Inside Secrets Of Soviet Special Forces Training Vladimir Vasiliev with Ron Borland Published by Optimum Training Systems Compiled though conversations with Mr. Vasiliev during January 1997.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Note From Optimum Training Systems ………………..1 About Vladimir Vasiliev ……………………………………….3 Russian Martial Art – Art – A Brief History …………………….7 Soviet Special Forces Training ………………………………9 Training Tips ……………………………………………………..23 The Russian System of Combat – Combat – Some Philosophy ..35 10 Guidelines For Achieving Achieving Mastery in the Russian System ………………………………..41 Introduction to the Russian Health System …………….47 Conclusion …………………………………………………………57
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READ THIS FIRST
A Note From OTS
The information in Inside Secrets of Soviet Special Forces Training is designed to provide you with practical, efficient techniques that can be used to insure your personal safety. Training can be strenuous and injury may result if you don’t treat material with the proper care and respect.
Always consult you physician prior to beginning any exercise or physical training program. Should you experience any strain, stop immediately and seek t he advice of a licensed health care professional.
Appropriate protection gear should always be worn when practicing any of the techniques connected with this book. This must include eye protection, head gear and groin protection.
Any weapons used in this program are employed for education or demonstration purposes only. Situations depicted in this book are also intended for educational purposes only. None of the techniques described in this book or accompanying material should be employed unless your life or physical well-being are in imminent danger.
Always, when possible, avoid any physical confrontation. In the event of a hostile or life thre atening encounter use only the force necessary to stop t he threat and remove yourself form danger. If you are in question of what actions may constitute “reasonable force” and “excessive force” contact your local law enforcement agency. Laws vary in each state and jurisdiction.
Individuals involved in the production of this book and OTS assume no responsibility for any injury or damage resulting from the execution or practice of any techniques presented.
Inside Secrets Of Soviet Special Forces Training contains detailed instruction of serious, potent techniques for personal safety and survival.
USE THE INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK AT YOUR OWN RISK!
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About Vladimir Vasiliev
Vladimir Vasiliev spent 10 years with a SPecial Operations Unit (SOU )- the Russian Army Special Forces. During his decade with SOU he became a master of the Russian Martial Art, the fighting system that made the Soviet Union’s e lite soldiers the most feared in the wo rld.
The unit Vladimir served in was even more exclusive than our Navy SEALS. Very few in the Soviet military even knew of the training Vladimir and the others in his unit received due to intensive government secrecy about the unit. Even fewer wer e allowed training in these techniques.
In Soviet Russia, military service was compulsory. You had to do your time with the Soviet Army. Most went in to the Re gular Army where their martial arts training consisted of training in “Sambo”, a martial art based on traditional Oriental styles emphasizing jiu-jitsu or kick boxing.
Others, the healthiest and most promising, were placed in to Special Forces units. The best of the best were placed in to elite special for forces units. At first, the Russian authorities experimented with different fighting systems from around the world to see which was most effective. The unit Vladimir trained in specialized in the ancient Russian martial arts.
This system was found to be superior to eve ry other system tried by the RUssian Special FOr ces. Not only could it be practiced with a rem arkably lethal efficiency, it was incredibly multifunctional. It provided results far beyond the others in any situation in a much shorter period of time.
The Russian were also concerned about training soldier in a way t hat they could resist psychological stress. As in the Vietnam War, many soldiers returned emotionally crippled or had psychological problems when serving in places like Afghanistan or Chechnya.
One of the main goals of the training in Vladimir’s unit was to prepare the operators to endure any military operation and stay sane and functional. The Russian Army wanted to train an elite g roup that could be called on at any time to g o anywhere and, in a moment, gear up to maximum fighting readiness. As we’ll discuss /4/ later, the training was almost almost inhuman, certainly beyond anything our SEALS or Delta Force undergoes. But the result was a soldier t he likes of which the world had never seen before.
Even when these people became civilians, that were so skilled and tough that the Soviet government would call them back into action to secretly participate in a mission. It must have been str ange for the friends and co-workers co-workers of these people. They’d be doing their regular job in Russian society and then, suddenly, they wouldn’t be see for several days. days. When they returned from some incredible mission, nobody would know where they’d been. Nor could they talk about what they’d done. They simply went back to work as if nothing had happened.
The people in these special units were so well-trained and efficient efficient that the Russian Army couldn’t afford to let them go. Even when they were out of the Army, they were on call. Vladimir was one of these people.
His special area of expertise was hand-to-hand combat based on techniques acquired from the Russian Martial Art. His specialty was fighting unarmed against opponents with weapons, sometimes going single-handed against 6 attackers at once.
Vladimir was in many actions and battles, most of which are still considered classified by the Russian government. Some were were special combat missions behind enemy lines. In other operations he’d act in much the same way a SWAT SW AT team member does in our country. He also served as a bodyguard of high ranking individuals. His experience ran the gamut from military to civilian applications.
Ultimately, other SPETSNAZ operatives, KGB men, political body guards, elite paratroopers, metropolitan SWAT teams and other in need o f hand-to-hand expertise came to Vladimir for training.
There’s an old saying that says, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Vladimir was an exception to this. He was not only a master of the t he Russian Arts. He also had the ability to pass that m astery on to others.
Much of the essence of Vladimir’s training and the nature of the Russian Martial Art is located in its unique psychological and psychic emphasis. In this book, Vladimir will begin to unlock some of t hose secrets for you so that you can put them to use in your own attempt attem pt to master the Russian Martial Art.
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Key to this training is Vladimir’s overall philosophy philosoph y to combat, summed up as follows:
“Fighting skill should evolve into an unconquerable weapon that can’t be seen until used nor t aken away while its practitioner is alive.”
Your fighting skill is thus not only measured by physical abilities, but by your ability to access your own unique psychological, psychic and even spiritual powers.
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Russian Martial Art – Art – A Brief History
Throughout its history, Russia has been under attack. Whether from North, South, East or West it’s been a rare year when Russians Russians weren’t involved in battle.
Because it is such a large country, these battles took place on different terrains and in a v ariety of climates ranging from freezing winter to swe ltering summer conditions. Attackers always came with their own unique styles of combat and weaponry. As a result, t he Russian defenders had to learn to fight against a variety of styles and in a variety of conditions.
The Russian Martial Art dates back to the 10th century and evolved because of the wide var iety of conditions and attack that Russians faced. The Russians warriors acquired a style that combined and strong spirit with extremely clever and versatile tactics. These tactics were simple, practical and deadly and worked against any type of e nemy in any circumstances.
They were also not limited by strict rules of engagement or structure. This separated them from most other marital arts. There were no stances, no katas, no uniform and no formalities, rituals or belts. All
training consisted of real-life, immediately applicable principles. Right away, you learned how to defend yourself against a knife to the stomach, punch to the head or painful choke.
A “People’s” System
It also must be remembered hat most of the early Russian warriors were not soldiers by trade. People couldn’t afford the luxury of supporting professional armies. Once the Battle was over, they returned to their everyday lives in the fields and shops of Russia. In this way, the martial arts in Russia were incorporated into daily life. They weren’t some contrived martial art form designed for the elite.
The Russian nation prepared its warriors in a way t hat didn’t interrupt their regular labour. Games, exercise, sparring matches and contest of guile ware held on a regular basis. Holidays and fairs were especially good for these event and fist, wre stling, stick, knife fights and other contests were held between individuals and large groups. In St. Petersburg, once the capital of Russia, contest with up to 10,000 participants were held.
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Boys often started their training at t he age of two. First they learned to used toy weapons. Then, at age four, they’d learn to ride a horse. By age ten a boy was expected to master weapon techniques using wooden weapons and by age twelve to master unarmed techniques. At eighteen, young men were given demanding tests in all fighting skills as well as swimming and breathing through a hollow cane while under water. They also had to pass a survival test where they were left alone far from any shelter without food or weapons. These were intense, grueling exercise.
Not surprisingly, Russian fighters have been much respected by other cultures throughout history. The Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Avars all tried to employ them for their own armies. The Russians were renowned for their courage, loyalty and physical preparation.
Unfortunately, these great martial art skills and traditions developed over the course of centuries were nearly lost under Communist rule. Following the R evolution of 1917, all national traditions were suppressed. The Russian fighting style was lost for the common man.
The masses were supplied with the substitute fighting system “ Sambo”. The old Russian system continued to live on in secrecy in private academies and among a few people who quietly continued their training and passed it on to new generations of their family.
The Russian Martial Art also lived on in those few top units of the SOU. There they were perfected. Combat techniques, defense tactics, new philosophies and survival practices were grafted on to t he system.
All levels of human ability- the physical, psychological and psychic- were stressed in the new system. Techniques were geared for a w ide range of situations including covert military operations and the protection of high ranking o fficials by elite bodyguards.
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SOVIET SPECIAL FORCES Training
The SOVIET SPECIAL FORCES approach to training in their Russian Martial Art system was, to put it mildly, harsh. Most people would call it cruel. Some perhaps criminal. But their goal was to create a soldier who would be immune to the psychological torment of battle.
