Russian Martial Art Systema Seminar for Community Policing August 2011

This was a one day seminar held by Systema Malaysia for the Community Policing group on the 21st of August 2011. They wanted to learn some basic self defense techniques, so when they patrol their neighborhood , they would know what to do and how to handle the situation if there were robbers of thefts going on.

We covered breathing, relaxation, basic holds, rolls and basic stick exercises.

Background Music from http://www.danosongs.com

http://www.systemamalaysia.com will be ready soon ! stay tuned

What makes Systema training most beneficial for our youth today? by Vladimir Vasiliev

What is SYSTEMA Originated in the ancient Russia, it is a unique, diverse and complete way of self defense training and the way of life that makes one a Warrior. A true Warrior is skilled at defending himself and others, healthy and powerful, capable of leading the battle in his own heart - and turn pride, aggression and fear into humility, courage and strength. ...year 2010 Austin, Texas.

An experienced police officer developed a serious hand tremor while on his job. Every time he had to put handcuffs on a suspect, this officer’s hands would shake so much that his partner was convinced serious medical attention is needed. After some Systema training, the officer learned stress-related breathwork and relaxation and the tremor was completely gone. The officer could proceed with his duties with new calmness and clarity. Grateful, he shared this with his Systema instructor. ...year 2001 Manhattan, New York.

The day of 9.11. Full panic at a secondary school a few blocks away from the collapsing buildings. Students screaming and running aimlessly. An 18 year old boy began to do Systema breathing that he learned in class. All of a sudden, he calmed down, could see exactly where to go and how to calmly lead a few other students along with him to safety.

Overwhelmed, he called our Systema Headquarters school in Toronto to share the details. Examples such as these are numerous in Systema practice. Called Systema, the Russian word for "the System", for its complete and wholesome approach to a human being, this style of self defense and health training enhances every part of the body and spirit.

Our goal is NON-DESTRUCTION. Many martial arts claim that, but Systema is the only martial art known today that actually fulfills that goal both physically and psychologically. Let’s briefly look at the physical aspect. In Systema, there are no strikes, kicks, blocks or throws that destroy the joints. When Systema students practice, biomechanically, the body is always positioned so that the joints and muscles are never twisted or overstressed, but always in their natural position.

Dramatic high kicks, spins, splits and jumps from movie screens do not work in real fights and, in fact, do irreversible damage to the entire muscular-skeletal system. All Systema moves are done by keeping every joint in its natural position and in balance with the rest of the body. Simple, subtle and, therefore, powerful.

Another fundamental aspect of Systema is BREATHWORK. Why is it essential? No matter how good someone is fighting in a gym, when a real confrontation happens, fear makes most people freeze for a moment, freeze physically and mentally. That moment is usually when the attacker takes control. The only sure thing that prevents fear from dominating us is breathing. Systema students practice specialized breathing exercises and learn to maintain continuous and uninterrupted breathing no matter what they do.

This continuous and adjustable breathing allows to keep moving, thinking and, therefore, to survive. Moreover, it helps to restore oneself from the effects of stress or injury after the stressful episode. Breathwork is done in every Systema class. These specialized exercises combine different breath patterns with muscle work and produce outstanding effects. Our respiratory system is directly connected with circulation while every blood vessel in turn is closely connected with nerve endings.

Thus, breathwork has calming, stabilizing and healing effect on the entire nervous system. In Systema classes, people of any age become calm, stable and strong individuals. If something unexpected happens, they do not panic or get angry or get traumatized by stress. If they need to act they are able to act swiftly, calmly and decisively, no needless damage to themselves or anyone around. In Systema, there are no stances because any deliberate stance is an expression of fear. A stance makes the body prepared for only one direction of attack, it can be detrimental in case of multiple attackers or unexpected drawing of a weapon. Stance is a fixed pose and it makes the body rigid and tense, therefore, slows the effective reaction.

What Systema students learn instead is NATURAL AND SPONTANEOUS movements. Nothing is pre-rehearsed in our classes, just like in a real confrontation - no attack is pre-arranged. Students master the real freedom of movement, they are comfortable on the ground and standing, kneeling, rolling, running, striking and avoiding strikes on the move, drawing a weapon while falling, working with a limitation of using only one arm or one leg and much more. They are ready for unpredictable attack, apply instant divergent thinking and effortless movement to control the threat.

Another fundamental purpose of training in Systema is to AVOID TENSION, tension in the muscles, in internal organs and psychological tension. Every exercise or movement practiced in class is done with proper breathwork, at the right speed and in natural positioning. There is no pressure for the child to prove that he is the best and, therefore, no internal tension. Tension destroys effective self defense movements and completely destroys the person’s health physically and emotionally.

