Systema is a realistic combat style of fighting for real-life situations, rather than a sport application.

It involves a unique, high speed, elliptical open-hand striking system, kicking, and defense on the ground. Unlike many Asian styles, Systema has no predetermined fighting stances, but teaches you to defend yourself against attackers from any position. In addition, students are trained in the use and disarming of weapons, improvised weapons, as well as combat in non-traditional situations such as fighting from a chair or while in a car.

Systema is a modern progressive system of martial art and personal development founded in indigenous Russian martial traditions dating back to the 10th century and beyond by the early Cossacks, a highly trained paramilitary society.  An historical record of this fighting style can be dated back to 948 A.D

Systema is a term derived from the original Russian Systema Rukopashnii Boi or System of Hand-to-Hand Combat. More recently, as this style has become exported to western nations, it has become synonymous with Systema Boyevogo Iskustvo or Russian System of Martial Arts.

These traditions, although suppressed during the communist era, were kept alive and further developed within certain Special Operations Units of the Russian armed forces and KGB. The aim of these units was to produce operatives capable of performing to the very limits of human potential, and this meant developing a system to unlock and train this potential on multiple levels – including the physical, the psychological and even the ‘psychic’.

It is this approach that marks Systema out from the standard fare of CQC/CQB systems – while the basics are fast to learn and functional, there is also an incredible depth, power and subtlety manifest in its potency for personal refinement and development.

From the perspective of combat application Systema operates from a principles based platform, valuing intuition over analysis in the ‘live’ situation. The mindset of applying pre-determined techniques is rejected, with the practitioner being encouraged to manifest individual creativity, adaptability and spontaneity. Through it’s unique approach to training, Systema instils within the practitioner the heightened levels of awareness required to fully inform their intuition, thus allowing the practitioner to become highly environmentally adaptable in their responses. Systema combat training is broad in scope, covering all ranges, ground work, weapons (designed and improvised), control and influence, escapes, striking and much more.

Systema, at its most basic level, is perhaps best viewed as ‘a system of movement and breathing’, developed and applied within the context of close quarters combat. For the sake of clarity we will look at these two aspects in turn.

The movement concept within Systema consists in manifesting fluidity, relaxation, fine control and freedom at both a mental and physical level. On a physical level the practitioner learns to move each part of the body independently without losing the overall functional interconnection of the whole. This functional interconnection is referred to in Systema as the ‘Form’. Once initiated, movement is allowed to generate a wave pattern within the Form, resulting in a whole body motion that may be modified and applied by the practitioner as the situation dictates. The wave-like nature of the movements dictates that they must follow a non-linear contour described in 3 dimensions through ellipses, spirals, figure-8’s and such like. The net result is a movement system capable of generating powerful strikes, rotations, leverages, evasions, redirections, manipulations and misdirections.

In Systema breathing is viewed as the nexus of control between the conscious and unconscious mind, and therefore the physiology of the body. In order to move well it is essential to remain both physically and mentally relaxed, and this is where good breathing and breath control come in. The Systema practitioner must become aware of not only how their breathing passively affects their Form, but also how they can use breathing to maintain the Form’s integrity under both mental and physical stress. This said, it is also considered important to learn how to work without the assistance of this powerful tool, remaining fluid, relaxed and calm in the absence of breath.

Training in Systema emphasises investigation, exploration and experimentation over rote learning of techniques and patterns. This process is undertaken through the practise of a diverse range of exercises and drills designed to reveal the principles of the system and to develop understanding, skills and attributes. Unlike many martial arts, the training drills and exercises are not fixed and are open to adaptation and reinterpretation. The experienced practitioner should be capable of spontaneously creating and adapting drills to fit the requirements of the moment. Group training is an essential aspect of Systema with many drills requiring the participation of 2, 3, 4 or many more (i.e. 10 upwards) people. Possibilities for solo training are also rich with many exercise methods introduced for training breathing, relaxation, form and movement.

Within Systema there are no grades or formal levels of competence, everyone participates to learn through the same material and everyone is considered equal in terms of respect.

An important aspect of Systema training is the development of heightened levels of awareness and intuition, and this is something that it does to great effect. Within the military programs that developed Systema, these aspects where considered manifestations of inherent human 'psychic' attributes, and it was from this perspective that they were developed. This explanation, however, generates a problem in the cultural transfer out of Russia and into the ‘rationally minded West’: because the explanation is unpalatable, the realities of the experience are often pre-emptively dismissed. To avoid allowing the explanation to create a barrier to experience and development, it is often best to simply forget it and work with what you feel. If you need to, or find it useful, you can come up with a rationale of your own in order to help you proceed. In Systema, experience should always takes precedence over explanation. It is also important to understand that any work along these lines practised within Systema training is purely pragmatic and functional and not bizarre or ritualistic in any way.