They wanted their elite SPecial Operations Units not to fear death. Fear was to be kept in its proper place, at an intermediate or lower level where it would activate the necessary combat response without producing any of the inhibition fear can bring.
In the beginning, we were brought into morgues. There we were forced to carry dead people to make us less sensitive to the dead. When there were serious car accidents, we’d be called to the scene to deal with the gore and pain there. All this time, our trainers were watching us to see how we reacted psychologically. We were being screened to see if we w ere mentally fit to continue.
If we passed this segment of training, we went into the next phase where we were tested to see how we perceived and responded to our own physical pain. Electric shock was used. We were also hit and punished in pressure points to see how we reacted.
In the Russian Martial Art, pressure points aren’t fixed as with other martial arts. Different points on the body will evoke different emotions in different people and at different times. Certain places would provoke fear. Others would produce aggression. The trainees were taught to fight these emotions.
Each person would have sensitive areas. For example, with a very attractive man, you might take off your shoe and hit him across the face. This could be an area about which he was very vain and sensitive.
Overall mod also plays a role in pressure points. Russian Martial Art doesn’t tell you what point to hit as much as it teaches you to sense what point to hit. It is intuitive. You’re basically telling your fist to find the right point to attack.
We,d be forced to go through unbearable pain during some of these exercise. The S PETSNAZ trainer would bend your arm back until you stated screaming because you couldn’t take the pain anymore. At that moment, as if this wasn’t enough, some-/10/body else would get a knife and star t poking you with it. You were then given a choice of the two extremes - breaking your arm or being cut with a knife.
Then they’d take your friend, another t rainee, and have them administer the punishment to see w hat your reaction was. They wanted to see to what extreme you could go before breaking. They would use this exercise to teach you how to relax under pain and open up new personal potentials for endurance. Again, the goal was to teach the trainees how to survive in any kind of environment.
Trainers would also attach strings to your ankle or arm during sparring matches every once in a while, they’d pull the strings rendering you without the use of a leg or arm and throwing you off balance. You’d have to continue defending yourself while overcoming this handicap. Again, the purpose was to teach you to fight under any circumstance.
We’d also be exercised to the point of exhaustion and made to continue far past this point. We’d be run hard for long distances, 10 miles or so, while carrying heavy ammunition or armaments, and then have to begin fighting or sparring without benefit of any rest. And t hey didn’t put up with any holding hack. You went all out, despite your fatigue, or suffered the consequences.
For “cold training” we were forced to swim in all kinds of water. The SOU saying was, “The water is too cold for swimming only it it’s ice.” They’d also take our beds out in the rain and snow and leave them there all day. Often, they’d freeze stiff. Then they’d bring them inside and we’d have to sleep in them overnight.
We were also trained to fall on the huge ant hills you’d find in the forest and allow the large black ants that lived there to bite you. We’d have to lay on the hill for a couple of minutes until we were bitten everywhere. Again, it was painful but there was more to this exercise than lear ning how to survive pain. The poison of the ants served as a stimulant and gave you extra energy during survival situations.
Psychic Training
The goal of this training was to make you multi-functional. You were to be able to work effectively in any kind of situation and never fear it.
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Perhaps more importantly, you were also expected to learn how to be creative and act spontaneously. Divergent thinking, being able to come up with unconventional and unusual responses and decisions in different situations, was an absolute necessity. You had to be totally adaptable to survive in their unit.
Key to this adaptability was the psychic training you received. You were expected t o go well beyond mere physical and psychological mastery to a point where intuition and that sixth sense that we all have but seldom use became a part of your daily life.
Awareness, or tapping into your sixth sense, was a focus for many of the exercises. Training classes could run for 5 hours and, in some, you’d be blindfolded for the entire time. You’d have to follow what was going on, do your ex ercises and come to an understanding of the principles the instructor what teaching without the use of sight.
While sparring, the instructor would also walk around the class looking for trainees who weren’t paying attention to the total environment they were working in. If he thought you weren’t aware of his presence, he’d hit you with a stick over the head. This taught the trainee very quickly to be aware of where everyone was at all times.
At other times, we were brought into pitch black rooms and had to guess how m any people were in it, if any. We’d also be blindfolded and have to identify colors just by touching colored blocks of paper. Again, awareness was to exte nd far beyond the normal five senses into the ar ea of the psychic.
Some instructor, who were skilled at passing psychic energy, would take a few glasses of water and charge them with energy. This was not an electrically based charge, but one grounded in a psychic form of energy. It was much like “touch healing”. They’d concentrate on the w ater and send energy into it through their fingers without touching it.
The trainee would then have to come into the room and tell the instructor which glasses had been charged with the energy. The purpose behind this exer cise was to teach the trainee how, on a mission, to tell if their drink was poisoned. Poison has a much stronger energy than regular water and that energy is discernible to those who have learned to access and use their psychic abilities.
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Before sleep, we were also taught to picture everything around us. We became completely aware of how a room looked, sounded and smelled. We even became aware of tactile, or touch, perception. We put all this information into a mental picture and then fell asleep. If anything at all changed while you were sleeping, you were to waken immediately to respond to any situation.
The trainer would change something in the environment, sometimes even slightly, and we’d have to wake up or answer for it with our superiors. After much experience, we learned how to do this.
We were also taught to sleep with our feet outside of our blanket or bag. That way, if some thre at presented itself, we’d be able to get up immediately to responds. As above, I still sleep this way. My feet are never covered at night.
Some trainees were also given exercise to help them come to terms with the emotional impact of extreme situations. They had to watch footage of deeply disturbing scenes, such a s serious accidents, graphic episodes of war or criminal activity, scenes that included ser ious physical and psychological violence, trauma or death.
Later the student would be asked unusual questions about the episode, such as how was a certain person in the scene dressed, or what was the shape of his knife, of whether or not he had a particular facial feature. A beginner trainee would quickly realize that he could not give accurate answers. Gradually, he would learn to view the footage professionally, to completely avoid the emotional involvement and instead of that, develop the skill of practical observation, to notice details highly relevant to his work.
It was a very useful drill to prepare the trainee for carrying on with his mission no matter what dramatic events might be happening around him. And what was also very important, to protect him from the potential damage to his psyche.
After three months of this kind of serious physical psychological and psychic training you’d gain an enormous potential for fighting skill. Because we were in a special unit, we had a license to kill and we used it when necessary. But we didn’t have to show off. It became difficult to even hit somebody at this point unless you had ample cause.
Eventually, you came to understand and respect the extent of your lethal powers and learned to use them only when necessary or in pursuit of the necessary military goal. As we’ll talk about later,
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there is a strong moral side of Russian Martial Art, as there is in many of the other martial arts around the world. To become a bully or use your powers in the pursuit or in connection with evil would be a disgrace, totally out of character for the warr ior, and would ultimately weaken the inner power.
A Force For Good
Despite some of the training described above, the essence of the Russian Martial Art is a focus on our “good” side. When you become a master of t his style, you come to appreciate how fragile the human body is and how easy it is to kill. You come to respect your own abilities and their place in the world.
And you come to respect human life. You become careful to do the least possible damage to your attacker to end his threat. The rule of thumb in the Russian Martial Art is: “Ten wo unded is better than one dead.”
Physical skill and knowledge aren’t enough in this system. If you want to be a master, you must stay on the moral side. All movement in the Russian Martial Art is free and natural movement. If you have an evil nature, your movements will be a prisoner of that evil and lacking in freedom. You won’t be nearly as effective. We teach this principle in our classes strongly today.
Certainly, not everyone who practiced these arts became good and respectful of God and nature, but the best masters did. When you reach a very high level of training, you come to understand that there is something beyond you. This understanding brings you to new levels of ability.
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This is one reason why I left Russia and settled in Canada. I came to understand how fragile humans were and how valuable human life was and I didn’t want to be associated with someone who might use the lethal force I’d acquired for ev il.
However, practical application of a martial art is a sad and inevitable part o f our civilization. There are many aggressors out there. They have a persistent need to control, put down or hurt somebody. They also fear the possibility of their own humiliation and this drives them even harder away from good.
With all the aggression in the world, there’s also a great fear of becoming a victim. The Russian system tries to free the student of this fear and protect him from the even greater terror of becoming an aggressor. Sometimes in life we become those things that we fear t he most, and the Russian system guards against this kind of excess.
In short, an aggressor can only be overcome by an individual who is strong spiritually. The Russian system stresses the need for moral and spiritual growth. To understand yourself and realize what your abilities are and what your role in life is should mark the beginning of your training.
The physical components of the Russian Martial Art are only one aspect of the fighting system. Such a powerful weapon can only totally be revealed to a person with a good psych and honest intentions. Use it for evil, for aggression, and you limit your potential.
Difference with oriental styles
There is, of course, no ritual or bowing with the Russian Martial Art. You may shake hands with an opponent, but there is no formal gr eeting process.
You can also smile or laugh during sparring. In fact, sparring is seen more in terms of a fame in the Russian Martial Art. It’s not really that serious. There sparring is supposed to take place with a positive energy in tune with the overall Russian philosophy. You respect your opponent.