We usually neglect to control tension in our lives, while in Systema, this is a focal point. The results are amazing - at the end of class the students feel more energized, not wound up, but full of energy in a calm, peaceful and happy way.

There are unique practices in Systema training such as massage, relaxation techniques, gentle visceral pressures. Under close guidance and supervision of the instructors, students learn how to apply that to their partners and to themselves.

This is the most valuable skill to acquire for a lifetime of health - it allows a person to heal effects of stress, disease, injuries in himself and in others, it doubles and triples the potential for any athletic activity, work and emotional stability. Closely related to reducing tension, is yet another essential aspect of Systema - NON-AGGRESSION.

Most disciplines talk about controlling aggression, Systema goes deeper - it simply produces good-natured children. Let’s examine this serious issue. What causes aggression? The answer is - fear. Aggression is our way to deny, compensate, hide and mask the fears inside. Needless to say, aggression destroys the body and the psyche of a child and can also cause excessive damage to the opponent in a confrontation.

Systema deals with the core - it helps children understand when, why and how fear sets in and they work with it directly. Systema students are not afraid to get hit because they know how to remove strikes from the body. They are not afraid to fall because they are so comfortable with rolls and takedowns. They are not scared to make a mistake because they know how to learn from it. There is no fear of failure since there is no competitive pressure.

Systema training is one of the best ways to develop analytical skills. Through both play and serious work in class, each child is always analyzing the movements of his partners and of himself. Since there are no ready-made moves to memorize, a child is constantly evaluating his own strengths and weaknesses. He is faced with his biggest asset and challenge - himself. This undoubtedly is one of the most valuable skills to have in life.

It provides young people with true confidence. We should be very careful when we emphasize confidence in our kids. So often it is based on praise, ranks, and a sense of being better than others. Such confidence would be fake and fragile. Only strength from within gives true confidence, founded on humility and on walking the right path. Based on battle-tested skills of ancient and modern warriors, everything is practical in Systema. There are no uniforms because we do not walk around in uniforms on the streets. There are no memorizations of patterns because it just does not help in real confrontations.

Natural and spontaneous movements keep the art alive and never boring. There are new movements and elements every single class. This always keeps the challenge and the interest going. Psychological benefits of Systema are profound. There are no belts or ranks in Systema because these breed unhealthy competition and pride. We clearly do not wish for our children to focus on things that are superficial, vain and destructive.

The non-competitive setting develops friendships, helpfulness, and shifts the focus of training towards building personal qualities, to attaining achievements that are not necessarily displayed, but are internal - such as overcoming impatience, laziness, envy, egotism. Prevailing over the unwanted traits builds the qualities that are permanent and real.
Systema offers specialized strengthening exercises that combine various speeds of movement with breathwork. These exercises are designed to align the body properly and to develop tremendous endurance. Moreover, these practices serve to teach young people to detect and remove negative emotions. They learn how to handle fear, irritation or self-pity in simple and reliable ways.

In 2007 Systema Founders Mikhail Ryabko and Vladimir Vasiliev received a personal invitation to demonstrate and explain Russian Martial Art at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan. This presentation was a great success and Systema was stated to be "the most humane martial art of the modern times". In its very origin, Systema is structured to build individuals that will be healthy, active and skilled at self defense until their old age. Systema training creates very special young people.

Due to the huge reserve of health, it is a guarantee that people who practiced Systema seriously will not be a burden to society when they grow old. They will be able to react to stress and danger in a calm and professional way, they will know how to restore themselves from injury or disease, they will have strong families, good jobs and be a positive force in their communities.

This is the ultimate goal of any solid education program for our youth. At our times of imposed realities and clicking buttons, more than ever, we need a program that is non-commercialized, but is real and complete, natural and alive - Systema.

Another great Systema video of Martin Wheeler

Fist work

What is Systema?

Taken from this site

The Elite Forces Handbook of Unarmed Combat, 2002
"Russian Military Martial Arts"
by Ron Shillingford

"The history of Russian/Soviet military martial arts is as fascinating as it is complex. Prior to the October Revolution of 1917, Russia had a multitude of regional and ethnic martial arts which are today collectively known as Russian Martial Art (RMA). From several millennia before the birth of Christ to roughly 6th century AD, RMA was a varied tribal practice amongst Slavic warrior communities, used in both internal and inter-tribe competitions and also in the reality of tribal warfare. The combat skills were passed from father to son, martial hereditary maintaining and also developing the corpus of techniques over the centuries. This was to be valuable, for from the 6th century AD, Russian tribes came more under attack form northern and western invaders, though the invader's first hand accounts of this time indicate that their opponents were ferocious hand-to-hand fighters. >From the 9th century, however, metallurgical advances were starting to affect the course of RMA development. Improved swords, spears and Armour led to the need for more decisive hand-to-hand techniques which could be used to tackle even armed opponents. Another, perhaps more profound influence on RMA, was the Mongol occupation of Russia initiated by Batu Khan in 1237, an occupation which remained until the 15th century.

