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On 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 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 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.
"The System"
is an incredible art and I would recommend it to any martial artist in
Britain. I am now the official System instructor in this country and
anyone wishing to know more, or train with me in this brilliant art can
contact me on the following phone number or at the following
address.
Trevor Robinson: Tel - 01229 430 529
Address: 53 Longway,
Barrow in Furness. Cumbria. LA13ODP
One of the most unique things about
"The System" is the use of psychic energy, a fascinating topic that
deserves to be looked at in depth, which I intend to do in my next article
for "Combat".
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