And, after all, if you’re deadly serious during with a practice session, how will you be able to be serious when a real threat comes along? The Russian Martial Art philosophy is that if you take life and training serious all the time, you will be unable or too fatigued to make the /15/ change in demeanor necessary to react to a truly serious situation.
Many of the traditional martial arts are ve ry serious, though. The fighters look tough. Laughter and jokes are very uncommon if not inappropriate. Faces take on a tense or stern expression.
Moves are choreographed. If your opponent takes a particular action, you act with a specific, ingrained response. Ou have no flexibility But if you take your sparring more as a game, as is done with the Russian Art, you are allowed to act with intuition and freedom of movement. This is essential to proper execution in the Russian system.
Then there’s the “oriental breathing― techniques other martial arts use. All that release of breath and energy with every punch, that shooting out of air, does not allow for tr aining to be fun or a game. Likewise, the Oriental Arts locate an area around your navel called D’an-T’an. It’s considered to be the “sea of inner breathing― or a place where all inner energy – Tzi or Chi – accumulates,
The Russian style recognizes a similar point in the solar plexus just behind the stomach but it is not a mere collection point. This area comprises a powerful, interconnected system of nerve endings often referred to as the “brains of the abdomen― by physiologists. These nerve endings are part of the sympathetic nervous system that transmits impulses activating physiological response to the inner organs. When the body experiences an increase in activity or an emergency situation, the sympathetic system responds.
The solar plexus nerve endings have their own access to internal organs. The solar plexus thus works as a provider of electrical energy for the inner organs, blood vessels, glands and contraction of musculature under periods of stress. Where the Oriental D ’an-T’an serves as a reservoir, the Russian solar plexus is interactive with the rest o f the body. Again, this coincides with the principle of the freedom of movement so important to the Russian Martial Art.
The Importance of Mobility
The D’an-T’an also represent the center of gravity for a person in the t raditional arts. Fighters in the oriental school are more in touch with the ground. They tend to take fixed, stable stances. This comes from the nature of life in the mountains where these arts were originated.
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Remember that geography and and climate and a people’s biophysical response form the tactics for individual martial arts. In the mountains, a person lives and moves in a way to m inimize the effect of intense ultraviolet rays and piercing winds, There was squatting and sitting with the legs crossed and the absence of chairs in daily life. Finding a lower center of gravity, for increased stability against the elements, was necessary.
European conditions were different. The need for such stability was not present and this led to a new martial arts principle – mobility. Where the lower center of gravity provided stability, the European higher center of gravity gave you greater mobility. In the Russian system it is not stability, but constant movement, that makes you most effective.
It’s also important to note the Orie ntal martial arts’ cultural focus on imitating animals. It’s believed that, if a person imitates the behavior of animals in his movements, it will bring him closer to nature.
But the world of people is ve ry different that that of animals. In this way, t hose animal-like movements used in the Oriental arts do not comply to human movement patterns. In fact, they limit of hinder natural movement. This is not good for the Russian system.
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In nature, every being has its own identity. A rabbit, for example, can’t play the part o f a wolf successfully. Likewise, a human cannot play the role of a snake or dragon. It disrupts t he paths of nature and the natural movement on which we rely.
The Foundation – Natural Movement
Traditional martial arts are not really spontaneous. They rely on stimulus-response routines. Practitioners are taught that when a strike with a stick comes at you from a particular angle, you use a
specific, patterned response or block. “If they do this, you do this,― is what they are taught. “If they come at you this way, you block it this way.â€
But this is not very ^practical. Nor is it good from somebody who has never had to deal with a real strike. Indeed, the principle doesn’t seem to make sense. If somebody is coming at you with a bat in real combat, you wouldn’t want to use a block. There’d be a good change you’d break y our arm.
What is important is to learn what you natural response to such an attack would be. Though it may sound illogical given the need to control fear, it is important to experience fear to k now how you’d naturally react to a strike.
When I was first being trained in the SOU, all the trainees were lined up and the instructor would hit each one of us unexpectedly, Each person reacted differently, They performed different body movement to evade the same kind o f strike. Each person was unique in his reaction.
This “natural reaction― is something you’re born with and it is essential to become conscious of it when learning the Russian system. We had to know how we’d naturally act when reality struck. Each soldier was taught to build his fighting abilities on those natural reactions. Technique was ultimately based on those first natural reactions.
We do the same sort of thing in my class. When a student is new we will, for instance, charge him with a knife at full speed to se e how he reacts. He will always move away spontaneously in a particular manner.
Bringing attention to the movement will help him realize what his /18/ natural reaction is. He m ay jump away, lean back, duck or cover up. Virtually any movement is acceptable. The important thing is to remember that each person reacts differently and that these different reactions are the key for devising a defense.
The student is then taught to build on that initial movement. In this way, you don’t fight your natural movement but use it to your advantage. If his initial reaction is to lean back, for example, a student might find it best to follow by raising his arm to intercept the knife.
While that arm may come up naturally for balance, it m ay also be used to hit the attacker in the elbow and force him to drop the knife. A series of moves will thus be practiced, all stemming from the trainee’s original reaction and the continuing natural movement of his body.
Of course, it is also essential to le arn what your natural response is so that you can guard against it when in situations where it may be harmful. For instance, if a man is standing on a bridge and is attacked and his natural response is to jump back he’s got to be aware that he can’t do that ini this situation. If he does, he’ll fall off the bridge and into the river. Again awareness of you own body and identity along with what’s going on around you is essential to m astery of the Russian System.
Whatever your natural response, learning to move properly is the primary goal from the beginning in the Russian Martial Art. One must be able to move all body parts separately. Each shoulder can be moved separately, for instance. You don’t need to involve the / 19/ whole body. The rest of the body can thus stay relaxed while you move the necessary part.
The “Flying Center of Gravityâ€
Then again, to master this system you must also be able to move so that your appendages and t he rest of your body can move in different ways simultaneously It’s a kind of 3-dimensional movement of the body.
The principle used here i the so-called “flying center of gravity’. The body sways up and down, spinning in all 3 dimensions simultaneously. At the same time, it moves like a pendulum. The point of suspension of the pendulum is somewhere over the he ad. In this way, the pelvis always moves ahead of the shoulders, Pelvis and shoulders also spin on their own horizontal axis and form t he “figure eights” we talk about in-depth during physical training.
Sliding into the pendulum is much like skating without allowing your fee to leave the floor. Keeping the feet grounded enables maximum power for movement of the arms and legs.
At the same time, arms and legs must be free. Legs should stay light and mobile. Arm movement should not be reliant on a particular stance or support from the legs. Hitting power comes from the pelvis.
You shouldn’t think about a particular strike of defense or the person you’re facing off with at the moment, either. When the physical contact begins, fighting should be completely unconscious. It is impossible to prepare techniques for all potential situations in a fight beforehand but it is possible to teach the body to “think”.
By “thinking” we mean allowing the body to spontaneously find the solution for any unexp ected situation. That’s why, during training sessions, you should never prearrange attacks with your partner in the Russian system.
All movements should be dynamic and multifunctional. You should never move just for the sake of moving. And at any moment, the whole body should be perceived and used as a complete system. Though one part of the body may be moved while others relax, they should never be cut off physically or psychologically separated from the actions of the other parts.
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One thing to remember: there is no single kind of combat situation. They are all different and you must be ready for anything. Conflict can take place at day or night, in heat or cold, on slippery ground or boggy sand, in heavy forest or o pen park, in an elevator, in a car – virtually anywhere.
The conflict can also be with one person or many. It can take place at close quarters or at a distance. You may be tired, sick or wounded. Usually, you’ll have to fight without any physical or psychological warm-up. You never know what the conditions of a confrontation will be.
Moreover, you should not consider the Russian Martial Art a sport. The goal of hand-to-hand combat is to survive in extreme and unpredictable environments. Real conflicts don’t take place in a gym.
It is also important not to give your all as you would in a sports contest. You must preserve some strength so you can survive after you victory and care for your wounds, help somebody else, get out of a trap or perform other necessary tasks.
The Russian system recognizes that a fight can break out from any body position, too. STudents thus study defense from a “conversational stance”. This would be any position they happened to be in a the time including sitting standing and lying down. We also study defense from common positions where the arms and legs may be in an uncomfortable positions for starting a fight.
The fixed stances and threatening poses you find in other m artial arts contradict the principle of instant readiness necessary to the /21/ Russian arts and their focus on continuity of movement. These stances are not practical, which is why none are included in the system.
As martial arts master Bruce Lee once wrote:
“Real application of techniques themselves has little use in a street fight. It is hard to apply the principles of classic Kung FU or Karate to real life. In a confrontation with opponents that have no knowledge of the techniques of classical martial arts those opponents have reactions and behavior that are completely unpredictable.”
In many martial art classes too much time is spent o n learning unrealistic poses and classical moves that no longer have meaning. While it may have a particular beauty and the ritual be inspiring, it doesn’t prepare students for a real fight.