Two centuries after the Mongol occupation, RMA went into something of a decline. The influence of less sophisticated martial traditions from the West and the eventual introduction of firearms meant a steady degrading of RMA authority and skills, though it remained as a persistent cultural presence throughout Russia into the twentieth century.

The revolution of 1917 signaled a major shift in the fortunes and direction of RMA in Russia. Following the establishment of the Bolshevik government, the communist regime set out to iron flat the Soviet Union's variegated cultural traditions and create a homogeneous socialist landscape. RMA was no exception to this policy, and in 1918 Lenin founded an organization under one Comrade Vorosilov to research Russian and foreign martial arts systems and create an integrated military combat form standardized throughout the USSR. Teams of investigators traveled throughout the Soviet Union, Mongolia, China, India, Japan, Africa and Europe and built up a massive profile of martial techniques and traditions. Once this was pooled back at Vorosilov's HQ, 25 Russian unarmed combat styles were brought together with karate, judo, and other defensive forms into a tiered structure of martial art skills to be taught to the military.

The top tier was occupied by the Soviet Close Quarters Combat (CQC) program. Taught only to Special Forces soldiers and Secret Police units, CQC was a highly secret selection of lethal unarmed techniques for assassination, combat killing and torture, techniques which kept close to the original teachings of RMA despite the Soviet attempts to deny this. Emphasis was placed on techniques such as strangulation and fatal strikes, these being thoroughly tested in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. Below CQC was Soviet Police Subject and Crowd Control Tactics (CCT). CCT provided good restraint skills using locks, pressure point holds and compliance-generating kicks and strikes. Lastly, there was a general level of martial art instruction to be given to all Soviet army units, which was actually more geared to competitive sporting use than rigorous unarmed combat skills.

Thus the Soviet authorities assimilated RMA into their ideological structure while also preventing the total dissemination of lethal unarmed knowledge. The new forms were collectively gathered into a combat style known as Sambo, an acronym standing for Samozashcitya Bez Oruzhiya, meaning self-protection without weapons. Sambo generally fell into two categories: Sport Sambo and Combat Sambo, and almost all Russian military personnel would encounter its techniques in one form or another, though often without the lethality of training that Special Forces soldiers received. For there was another form of Sambo known as Combat Sambo Spetsnaz. This is essentially the repository of genuine RMA techniques, the Sambo reference in its title being meant to placate outside curiosity. Its techniques were taught in absolute secrecy, and it was often known simply as The System (Systema) by those who practiced it. It is now the province of Russia's elite Spetsnaz special forces units and of key personnel in Russian institutions such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Defense, MVD special units, VDV Paratrooper and OMON units, certain Russian Marine squads and other specialists. Slowly, the techniques of Combat Sambo Spetsnaz are becoming known to the outside world. Yet while there are many in the West who claim themselves to be Sambo instructors, some being former Soviet army personnel, few outside Russia actually have knowledge of the full scope, potential and techniques of Sambo as derived from the ancient RMA."

Systema classes Malaysia

People! I have just came back from training with the Master himself, Vladimir in Japan.

Awesome! I really want to start classes very soon so please email me for more information!

Let's start Systema Malaysia as soon as possible!

Matthew

Philosophy aspects of Systema

There is a reason why Russian Martial Art is called SYSTEMA. It is a complete set of concepts and training components that enhance one’s life. In this case, acquiring the martial art skill is a way to improve the function of all seven physiological systems of the body and all three levels of human abilities the physical, the psychological and the spiritual.

The key principle of the Russian Systema is non-destruction. The goal is to make sure that your training and your attitudes do no damage to the body or the psyche of you or your partners. Systema is designed to create, build and strengthen your body, your psyche, your family and your country.

Systema has another name “poznai sebia” or “Know Yourself”. What does it really mean to Understand Yourself? It is not just to know what your strengths and weaknesses are, that is good but fairly superficial. Training in Russian Martial Art is one of the sure ways to see the full extent of our limitations – to see how proud and weak we really are. Systema allows us to gain the true strength of spirit that comes from humility and clarity in seeing the purpose of our life.

As the roots of the Russian Systema are in the Russian Orthodox Christian faith, the belief is that everything that happens to us, good or bad, has only one ultimate purpose. That is to create the best possible conditions for each person to understand himself. Proper training in the Russian Systema carries the same objective – to put every participant into the best possible setting for him to realize as much about himself as he is able to handle at any given moment.

One of Mikhail Ryabko’s words to the beginners is “Be a good person and everything else will come to you.” In a simple, yet comprehensive way Systema helps you choose and follow the right path.

Right from the Systema website www.russianmartialart.com