Russian Martial Arts Northwest
Russian Martial Arts Northwest Training Method and it's development
The purpose of this article is to discuss our approach to martial arts training in the context of the application of Systema principles and our use of additional training practices from outside of Systema methodologies to enhance combat efficiency.
The first important question is what does the word Systema mean?
Systema is a catch all phrase that simply means the system. It has been used to describe a variety of Russian Martial Arts in recent history including the more commonly known Ryabko Systema and Kadochnikov Systema, but it is very difficult to look at these or any other martial art in isolation. Take Vladimir Vasiliev as an example. He is the leading instructor in the West teaching under Michael Ryabko, but has trained in many Russian systems including Kadochnikov Military Style, ROSS and Sambo. He also has extensive knowledge of Western boxing and Karate.
Those that have trained with Vladimir and his instructor Michael will note that there is differences in the way that they work that I believe cannot be simply described by differences in build alone. Also Michael himself is influenced by what he sees around him. During a demonstration at an Aikido festival in the United States he performed work that looked like his own take on aikido throwing and movement.
Vladimir I am told has an extensive collection of material on martial arts. His early work far more Kadochnikov in its approach and early video releases included footage of a variety of Russian systems under the Systema banner.
Then when you look at the history of Kadochnikov Systema it is acknowledged that it came from the work of Spiradinov. Spiradinov was part of a Soviet program of martial arts development that looked at a variety of systems from around the world before creating Sambo and a variety of other methods. This has been further augmented by the application of scientific study and principles to form Kadochnikov (Systema) Military style.