This is not to say that such training is totally useless. It does provide a kind of order or inter nal and external structure and organization for training.
Nor should this make you diminish the importance of body posing or body language in any way. Body language will tell you a great deal about your attacker and his intentions.
The way you position your body in response to a possible threat can also provide great advantage. It can sometimes be beneficial to express weakness, thre at, indifference or confusion with your own body. It’s also very important to be able to show unusual or unexpected stances.
Still, it is natural movement, a person’s natural reaction to unpredictable situations, that defines the Russian Martial Art. Most of these reactions come from inborn defensive instincts.
The fact that no two street fights or combat situations are the same fits well with this “natural movement” philosophy. It would be impossible to train and memorize every possible response to a particular situation. You’re facing a nearly infinite number of possibilities.
That’s why it’s much more practical and effective to become consciously aware of your natural movements and come to under-/22/ stand and use them as basic for further work in “teaching your body to think”.
Because students in the Russian Martial Art don’t prearrange str ikes or repeat them, it soon becomes unimportant what kind of attack they face in the course of t raining. This has ultimate practicality in the real world.
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Training Tips
Below are several training tips I use in my gym that you may want to apply to your own training. Some go back to my own SOU training, although I’ve made them more human and less painful for my students. Others, I’ve more recently discovered to be effective for students.
As an instructor, the firs thing I look for in a student are psychological characteristics. If someone is smart and quick on their feet, this can be developed and used for maximum advantage. If they’re tenacious and psychologically determined, this can also be used fo r maximum advantage.
In fact, the key factor in mastering t he Russian Martial Art is desire. You’ve got to w ant it. You can’t just take a person off the street, bring them in the gym and expect them to excel. Determination is essential.
I believe that the main thing a teacher can give a a student is a strong spirit. Once they have that dedication, I can help strengthen them psychologically and spiritually. I ensure that there is a good atmosphere in the gym during training. Any “tough guys” trying to prove themselves at the expense of other trainees are quickly corrected.
I also try to keep the training sessions fun and urge you to do so, too. You should be serious on the inside, but on the outside look so as to relax your opponent. Again, I must make this point: if you’re serious when there is no threat, when a threat really does arrive you’ll be left with nothing in reserve. You’ve used yourself up and left no more room to make the transition from civilian to warrior.
Not that I don’t insist on dedication. I do! I came to become a te acher in a roundabout way. I never really thought seriously about it until I started my school. I never even wanted to teach and it took the efforts of people who wanted training in the Russian Arts to get me into the field.
Now, I enjoy doing it but I still insist on effort fr om my students. I have no time for someone who want to come in and mess around o r not put in the necessary effort. They are wasting both their time and mine.
But training must be made fun. You don’t want to be totally serious until something totally serious happens. You should also work /24/ to make every training session fresh and different. In four years at my school, I have yet to repeat a class. Variety is essential. You should not allow yourself to get in a rut.
I also don’t think in terms of “ weaknesses” when dealing with my students. Any so-called “weaknesses” can be turned into an advantage and you shouldn’t let them keep you from training or believing you can become a master.
If a person is short, this merely means he will be able to wor k well at a close distance. If he is lanky and tall, this means he will be able to work well at a distance. Individual differences between people provide strengths and opportunities, not weaknesses. You must stay positive and believe in yourself.
Use the Real Thing
We use wooden knives or sticks in the initial stages of training. We don’t want to hurt anybody. But once you reach an advanced stage of training, you should try working w ith the real thing.
Even if the knife is not a sharp one and relatively safe, you should try to insure that it has the same weight and coloring and shines the same way as t he real thing. You’re trying to get in touch with proper natural responses through the repetition of t raining here. You don’t want things to look or seem phony. Whatever you decide to use, it should have the same characteristics as a real knife.
As long as the individual can properly and safely handle it, the more realistic the training the better. Knife defense tactics, for instance, are an art in themselves. They require realism and for proper training.
The shape of a knife, for example, can tell you how someone is going to attack. With a straight blade, a person is more inclined to perform stabbing and cutting motions. With a curved blade, circular work and localized cuts are more likely.
The kind of weapon can also tell you something about an attacker’s personality.
An attacker with a straight and simple knife is likely to have a more healthy and balanced psychological outlook. Any deviation from the basic knife can indicate personality differences. Curved, serrated, angled or especially long or short knives can signal a more aggressive nature, amore reserved or somber character or a streak of violence or quick temper.
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Granted, these are general characteristics and can’t be taken as a rule. Specific moves can be performed with any kind of knife. You aren’t limited to in the way you can strike. Likewise, knife type won’t always tell you about personality type. but it is something you should be aware of in sizing up your opponent.
An attacker’s physical demeanor will also tell you something about the knife. If the attacker is throwing the knife from one hand to the other or rotating it between his fingers, you’ll know he’s wielding a lighter knife and that it w ill bring lighter cuts. You can begin to think of your own clothing in terms of defense and how to best position yourself to present an effective defense.
For these reasons you should practice with different kinds of knives and make them as realistic as possible. Knives present a very serious situation. When an attacker uses one, he is making a choice between life and death and great ly increasing the possibility of a fatality in comparison to emptyhanded combat.
If someone takes a knife and attacks you with it, it’s also important to realize he’s most likely expecting a passive victim. If you react defensively and with the effectiveness proper training can give you, he may be scared away in the first moments of the confrontation.
Striking For Awareness
Earlier, I told you how the SOU instructors used to surprise trainees with a strike from a stick when they were sparring to throw them off balance or handicap them. In this way, they hoped to increase you abilities over a wider variety of conditions. I try to do similar things, albeit on a less painful level.
I’m careful who I hit, however. Some people may not be ready for such things. Their confidence may be low at the moment and this could set them back. Others may be less committed to their training and be offended by the act and I don want to lose students.
But you can pretty well sense what people need and who can handle it and who can’t. We have some pretty tough customers in some classes and, in a way, they’ll be asking for t his kind of training. And I’m glad to give it to them because it does work.
There’s nothing like a surprise stick or slap to extend one’s awareness to t he proper parameters. If you’re in a training group, you /26/ may want to try this yourself by having one of your partners provide the surprise strike.
Blindfold Training
In this system, you rely more on you intuition than in other martial arts. Each man is an individual and will react as such. Much like an animal intuitively finds its way home, so does someone in the Russian Arts find a way to strike and defend properly. Your fist basically finds the right target intuitively and your body reacts to a strike in an equally intuitive fashion.
Blindfolding a student and having him move away from a knife attack by using his intuition and unsighted senses can be a very valuable exercise. You may want to add to the difficulty of the exercise by blindfolding the student and having him hold a cup of water as he moves away from the attack. The goal here is not only t o move away from the attacker but to not spill the water as you move. It’s a great exercise for teaching balance.
The same kind of exercise can be done between training partners by pushing. Both partners start wi th their eyes open and begin with g entle pushes. Different body parts – legs, arms, shoulders – are targeted and pushing gets harder as the exercise continues.
The partner has to move away only the part of the body being hit, t hus stressing the Russian Martial Art principle of separate movement of body parts, If the shoulder is being targeted, for instance, only the shoulder moves away. The stomach is only bent if it’s being targeted.
The eyes can also be closed in this exer cise. With the eyes closed, there’s little sensory input to tell you where the blow will be targeted, You intuitively try to sense where the next blow is coming from and move the correct body part aw ay in response. You will be surprised how often an experienced practitioner can sense the targeted area and more away effectively.
Sticks can also be used for this exercise. They’re more solid, provide a firmer strike and ar e even more effective for this kind of training.
Post-Training Exercises
At the end of each training session, it is important to have students /27/ talk about their experiences. Each person should explain what he understood during the session, what he’s having trouble gr asping and what insights he might have had during the class.
It helps to put your actions into words. In your own m ind, this will help you understand principles better. Talking makes you more aware of these principles and their personal applications. Talking and verbally examining some of these principles may be the key in getting a good start on mastering them.
I’ll also have my students close their eyes at the end of a session and answer questions about what was going on around them during the class. “What kind of socks did your last opponent have on?” I’ll ask. “Who was the last person to walk into the gym?” “How many windows are there on that wall?” “What was written on the T-shirt of your opponent?”
These questions, and the added focus they provide, will help the student achieve the kind of awareness necessary for proper execution of the Russian Martial Art.
Relaxation Exercises
Though it seems like the last thing you’d want to do in a fight is relax, you need to be able to effectively deal with tension and negate it to be effective.
One of the things I find with my st udents is that they don’t know how to relax because they don’t know what real tension is. In essence, they don’t recognize or aren’t aware of w hen they’re tense. My response is to have them work on tightening their muscles consciously so they become aware of the
tension. By contrasting different levels of tension the better come to realize what a relaxed state feels like.
If I see someone in class who ha tense shoulders and can’t relax, I’ll have him stop and te nse his shoulders up degree by degree until they’re as tense and tight as they can be. The I’ll have him re lax so he can consciously feel the difference between the two states.
