Vladimir Vasiliev - Strikes: Soul Meets Body

And do this, knowing the hour,
That now it is high time for us
To arise from sleep.

- Romans 13:11

In this book, we are presenting the Russian martial art of Systema through the focused lens of one of its key skills. A Systema strike uses any tool to hit any target at will with devastating effect. Here, both tool and target mean almost any part of the human body.

The founders and leading teachers of Systema demonstrate such strikes effortlessly, under pretty much any circumstances: stationary, on the move, on the ground, underwater, in a car, on a plane, and against any number of large, fast, aggressive, and experienced opponents. This is a skill that many martial artists would love to acquire. If youre one such, youre holding the keys to the kingdom in your hands.

Why strikes as the centerpiece? Think technology for a moment. A hologram is a laser-generated photo-realistic image. Apart from extremely sharp visual focus, a hologram has one amazing property. When a hologram is cut in half, the entire original image is visible in each piece. In fact, a hologram can be split into any number of fragments, and each fragment retains the full image.

Likewise, though the topic of striking is one slice of the vast Systema spectrum, learning it involves every other part of Systema. In this book, we arent going to talk about other components of Systema such as military teamwork; executive protection; deployment of firearms on the move; defense against knives, chains, or dogs; fighting underwater; escaping a carjacking; crowd control; health and rejuvenation, or a thousand other things. But what youll learn here about striking is at the heart of those other skills.

Now consider: would you wish for this teaching to be complex? Or is it better kept simple? Do you hope for a huge compendium of techniques, mechanics, step-by-step progression of levels, and complicated conceptual diagrams? Or do you hope to cut through everything with brisk, stark fundamentals that can be listed out in a few words? Both approaches have their merits. In our technological culture, its natural to seek out ever more arcane and abstruse information. Sometimes more is better. On the other hand, theres a deeper wisdom: eliminate non-essentials.

I hope weve achieved a healthy balance between drought and flood. Were presenting all the basic principles of Systema strikes. Were specifying the best means for training, application, integration and extension of Systema striking skills into the broader concerns of martial arts. The foundation you build for striking expands to enrich your experience of life.

At the same time, were not going to drown you in excessive detail. The Systema teachings address health, psychology, spirituality, survival, physical self-development, and protection of self and others across a huge range of situations. This book is more modest, in that we focus on strikes. But our ambition is bold. We use the narrow topic of strikes as a crowbar to pry open the lid of the entire Systema art.

In the ten years or so since the publication of Let Every Breath: Secrets of the Russian Breath Masters, the traditional Russian Martial Art of Systema (the System) has become a standout thread in the colorful tapestry of world martial arts. From its quiet public emergence in 1993 as Toronto-based Systema Headquarters (an instant success with the local martial artists), it has reached impressive heights of international visibility and respect. With this explosion of interest, weve seen a torrent of Systema educational materials: fresh publications, DVDs by the hundred, new teachers with every imaginable slant on the art, Internet videos and websites, and innovative teaching programs of every description. On and on it goes.