in Japanese martial arts. The movement
is undulating, almost fluid and the
shoulders are used in circular motions.
In Japanese martial arts, the back is
held very straight and the shoulders
don't move much, but in The System,
the shoulders are actually used for
blocking techniques, so the hands can
be kept low to protect the groin. If
the punches come to the face they can
be redirected using the shoulders and
the chest.
This was one of the most unusual things
to learn, coming from a Japanese martial
arts background. One of the first things
pointed out to me was that I was "defending
the air". In The System, most of
the punches and kicks are blocked very
close to the body. In the Japanese martial
arts, they are blocked at least two
feet from the body, and this is what
he meant by defending the air. He then
said to bring an opponent to your technique,
rather than you applying a technique
on them. The System is radically different
in that it is based on body movement
rather than technique. Vladimir told
me this is why I was in Canada, to learn
the movement. I already had more technique
than I needed, but once I moved the
way they did, I would understand. He
was confident that I would pick it up
within the two weeks.
Near the end of the lesson, we sparred.
My martial arts background is pretty
substantial, having trained since the
late seventies and being a Shukokai
black belt and having studied judo,
boxing, jeet kun do, tai chi and aikido,
I felt I was well prepared for someone
like Vladimir. After all, he had only
done some karate in his early days and
his Spetsnaz training. It was with great
horror that I realized it was taking
everything I knew just to stop this
man from beating up on me. In fact,
he kicked my arse! Even with 23 years
of training, he hit me at will. I couldn't
stop anything he was doing.
In fact, I hadn't a clue what he was
doing. I had never seen movement that
was so deceptive before, even coming
from a background of ninjitsu. Vladimir
embodied deception. When I thought he
was going for the leg, he'd hit me in
the head. When I defended the head,
he would kick me in the groin. When
I started to realize it was double bluffs
going on, he'd do something else and
hit me again. Everything I did was useless
and I'd not been in this situation for
decades. My students describe fighting
me as stepping into a bear trap, but
this man was able to step between the
teeth and hit me at will. It was nice
to know that there is always a bigger
fish out there. All my teachers had
told me "have the mind of a child,
so you can always learn." I didn't
take it as an affront, I took it as
a challenge and felt privileged and
happy that after training so long, there
were still people who could teach me
something.
The next lesson was on a Sunday afternoon
and one of Vladimir's students, Randy,
took the lesson. Randy had seen fighters
from all over the world come to Vladimir's
dojo, men who were world champions in
their own art, and Vladimir had just
played with them. I could understand
why after my Friday night sparring session.
On the Monday I had the unique opportunity
of training with a man called Valeriy.
I had seen him on Vladimir's knife video,
throwing knives from 20-30 feet, into
the throat of a target, and now I had
the chance to spar with him!
Valeriy is about 240-260 pounds and
he moves like the wind, preferring spinning
and whirling techniques. This guy was
so fast and it took every thing I knew
just to defend from the onslaught. We
fought for about ten minutes and I was
almost in a state of grace, I hadn't
had such a good sparring session in
many years. Later someone told me that
he was a ju jitsu champion and that
his past was so secret that even Vladimir
didn't talk about it, other than that
he had been in the Russian Special Forces.
After I had survived his onslaught,
Vladimir spoke to Valeriy in Russian
and Valeriy answered in the same language,
before adding "perfect". Vladimir
then came up to me and explained that
he had asked Valeriy if I was any good
and he had replied "perfect".
It was one of the proudest moments of
my life.
We started to do some knife work and
what happened next was mind-blowing.
I learnt some of the most vicious and
terrible knife techniques I've ever
done in my life. Valeriy enjoyed teaching
me because I was picking it up so quickly
and some of he techniques were horrific,
involving cuts to the wrist, stabs to
the elbow, cuts to the throat and slashing
movements that would open you up like
a stuck pig. When you realize that this
was used by Spetsnaz in combat the reality
is unmistakable, you're straight in
there cutting someone to ribbons. Valeriy
also showed me the defenses to the defenses,
the counters to the counters, which
was even more interesting from my perspective
as a teacher.
Vladimir claims The System makes no
distinction between blocks, strikes
and holds, believing that every movement
is multi functional, but he taught us
tremendous mobility during the execution
of techniques. He did this by utilizing
the principle called flying center of
gravity, in which the exponent's body
sways up and down, enabling his pelvis
and shoulders to spin on their axis
during punches. The System's sliding
footwork is similar to skating and the
power of the strikes comes from the
hips. The arm is relaxed as the punch
begins to move towards its target, but
the muscles are gradually tensed as
the technique approaches the point of
contact. Upon completion of the technique
the arm is quickly retracted and muscle
tension decreases.
The overall effect of the punch is a
whipping action that carries great force
at the moment of impact and this motion
can be used to deliver short punches
called "Tichok", side strike
elbows called "Podchlest",
face slaps known as "Opleucha",
limb entrapment strikes "Oplet",
with the inner portion of the arm, or
elbow strikes delivered with the entire
forearm, which is called "Obuch".
Other hand techniques in The System
include a short quick fist to the face
called "Gichok". The System
rarely kicks over waist height, as Vladimir
clams that low kicks require less time,
energy and flexibility to execute and
do not leave you unsteady and vulnerable
to a counter attack on completion of
the technique.
Over the two weeks I think I picked
up more bruises, to my legs, my knees,
my arms and my chest, then I have ever
done in my entire life. One of the interesting
things about the Russian System is its
use of what the Japanese call "ukemi"
or receiving techniques. One of the
first things I learnt was that The System
has a great defense mechanism in that
it absorbs kicks and punches by keeping
the body very fluid. You actually teach
each part of the body to defend itself
as each part of the body learns to "escape"
by fear. It's the most natural defense
in the world because if you're afraid
of getting hit, you move that body part
away. By the second week I was picking
up far less bruises because I was learning
to "go with" the technique
in a way I had never done before. In
Japanese Martial Arts you are taught
to avoid strikes by use of footwork,
but there is very little footwork in
The System. When you think about it,
sometimes you can't get out of the way,
in a confined space, or against a wall.
Then you have to learn to move the body
and this became a great part of the
training, how to absorb punches.
I felt the fourteen days were soon over
and I stayed at Vladimir's house the
last night, enjoying a nice warm bath,
which was great, because I had never
felt so sore in my life but I had received
incredible training. Vladimir's wife,
Valerie had made sure I was well looked
after and his students were both skilled
and friendly, and my thanks goes out
to them all. The Canadian people were
so hospitable that my stay there was
so pleasurable, apart from the pain
of course! Vladimir is a humble, friendly,
engaging person, with a very pleasant
and outgoing personality, a sharp contrast
to the Special Forces killer you might
have imagined. I thank him wholeheartedly
for his patience, his time, his great
generosity and friendship. I can't wait
to train with him again.
He was absolutely right, I came back
to England twice as good as I left.
My students of three of four years standing
noticed the change straight away. My
senior student had got so used to my
movement that he could predict just
about everything I did, but on the second
night back I sparred with him and what
happened to him was almost a carbon
copy of what happened to me in Canada.
He simply couldn't stop what I was doing,
I hit him at will and he had no idea
what was happening to him. Now, after
a month of training with me, he is learning
just as much himself.
By Trevor Robinson
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