Sometimes I’ll have students lay down on the floor and concentrate on tightening up body parts one by one. I’ll tell them to tighten up the right arm, then relax it. Then I’ll have them tighten t heir left arm, hold it very tight, and re lax it. I’ll follow with the right leg, /28/ then left leg and then both legs at once. The we’ll do the whole body. This tensing up and relaxing shows them the difference between relaxation and tension and helps them be more aware when tension is present.
As far as dealing with this tension, breathing is a very good tool. Deep, slow bre athing to different counts can be very helpful in relaxing. For instance, you can take 10 counts to breathe in, hold the air for another 10 counts, follow by taking 10 counts to breather the air out and complete the exercise by holding the breathless state for another 10 counts.
Breathing through different body parts can also relax that area while getting energy into it. In the SOU, we were taught to heal ourselves this way. The exercise is simple. Suppose you want to relax your right arm. You’d simply imagine taking air in through the arm, then exhaling through it. Positive energy or power in imagined coming into the body part as it breather in and negative energy is exhaled through the same part.
Any body part can be relaxed, e nergized or even healed in this way. If your stomach is hurt, for example, you can treat it by imagining breathing through it. The mere act of breathing through t he injured body part will bring a great deal of added energy to the area and promote recovery.
You should also try to breathe in different positions, Don’t just lay on your back. Kneel, stand and twist your body and then go through your breathing exercises. We’ll talk more about breathing later when we discuss the Russian Health System.
Fear and Pain Control
There are two basic kinds of fear . The first is “mental fear” and it’s inside your head. It’s the fear that your mind deals with when facing a dangerous situation.
The second kind of fear is “physical fear”. It’S in the body and its (sic) physical response to danger or attack. It may even have to be dealt with during a training exercise. Mentally, you may understand that your partner isn’t going to kill you but your body still may fear the contact.
Most trauma and injury comes from the animal-like response of /29/ “physical fear”. Your body reacts inadequately. You twist away sharply and may tear your knee . Or you may put added pressure on a shoulder that’s stressed by trying to pull away. In this way, you cause your own injury. It’s a result of your own response to pain.
But some amount of fear, especially mental fear, is necessary for your proper response to an attacker. If you get too cocky, you’re likely not to take a dangerous situation seriously and get careless. You can pay a big price for this carelessness.
Still, too much fear can freeze you or present a barrier to natural movement. While ti’s important to control mental fear from affecting you abilities, it’s important not to g et rid of it completely. Physical fear should be conquered, but mental fear should be controlled. It can be your friend.
One exercise I use to teach fear control involves having a student lay on the floor and allow 4-5 of his partners to grab a different part like the arms, legs or head. Each pulls their body part and twists it in a different direction, inflicting pain on the prone student.
On the one hand, the student must deal with some immediate fear because he can’t control the situation. But, after a while, he’ll start to realize that having more than one body part twisted can also help you relax and even get away.
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In the process of the exercise, you’ll find that attackers can actually interfere with one another and take pressure of (sic) one body part by moving another in a complementary fashion. They thus work against each other and to your benefit. By not fighting the attack and positioning yourself in various ways, you can also create a situation where the twisting of the attackers actually contradicts itself.
You’ll also find that, if all extremities are being twisted, you’ll naturally be able to relax more. Here’ s why. If someone is just twisting one of your legs, you tend to concentrate all you attention on that leg, tense up and make the pain even worse. But if all your e xtremities are being twisted, your attention is more dispersed. It’s spread out over all the pain areas and this helps.
By paying attention to all areas instead of just one, you take away the pain focus. You also come to see pain as less fearful. If you tense up, you’ll quickly find this worsens the situation but if you can relax you’ll take away the possibility that you’ll injure yourself through your own response. You’ll also give the attackers the chance to work against each other.
Basically, you don†t fight your attackers here. You learn new ways to go with what they’re doing or position yourself so the twisting cancels itself out. You conquer your “physical fear― so it can’t harm you and learn to limit the me ntal fear so you don’t freeze and can act creatively.
Contact Is Important
Indeed, any sort of physical contact exercise helps you to control pain and fear. Th e pushing exercises we described above are a good example. The most important thing is to make sure there’s contact. Don’t just pretend you’re pushing. Make real contact.
From there you can progress from pushes into punches. Those punches should wind into the body as taught in Russian Martial Art physical training. As you contact the body, your fist twists or rotates. This provides even harder contact and provides more pain for your partner.
Strikes in the face can also be useful. You don’t want to overdo this, of course. We’re not trying to injure anybody. But you can work in team having one person holds your arms down while someone
slaps or otherwise works to your face (sic). This will create fear at /31/ first but the more you practice the less likely you’ll be to jerk and freeze and give in to “physical fear†.
I’m very careful with this in class, of course. The goal is to create some pain without injury. But this kind of habituation to pain and being hit must be done. Contact is a necessity. Only by being hit and experiencing some pain will you learn the nature o f that pain, how to react to it and how best to deal with your fear of it.
Confidence Builders
In SOU we would spar while being presented with physical handicaps and I find this very useful today. Training with an arm or two t ied behind your back or otherwise limiting your ability move can be very good for developing your abilities.
Fighting with a limitation can also demonstrated how much you can do to protect yourself even when under a handicap. If you can’t use your arms, use your shoulders. If you can’t use anything else, look to that matter inside your head called a brain and use it. You’ll be surprised what you can find to defend yourself when you use your mind creatively. Demonstrating the a bility to defend yourself against such odds during a sparring or other training exer cise can really be a great confidence builder.
Extended squats are also good for confidence building and strengthening the spirit. Rather than g oing up and down in the standard squat, you do t he exercise very slowly. You start by taking 10 seconds to go down, hold it for 10 and then come back up using the same 10 se cond count.
As you continue your training, you can move these time periods slowly up to 20 seconds and give yourself even more of a test. Push-ups can also be done this way. By fighting yourself through these exercises you can add character, strength and confidence to your overall demeanor.
Use Of The Eyes
The way you use your eyes is very important during a fight. The level at which you look at your attacker will greatly determine energy levels during the fight.
Looking below the eye level of your opponent (especially below /32/ the waist line ) activates an animal response in terms of emotions. It is fear and anger that prevent the fighter from looking up. These emotions, when uncontrolled, psychologically weaken you and suppress your own energy field. This makes you a lot weaker and se riously hampers your fighting ability.
Looking straight in the eyes of y our opponent indicates an increased challenge or sense of threat. Looking straight into the eyes also signals a desire to overpower your rival and further aggr avate the situation.
But it may not be advantageous to inflame the confrontation in this way. If your attacker is wearing sunglasses or it is dark, this approach will also have little effect. Your attacker may also have perfected a strong look in his eyes and, when you make eye contact, you could find yourself intimidated or thrown off balance.
The principle behind the Russian System is not to depend or rely o n any one response. You don’t get stuck on anything or caught up in particular games or response patterns. Doing so will seriously harm the freedom of movement the system needs to work effectively.
It’s best to look above the heads of your opponents. This is generally regarded as demonstrating the highest, most professional level of fighting skill. You avoid the pitfalls of eye contact and the low level gaze. At the same time. Looking above the opponent gets you more united with the universe. More positive energy and power result from t he energy links that come from your eyes connecting sky with ground.
This concept exists in other Eastern arts as well. Your increased connection with the universe gives you a certain detachment from the fight and increased consciousness that can be very helpful. You have a better perception of the overall situation. The radius of extrasensory awareness can increase to nearly three feet.
The body also becomes lighter. It is easier to m ake the kind of circular movement stressed in the Russian Martial Art. There can also be a time shift, where event move slower than they are actually do allowing you more ease of effort and less stress in the timing of your r esponse.
Physically, looking above the head also widens your horizon. Peripheral vision and vision of lower levels is not hindered. It may /33/ e ven be enhanced. Meanwhile, you’ve opened yourself up to other levels that you couldn’t access with your eyes in a downward or level position.
It’s very hard to learn to keep your eyes up, though. It requires much practice and your should make sure to stress it in your training. But the alternative is not good. In fact, if you’re in a group fight and can’t take your eyes from the arms and legs or weapons of an opponent it’s guaranteed that the fight will not end well for you.
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The Russian System of Combat -Some Philosophy
Action vs. Activity
Being able to distinguish between Action and Activity is very important in mastering the Russian system. Though many people think of these two words as similar, they are actually quite different in nature.
An Actiontakes place when a situation demands it. It is something that is demanded of you S omething spontaneous and of the moment.
An “activity†does not come from demand. It comes from a restless mind. It is a response to itself and unnecessary. It expends great energy and constrains your movements. It can be very destructive to yourself and others.
If you are hungry and eat, this is an Activity. But if you aren’t hungry and eat anyway, it is an Activity. Activities indicate that you’re preoccupied with something and can’t be yourself. An Activity expresses frustration.
Similarly, think of yourself in an interview situation. You may prepare your answer and behavior in advance. But when you get to the interview, the interviewer may want to g et information your haven’t prepared.
