#russian #systema

If you are interested in the "Systema" of the Russian martial art, this interview with Mikhail Ryabko by Stanley Pranin will be a good read for you, since it addresses many topics about Systema, from its history and philosophy to its objectives for its practitioners.

Here an excerpt:

"Look at the biomechanics of other martial arts. Some destroy the body of a person. If you constantly deliver strikes against hard objects you destroy your joints. You get arthritis. This type of training destroys a person’s body. He has constant pain in his joints. If a person is irritated and nervous he is no good for his family or country.

We have a boy here who is only 10 doing karate. I can show how his right shoulder is damaged already. Anything that destroys the soul of a person — pride, vanity and anger — are no good. The same applies on the physical level. Nobody needs a sick person, but it is much easier to control a sick person.

Kicks in karate that twist the joint and put the joint out, damage the joint greatly. The bone just comes out of the joint and causes micro-tears in the joint socket. That destroys body coordination and produces pain in the joints. Why should one practice that way? What you should do instead is to strengthen the joints. The striking techniques we learned in the seminar involved a lot of strengthening of the joints, warmups and stretching, and then proceeding to striking."

Interview with Mikhail Ryabko from Systema in Aikido Journal