Systema

[khafra]

I just saw mention of this russian fighting art for the first time. I've heard of Sambo before, but this looks a bit different. Supposed to have something like kyusho-dim mak type applications as well as grappling and joint locks, but obviously not from a TCM perspective. I saw reference to various effects aside from pain by pressure and strikes (fear and nausea, like subsonics? or something else? :alien:)
Can anyone elucidate and enumerate for me?

[khafra]

C'mon, somebody's got to know more about it than I do. It looks like a really unique art; there are no fixed stances. You relax instead of focusing, and smile while fighting instead of using a "war face" (ie: full metal jacket). Fascinating...
:love: :woo:

[Freeform]

Pick up an issue of Martial Arts Illustrated, I can't remember the Russian dude who teaches this stuffs name (Vlassimir something) but his 'UK rep' Robert Poyton writes articles about it every month or so.

[RMAX.tv]

For the most exhaustive list of links on Russian Martial Art go to http://www.RMAX.tv/linksRMA.html

Also the discussion board at http://www.RMAX.tv/discus/

[RobP]

I've not written for MAI for a while, but most of the articles are on my site. There's also a lot of video clips too

www.systemauk.com

cheers

Rob

[kevin]

Systema is vastly different from Sambo. Essentially, the Russians have enjoyed their own unique martial tradition since the 6th century or thereabouts. The arts experienced numerous periods of intense evolution, including the Mongol occupation of the 12th century. In 1917, the communist government gathered the existing masters of the Russian arts and tested them alongside other styles from around the world to ascertain which style would be best for their advanced military units. They assimilated and categorized the knowledge, creating 3 basic tiers of knowledge. The first, Sport Sambo, is now widely know worldwide, due to the fact that it was taught openly to the junior military. A more advanced version, Combat Sambo, was reserved for the more advanced soldiers and has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity as well. The most advanced was reserved for the Special Ops units of the Spetsnaz troops. These arts were entirely of traditional Russian decent, although this was initially supressed to discourage nationalism (remember this was a communist ideal). Insiders simply referred to it as "The System" of Systema. In 1993, Master Vladimir Vasiliev, a former operative and instructor of the Special Ops units of 10 years, moved to Toronto Canada where he began teaching openly. Since then, the interest has been sky-rocketing. Check out www.russianmartialart.com for the full story. Some great videos available, but catching a seminar is probably your best bet.