If you answer his unanticipated questions directly and spontaneously, that’s Activity. If give him the inappropriate answers that you pre-planned, that’s “activity†. The situation has changed from what you thought it would be and, instead of responding to the demands of the situation, you give yourself over to what has been planned.
“Activity†is not based on what is real or natural. But our minds will always find a way to justify or rationalize it. We are good in tricking ourselves in this way.
It’s important to understand that many people spend most of their energy on “activity†. But “activity― doesn’t correspond to what’s going on around you. It is actually a way to escape from your own /36/ worries, pain and concern. It fills the void when you don’t want to face reality.
Most people say they want to be active, always doing something, but they’re fooling themselves. That’s “activity†. “Activity― makes it hard to relax. It drains energy. And when a moment comes where Actionis required all that “activity― may find your energy reserves empty.
It is important to look at your life and distinguish between those things you do that are “actions― and those that are “activities†. After that, you should begin to become more involved and direct your energy toward Actionwhile recognizing when “activity― appears and avoid it.
The Russian system stresses Activity. Acting spontaneously and naturally are key principles. Instead of performing learned patterns as they don in many m artial arts, the Russian system teaches you to be versatile and unpredictable. It allows you to adjust to any situation.
The Russian system also teaches your body to think, not your mind. Suppose you’re in a situation where you’re told your opponent is a master of martial arts. Your response may be to create some ex/37/pectations for him. Before you know it, you’ve created a whole identity for him and used up a great deal of energy. This can make you very tense and severely constrict your movements.
Suppose you’re also told that your opponent is a kar ate specialist. You’ll come to expect quick kicks from him and create and prepare a whole response pattern. But what if the guy turn out to be and expert in judo? He’ll take you tot ally by surprise and wrestle you right to the ground. You’ll be defeated by your own mind.
All those expectations you had led you to perform an “activity†. An Actionstate would have allowed you to adjust to his attack and provide a realistic re sponse.
Real Actionallows the body to think. The mind stays out of it. The Russian system dictates that only the natural response of the body will provide a proper defense. This is especially true when you’re confronted with more than one opponent.
The Way Of A Soldier vs. The Way Of A King
The Russian system can also be defined by contrasting the way of a soldier with the way of a king. /38/ The soldier is taught to take orders. Life is a win-lose situation. An enemy must be either destroyed or conquered. He has very little latitude for responses to a situation. He’s drilled to be like a machine, to form habits.
It’s much like a yoga philosophy. You end up functioning like a robot. Responses are developed and made a habit.
These habits work unconsciously. They do not require awareness. You can be totally divorced from them. And they can be easily observed, much to your disadvantage.
Watch a person take out a pack of cigarettes sometime. In most cases, he does not e ven realize what he’s doing. He’s not conscious of his actions. If he’s worried or concerned he reaches inside his pocket automatically for a smoke, takes it out and lights it up. It’s a habit, an ingrained response. He is like a machine.
The same thing can happen in a military situation. Suppose a soldiers is in a fight and has a chance to strike effectively with his knife using his left, an inconvenient, hand. But instead of striking, the habit of working with his right hand makes him throw the knife over to it.
In this way, the habit of working with the right hand can’t be overcome, even in a critical situation. This, of course, gives his enemy just the moment he needs to gain the advantage. He ends up knocking the knife right out of the soldier’s hand while he’s juggling it. He ends up being defeated by his own habits.
A soldier must obey orders and perform as directed. He does not, in any way, have to evaluate what he’s doing. In the end, he is as subservient to his habits as he is to his superior officers.
It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about. Some people get used to smoking. Some don’t. Some get used to eating meat. Some get used to eating vegetarian food. Some put their right pant leg on first. Some their left. In the end, it’s all about equal. The habit doesn’t serve you. You serve it. It’s much like the Actionvs. “activity― discussion above.
There are no “good― habits and “bad― habits. Any habit is a problem. If you live with habits, you’re living the way of the so ldier. If you live without them, you live the way of the king.
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Why? Because a soldier must follow but a king doesn’t. A king is above everyone. He doesn’t take orders. He gives them. His life is one of Actionnot “activity†. He is not a worrier. He is relaxed and without restraint. While the soldier must obey and live the life of a servant, the king lives naturally and free.
Sure, you can work to develop what many people would consider “good habits― but you’re still not living your own life. At best, t hese “good habits― become what is called “second nature†. But “second― is not natural. Nor is it the way of the king.
The Way of the King and Movement
When we look at proper movement in the Russian system, we are looking at “reflexes†. A “reflex†is a direct, uncontrolled response to a stimulus. In other words, it is a reaction to something we are not ready for. The “reflexes― nature gives us help to survive but only up to a point.
As a rule, after your initial reactions, your body tenses up and loses its freedom This is t he moment at which it is most important to move correctly. To move correctly you must re lax. With relaxation, you body can work and continue to respond freely and naturally to any situation or threat.
In the Russian system, awareness and freedom are essential. Move-/40/ments experienced during training pass through and are understood by the mind. They are then loaded into the muscles. This allows them to react at any moment in a spontaneous and easy manner.
In a way, this may be seen as creating habits but t he bottom line is that you’re creating your own system of actions. You’re not performing some mechanical system of movement provided by some other martial art.
There is no prior planning, memorized tactics or anticipation of situations here The way of the king is to not anticipate or plan but to “act†. The king releases that life is unpredictable and presents an unending array of potential challenges and responses.
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10 Guidelines For achieving Mastery in the Russian System
1. Harmonize Your Life
If you live in harmony with yourself, nature and the people around you, evil, in the form of an attacker, is far less likely to present itself. Bad situations are far less likely to occur.
Living in harmony with yourself and all that is around you is also e ssential for true mastery of the Russian system. Respect for others and the fragility of the human body breeds a respect for your own skills and opens up new levels of ability.
2. Do Not Be aggressive
This may seem contradictory but it is the e ssence of the Russian Martial Art. If you can avoid any confrontation do so. Use the intuition and body awareness the Russian system teaches you to se e possible trouble and avoid it.
If you must take action, be secure that your mastery of the Russian Martial Art will provide you with superior firepower. Devotion to the principles of the system will serve you well in any battle.
Still, another part of the system’s philosophy is to only impart on the attacker the least damage possible to end a threat. Again, “10 wounded is better that one dead.” The Russian Martial Art stress (sic) self defense, not aggression toward others. Where necessary, act with appropriate firmness but never in a callous or careless way.
3. Think Continuously
Don’t be close-minded. There are solutions for most any situation. Consider the possibilities. When in a fight, it is the body that does the thinking but to properly understand your place in t he world and the ramifications of your actions you must not turn yourself off to your intellectual side.
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4. Do Not Rely On Rules
Every situation is different. Your body and intuition will find the answers and the proper response. There are no fixed katas, responses or rituals here. No specific guidelines for specific situations. You rely more on intuition. There are an infinite number of possible combat situations in the world and an equal number of possible responses. The only rule in the Russian Martial Art is that there are no rules. (Only moral limitations.)
5. Understand That It’s Not The Weapon That Does The Harm, But The Person
A weapon is just an extension of a person. When you’re fighting you should never concentrate on the weapon, but the actual attacker. Again, awareness and focus should be widene d. It is not the weapon that will do you harm, but the person wielding it.
Yes, it is natural to stare at a knife or gun but it shouldn’t take up your attention. As we mentioned above, eyes should be directed above the att acker. If you can’t take your attention off the weapon, the fight will probably not end well for you.
6. Accept The Necessity Of Fear And Anger
You must be aware of the fear and anger inside of you. A little of each can be very helpful. Fear keeps you from becoming overcon-/43/fident or falsely believing you’re in control all the time. If you don’t have fear, you won’t respect your attacker of the dynamics of the situation you’re in. You’ll get too cocky and pay the price.
Similarly, anger keeps you from becoming overconfident or sloppy. When not properly controlled, it can get out of control and lead you to do foolish things. When not felt at all, you lose motivation. But anger at the proper level can keep you sharp, aware and moving without constraint.
Experiencing fear and anger will insure that you take your attacker seriously. This is something that a lot of martial artists don’t do. Instead of allowing fear of opponents they attempt to replace that fear with the memorization of certain moves. Memorized moves are no match for the kind of awarene ss and care fear can provide. It is a mistake not to respect AND fear your opponent to some degree.
7. Slip Away Without Breaking Contact When In Combat
This is one of the most involved principles we’ll talk about here. Maintaining control of the attacker and the situation are of essence.
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If an attacker grabs hold of you, it’s not necessarily bad. In fact, it’s good to allow him to grab you, That way you know where he is. You’re aware of his exact location and can fight other people simultaneously if necessary. You first instinct may be to separate from him but that’s not the idea here.
Of course, as he holds on, you must bring him under control. You must do enough damage to render him harmless. But you slip away from him only in the respect that you neutralize him so he can’t hurt you. At the same time, you allow him to keep a hold of you so you k now where he is and can monitor his actions. You can even use him as a human shield if need be .
There’s also a psychological angle here. You continue to aggravate your attacker as you control him. He may try to move away himself but you don’t let him. You stay close to him. You may move away from a punch or kick but one part of your body always remains in contact with him.
