Are you really training? by Systema Master Vladimir Vasiliev

Have you ever noticed this about yourself.

Your partner does an unfair move towards you, for example, he responds to your light strike with a hard and painful one. And then you get angry.

Or your partner is a bit arrogant or slow to learn, and you get irritated.

Then again, your moves work very well, and it makes you proud of yourself.

Or someone praises you and vanity starts to creep in.

I see this happening every class. In this case, your real training time might be only a few minutes out of the entire session.

Technique is relatively easy to learn; you can break it down into parts and grasp it. It is specific and with some practice - you have got it. The focus of Systema is different - you need to understand yourself. What does that mean? Watch constantly what is it that interferes with your calm, objective and continuous movement.

Uncontrolled emotions are detrimental to effective work. These feelings come in a subtle way and unnoticeably begin to dominate and eat away at your strength. We must be vigilant. Step one is to be aware of these weaknesses; step two is to try to overcome them through breathing, understanding, changing the attitudes and the movements. Then we gain true strength and skill.

At that point where you feel angry, annoyed, resentful or self-important - you are not longer perfecting your movement or breathing or doing other tasks, instead you are dealing with a petty conflict. If you succumb to your emotions you can be easily controlled and manipulated. While taken by emotions, you can no longer have clear judgment and swift decision making - and that is destructive for your training and for your life.

I recommend, throughout the entire class for you to try and identify what are your limitations that prevent good work. Whether you are learning or teaching, always observe your emotional condition. As soon as your emotions are unstable - you are not really working any more.

When we come to class - we come to train, that is the foundation. You might be disappointed in yourself or something in class could be disagreeable. No matter what happens in a session, it should all serve its useful purpose.

The work of recognizing and facing our pride and weakness is much more difficult than polishing techniques, but it is much more profound. As we know, memorized techniques often let you down in real unrehearsed confrontations, for example, if your arm is broken or if you are in a confined space. Whereas, if you can control your emotions and study movement, you will be capable of solving any problem in a multitude of ways. I know from experience that such work is extremely rewarding, it creates true skill and allows us to survive and succeed.

-Vladimir Vasiliev

About the Author:
Born in Russia, Vladimir received intense training from the top Special Operations Units instructors and is the top student of Mikhail Ryabko. Vladimir's work spans across 10 years of extensive service with the Special Operations Unit. He also served as trainer for elite units, SWAT teams, and bodyguards. Vladimir moved to Canada, and in 1993 founded the first school of Russian Martial Art outside Russia - Systema Headquarters. He has since personally trained and certified well over 300 qualified Russian Martial Art instructors and schools worldwide, and has provided an Award-Winning instructional film collection.





Thanks Vlad,


Justin Ho
Principal Instructor
Systema Sydney Russian Martial Art
www.systemasydney.com

Master's Push Up by Systema Master Valentin Talanov

At Systema Camp 2012, Valentin Talanov started the week with this story.

“This incident changed my approach to Systema and to training in general. It happened in 1980’s at the home of Mikhail Ryabko. Visiting our instructor at his apartment was a common thing to do in Russia. There were three of us, Systema students, coming to talk to Mikhail that day. All experienced in other types of fighting, we were fairly new to this training and had our doubts about learning Systema. We actually told Mikhail straight out that we will no longer practice Systema because we do not understand it.

Mikhail was very calm and positive about this announcement. He said “doubt prevents understanding”. Then he asked us to do a couple of simple exercises. First, push yourself up from a push up position, clap your hands under your chest and land back on your palms. We easily did that. Second, from the same position, push yourself up and do one clap over the head and one under the chest and land back onto the palms. After some deliberation, we were able to do that. And finally, from the same push up position, all in one shot, push off and clap under the chest, then over the head and then behind the back, landing right back on your palms.

Mikhail said that we are not to leave his place until it is done. We were laughing and making jokes about this impossible exercise. Mikhail said that it is achievable and people have done this, and while we are doubting we will not be able to accomplish this. For about 40 minutes, we continued making fun of this situation. At last, the emotions subsided and we started to try…

Eventually, we were all determined to complete the task, believed in the possibility and all three of us succeeded! I remember doing a very high amplitude push off and finishing the third clap a split second before my hands hit the floor.

This was a great ‘hands-on’ experience of how Faith leads to Success, Success opens Understanding, and Understanding grants Confidence. Moreover, I realized that Systema is the thing I love and I started to practice it regularly and diligently. Now about 25 years later, I am very thankful to Mikhail for his unique teaching methodology and for the gift of Systema. It has truly changed my training and enriched my life.

Thank you to Vladimir and Valerie Vasiliev and Systema HQ Toronto for hosing such an amazing Camp and giving me the opportunity to share this gift with so many people!

About the Author:

Valentin Talanov is one of the top Specialists, Instructor and Trainer of Systema since 1982 under Mikhail Ryabko. He is an experienced street and tournament fighter, health and conditioning trainer of world class athletes and KS master of boxing. Valentin’s amazing power and skills are featured in his DVD Breathwork and Combat: http://www.russianmartialart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=161







Thankyou Valentin,


Justin Ho
Principal Instructor
Systema Sydney Russian Martial Art 
www.systemasydney.com