You never really break contact until the attacker is totally neutralized. The inability to escape psychologically weakens and upsets the attacker thus bringing him even more under your control.
8.Don’t Be Self -Conscious About How You Look
While this certainly applies to combat, I’d like to discuss this principle more in terms of training. I always tell my students that nobody is a Superman. I’ll even laugh at my own movements in class. I try to set an example of not being self-conscious so that it’s passed on to my students.
If you feel awkward or clumsy, that will also make your body feel heavy and not very mobile. It will bring you down psychologically and make your movements seem ponderous, slow and too great an effort.
The self-consciousness you feel will also kill your awareness of what’s going on around you. It overcenters your focus and brings you down to earth in a very negative way. Where movements should seem like flight in the Russian Martial Art, feeling clumsy or funny will make you feel like your feet ar e glued to the floor.
If you are afraid to look awkward or funny – you are lengthening your process or becoming skilled. If you treat yourself with a sense /45/ of humor and understand that one is always a student, mastery will come to you a lot quicker and so will the respect of others.
9. Do Everything With Awareness and Relaxation
We have stressed this throughout this book. Expanding awareness to your t otal environment is a big part of mastering the Russian system. This principle also includes taking responsibility for you actions. Much as you become aware of the world aro und you as you live or right, you must also become aware of those things that you leave behind.
By relaxation, we’re not only talking about physical relaxation. We’re also talking about relaxing your mental approach so that you aren’t evaluative and thinking all the time about situations and your
possible responses to them. Remember, the king does not worry. He is a man of “action” not “activity”. Likewise, your response to a situation should not be tension and worry but instinct, reflex and natural movement.
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10. Always Perform With The Least Possible Effort
You don’t need to be super st rong or powerful to become a master of the Russian system. Like most other martial arts, we rely on leverage and technique instead of brute stre ngth.
You should be light and natural, relaxing as you move and ex pending only the energy necessary. Heavy displays of strength and power may rob you of technique and will certainly rob you of energy and endurance. This will leave you with no reserve for t he situations and responsibilities you may have to face after a fight. You may end up winning the battle but ultimately losing the war because you spent yourself unnecessarily.
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Introduction To The Russian Health System
The most valuable possession a person has is his own life. The Russian system holds life as sacred, even when it is the life of an opponent.
Health is the foundation on which life rests. The quality of a life, and indeed life itself, is dependent on health. Your skills in the Russian system will be greatly affected by your overall health. A healthy warrior is far superior to an unhealthy or injured one.
But while nobody really wants to be sick, it’s amazing how many people do nothing to prevent illness and protect their health. The constant fatigue caused by modern living and its persistent te nsion, the
inability to rest properly and other factors combine to gradually break down health. Many of us only come to appreciate and be aware o f its importance when we lose it.
Even when we are sick, we have a tendency to think only of treating symptoms and not our whole being. Conventional western medicine relies on drugs and other foreign substances to treat these symptoms but drugs can create even more problems for the patient.
Medicine itself is the cause of many allergic, respiratory and skin diseases. Many health problems and stress agents originate in more radical problems like radiation, chemotherapy and vaccines. It’s been reported that in the countries of Western Europe and North and South America, almost 30 percent of all illnesses are caused by medications. In the United States, medications play a significant role in 25 percent of all deaths. No sources cited
We don’t want to go back to the Middle Ages, of course. There are acute cases where pharmaceutical sand the newest technology is necessary for proper treatme nt. But far too often chemicals are used to treat symptoms while the cause of t he disease inside a person is left untreat ed.
The goal of the Russian Health System is to anticipate dangers to our health and mobilize our natural defensive powers to fight disease before it happens. The Russian Health System I was taught was perfect by a Russian philosopher and practitioner, Profiriy /48/ Ivanov, who has successfully been working with it for 50 years. This system was also a part of our training in t he SOU. I think that many of its components can be very helpful to students training in the Russian Martial Art.
The RUssian Health System identifies fatigue- whether e motional, physical or intellectual fatigue – as the main enemy. Fatigue has a negative effect on the whole nervous system. As you may have noticed in your own life and those of others, illness often follows a period of exhaustion.
Exhaustion interrupts the natural, healthy order of cell growth in the body. In the best circumstances, there is a constant process of renewal for the cells in our body. When the old cells die, healthy ones grow to take their place. When exhausted though, the body may begin to poison itself. Healthy cell growth is hampered.
When we are first confronted with difficult circumstances, the body reacts with apprehension. This is where stress and the road to exhaustion begins. In the next phase, res istance is offered to this stress. The body rallies its reserves to overcome the stress factors. But if the stre ss is sever and our strength and reserves not up to the test, we can fall into an exhaustion phase. With our resources depleted, we can get sick.
It’s important to point out the personal nature of stress, though. When faced with the same situation, one person may really worry and test his reserves while another remains clam and rested. It’s not so much the stress, but out response to it that is important. That response depends on factors like character, individual philosophy and personality, personal history and maturity.
But we also have natural reserves in the body that help us tell every cell in our body to help us fight stress and disease. Scientific research tells us that every cell in our body has at least 20 times more energy potential that any virus or bacteria. No source cited If these cells are strong, most disease cannot live in them.
As a result, our body organs are much stronger than we believe. Many are not even working at close to top capacity or stress levels. The kidney, for example, is capable of doing ten times the work it normally does in cleaning the body. Despite this, we often see kidneys malfunctioning.
The Russian Health System believes in keeping the body st rong /49/ and preventing disease instead of treating it as it arrives. Much of its success depends on keeping the energy level of the person high. It focuses on increasing the level of vital energy by stressing the following:
-Strengthening The Body With Water
-Cleansing The Body From Inside
-Movement
-Proper Breathing
-Interaction With Nature
It is interesting to note how well these principles match the psychological components of the Russian Martial Art we talked about earlier. B oth the Russian Martial Art and Russian Health System philosophically mirror and support each other. When used together, they are a perfect example of synergy- they combine to produce a result far g reater than the sum of their individual parts.
Strengthening The Body With Water
This involves pouring a bucked of cold water over your body twice a day. While I don’t require this of my students, I will stress it to those who are open-minded to it. As a result, many have caught on to its benefits.
Its positive effects are almost miraculous and it’s not just for people training in the martial arts. My wife and I both use it. In fact, she carried on with it throughout her pregnancies and we started our children on it when they were two days old. Many in Russia swear by its benefits and many of my North American students who have tried it are equally convinced of its powers.
It’s a simple procedure. You just fill up a large bucket of icy cold water, as cold as you can get from the tap, and our it over you head. This should be done one before 12 noon and once before midnight every day. As it was explained to me in Special Forces, this way you get the two cycles of the day involved and receive both positive and negative energy charges from the earth.
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It’s almost like having a mini-explosion take place inside of you. Your body temperature rises to near ly 42.2. degrees Celsius (thats nearly 108 degrees Fahrenheit). It feels like a pleasant warmth and surge of energy inside. Meanwhile, this explosion of warmth will kill off most bacteria and viruses. Indeed, 40 degrees Celsius is deadly for mo st viruses and bacteria and this procedure raises body temperature 2 degrees Celsius (and nearly 4 Fahrenheit) above that!
The optimum way to perform this procedure is standing on t he ground, barefooted. We always do it outside even if the weather is bad and we have to stand in the snow. But be aware. You may see some remarkable things. With the body re leasing all that negative energy and disease it must have somewhere to go. That “somewhere” is through your feet and into the g round.
Many times, while using a special deep breathing procedure, I actually burn holes in the snow doing this exercise. We have this on video tape. After pouring the cold water over my head small, neat holes were formed under my hee ls and the ball of my foot where the negative energy left the body. Snow just can’t melt this way.
I knew people personally who could burn holes in pavement doing this exercise. In some cases, the negative energy leaving the body even broke the pavement! It sounds very strange, and it is, but this exercise really does work.
It also gives the martial artist more energy. You feel rejuvenated after t he procedure. It’s also a daily act of will power and, as such, a way to add inner strength and personal reserves. It is never pleasant to do this. Many times you’ll be feeling lazy or cold. You never get used to it, e specially during the winter months. But its benefits are so great, you will yourself to get out and do it.
And it must be done twice a day no matter how you feel. This is especially important if you feel sick or have a cold coming on. In fact, in cases where you feel like you might be getting a cold or flu you should perform the procedure every two hours. It will help you /51/ fight off the illness very quickly and without any medications.
The water basically runs though our biofield, cleanses it, strengthens it, bring you into harmony both in internal and external relationship s and balances circulation in the body’s energy channels. Impure, sick and negative entities are flushed from the body. If you’ve got a cold or flu or feel like you’re getting one forget the cold medicines at the pharmacy. Cold water is a much more effective treatment. It’s also less expensive and more accessible.
Please note, this is not the same as a “cold shower” or washing your face. “Whole water ”, in the form of water in the bucket, has a charge of energy far greater than shower water. As for washing your face, why stimulate just that area when yo u could be helping your whole body?
Think of it this way. Cold is the most important stimulant in our metabolism. Nothing makes the body work faster than cold. It is the best way to mobilize our body’s reserves to pull together and fight weakness. Pouring cold water over your body causes your central nervous system to call upon each part of your body to work better and direct more energy to weaker areas.
This procedure has become very popular with my students. They find that it not only aids overall health but also leads to a better, more energetic performance in the gym.
Cleansing The Body From Inside
Fasting, or not eating food and wate r for a period, is very important. It cleans out not only the digestive tract, but other parts of the body as well. It also helps to destroy unhealthy cells in the body.
If you’re going to fast, you should do it for at least 24 hours once a week. You should have your last meal at 6:00 at nigh and eat no more food or water until 6:00 the next evening. You can perform all your regular activities. You can train, go to work and recreate in whatever way you choose. Just don’t eat any food or drink water.
It is important to continue with the cold water rinse when you’re fasting, though. When in the womb, a baby takes water in though its skin. We don’t practice this after birth by we still have this ability. Fasting with the cold water rinse will teach your body to absorb water through the skin again. This absorbed water will aid /52/ in giving you more energy to get through the day.
I believe the optimum fast lasts 42 hours and this is the fast I perform during the w eek. As mentioned above, not drinking water kills unhealthy, sick cells. When you get thirsty, these sick cells are the first to demand water. They are also the first to die out, beginning to perish right around the 20 hour mark of a fast. After a full 42 hours, most of these bad cells will die from lack of water.
Healthy cells have the reserves to get through a period of no water. Bacteria and viruses don’t. Without drinking water, our bodies also begin to make water out of fats and mucus where bacteria could normally multiply. For these reasons, short fasting without water may be especially helpful during respiratory illness like the common cold and resulting infections.
A lot of people may worry about the lack of water during a fast. Modern me dicine often recommends drinking a lot of water for health. So does yoga. In fact, yoga generally recommends 8 glasses of water a day. Is this really effective?
If you’re living in India or another extremely hot climate, yes. You need the water for the heat. Likewise, dehydration is bad for the body.
But the same system of yoga that suggests drinking 8 glasses of water a day also warns us that, “A pitcher of water by the bedside of a sick person can kill him faster than the disease itself”.
Despite the focus on drinking water, the yoga practitioner also realizes that it’s important to live without it sometimes. He knows this will clear out bacteria, viruses and harmful elements that can’t exist without water.
Drinking water in small sips is also stressed in yoga. Small amounts are taken into the mouth where they moisten the mouth cavity and are savored. In this way, water is mixed with saliva.
This is important because, when water is mixed with saliva, it changes. A lot of harmful bacteria die under the influence of protective chemicals in saliva. Saliva is a remarkable substance. Dogs and other animals lick their wounds, as do some tribal nations, to t ake advantage of the protective substances in the saliva. /53/
You don’t necessarily have to lick yourself, of course, but it is wise to drink your water in small sips to make full use of the healing powers o f saliva.
Movement
Movement is also very important to health. Lack of movement leads to atrophy of muscle tissue, joint stiffness, slowing of the metabolism, mental and physical stagnation and rapid aging. In short, you must move and exercise your body to stay healthy.
The most direct and important effects of exercise take place on the circulatory system. When you exercise a muscle, your body starts to e xpand the system of blood vessels around that muscle. The network of capillaries, the tiny blood vessels surrounding each muscle fiber, grow. A working muscle demands more blood and the body actually builds new capillaries while the old ones begin to ex pand and contract better, thus improving the capacities of the muscle.
There is a big difference between the exercises you do in training for the Russian system and other exercise programs. In bodybuilding, for instance, you work muscle groups separately. For example, pumping a bicep will improve blood supply to the bicep area. Little improvement in other areas will be seen.
The Russian system makes you use all muscles in the body. They’re not wo rked group by group. In this way, your circulation improves evenly. All body parts work together, not separately.
In traditional exercises it’s generally the muscle belly, or fleshy part of the muscle, that gets worked. In the Russian system the tendons, or cord-like part s of the muscle attached to the bone, ar e the focus. As a result, you don’t end up adding bulk like the weightlifter, but you keep muscles limber and avoid stiffness. Muscles are more ready to act without warm-up if a sudden threat presents itself.
Joints and muscles are also connected to the inner body or gans thought the body’s system of nerves and energy channels. The unusual movements of the Russian system help improve energy flow through these channels. The elliptical movements of the Russian Martial Art also aid in strengthening protective energy fields that keep body parts fr om injury.
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Proper Breathing
One should learn to breathe rhythmically and deeply, using the whole chest and stomach. Correct breathing uses three body components – diaphragmatic, intercostal and upper respiratory.
Lower breathing, making use of the diaphragm (the wall of muscles between the chest and abdominal cavities), is essential. The diaphragm is a very powerful, wide muscle that moves down slowly when activated. When it does, it pushes on the liver. This eases and directs the flow of bile from the liver and provides better circulation in the abdomen. It also pushes blood in the veins ahead toward the chest cavity.
Intercostal (rib) breathing is also a part of correct breathing and it must be incorporated and linked with diaphragm and upper respiratory (or nasal) breathing. Nasal breathing is often ignored but it is as important as it is misunderstood.
It has long been noted that people who don’t breathe though their nose properly during early development later find themselves lacking in mental skills, memory and other physical skills. The nose does a number of important jobs- smelling, cleaning the air of dust, warming the air in winter, negating the effects of harmful substances to the body- and operating at less-than-peak efficiency can have grave effects on health.
The air taken through the nose also cools and ventilates the main sinus of the skull. The back wall of this sinus lays against the most important gland in the e ndocrine system- the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland controls the production of all the body’s natural hormones.
For proper functioning, this gland needs rhythmical cooling. It only gets this through nasal breathing. Without the cooling, the pituitary’s work is disrupted and this can have a harmful effect on the body.
That’s why the Russian system stresses taking air in forcefully one nostril at a time. Simply breathe through one nostril and exhale though the other. Then alte rnate so you’re taking in air thought the other nostril and exhaling through the one yo u originally inhaled through. This is excellent for cooling the main sinus and pituitary and is a strong source for biostimulation.
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As mentioned earlier in this manual, breathing by counts can also be a helpful exercise. A good starting pattern for the beginner is to take in eight complete counts of bre ath, hold it for eight counts, exhale for another eight and hold ag ain for a final eight count. This can also aid in relaxation, meditation and proper maintenance of the nervous system.
Interaction With Nature
The Russian Health System is founded on the belief that if you are good to the world around you, that world will be good to you. Loving and appreciating nature, spending time w ith it, being good to other people and respecting human life are all important parts of this belief.
Religion is also important. Realizing that, despite your skills and experience, you are still below God is essential. Humility must be served (sic). Staying in contact with your “good” side and regular prayer are essential to a true master of the Russian Martial Art. It’s also essential to the Russian Health System that keeps the warrior healthy and at the top of his form.
Conventional western medicine doesn’t have all the answers. In some cases, it can do more harm than good. If you want to become a master in the Russian Martial Art and live a healthy, strong, productive life, utilizing the Russian Health System could be the key to opening the door to a new world of physical, psychological and spiritual strength, safety and well-being.
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In Conclusion
The Russian Martial Art stresses individuality, creativity and versatility. Though formulated inside a country that many Americans and others in the West consider authoritarian and lacking in originality and inventiveness, the principles of the Russian system actually fit very well into a capitalist, democratic society where the individual is, in theory at least, king.
Natural movement is the key to the Russian system. All other principles are centered around it. The psychology and link to the individual’s spiritual and psychic side all aid the warrior in his ability to access his true physical nature and reflexes.
On a cultural level, one must also be aware of Russia’s long history. Almost constantly under attack, the Russian warrior had to learn to battle a wide variety of opponents over a wide variety of terrains and climate. He had to be versatile to survive. In developing his physical identity and using personal creativity, he was able to defend his homeland against any possible onslaught.
Much as there was no single type of “combat situation for the Russian warrior, there is no single kind of fight you’ll experience on the stre ets of your town. The rituals and set re sponses and pattern are not always effective. Anything can happen and you have /58/ to be ready for it. The Russian Martial Art reflects this kind of readiness and awareness.
While the training we received in the SOU was often brutal, the principles of the Russian system were still visible through the pain. Over the years I’ve developed a more humane approach that, while teaching the principles and philosophy, can be used by a public not likely to embrace the SOU ways.
The Russian Health System is a perfect match for the RUssian Martial Art. Like the Russian Martial Art, the Russian Health System stresses prevention- of ending a fight before it begins, if possible. It also bypasses conventional medicine’s reliance on drugs in much the same way the Russian Art bypasses conventional warfare. Philosophically, psychologically and spiritually they mesh together to produce a result far greater that the sum of their parts.
With proper training, the Russian Martial Art can and will develop in you the fighting skills of an unconquerable weapon. This weapon comes from within. As such, it is so unique it will never be seen until used. So personal and strong that it w ell never desert you as you walk the face of the earth.
