Systema
I’ve been devoted to studying this
wonderful discipline called Systema for several years now. Hand in hand with my
master Fabián García and based on Systema’s philosophy and life style basis I’ve discovered values, ideas and motivations
that I have forgotten in other martial arts I’ve studied in my life.
When Pedro, my training colleague,
told me about the possibility of travelling to Colombia to train in a Boot Camp
for two days with remarkable international instructors we didn’t give it a
second thought
It´s hard to bring international
masters to Argentina. We are far away and our economy is complicated. Finding
an instructor in a country in South America, who organizes a seminar with other
masters, to share the activity and who speaks Spanish was an opportunity we
couldn’t miss for the world. Fabián García has taken seminars with Vladimir
Vasiliev and Ryabko, among some of the great masters of Systema. And in the
past we had the chance of attending an excellent seminar by Maxim Franz. But a trip to Colombia
could not be wasted.
I won’t talk in this article about
the wonderful hospitality and kindness of Colombian people. If I had to
describe the country’s beauties, the warmth of its people and the good will you
find in each person I wouldn’t have time to talk about the boot camp.
After spending some days going over the
city of Cali, the day of the climb finally arrived. We climbed on foot, through
a path in the mountains and we got to a clearing where we could see an
impressive valley. The landscape was breathtaking and just the fact of being in
such a beautiful place paid off the trip.
We arrived at night to the camp site
and we set up the tents in the middle of a drizzle. Far from bothering us, the
cold water was the perfect excuse to warm up the group. A bunch of strangers
gathered around a campfire, drying tehir clothes. A variety of characters, students
of many different martial arts, laughed and joked till dawn. As we didn´t know
each other, there were no names. Nicknames appeared spontaneously and most of them reffered to our countries of
origin obviously. Therefore I became “Argentina”, another one there was
“Ecuador”. We had a “Perú”, a “Venezuela”, many “Colombia”… we joke about being
the Mercosur of martial arts.
Chats started with the martial arts we´ve practiced. We are all black
belt of one or several disciplines: Hapkido, Taekwondo,
Karate. And Systema’s mistery was always
around. Pedro, my argentine colleague has been training for several years just
like me. Others have started a short time ago in their countries. Many came to
know Systema for the first time.
We went late to bed. Smelling of
smoke but happy.
The next day starts with training. We
have breakfast facing a beautiful and afterwards
we begin with the drills. When we arrived, we thought we’d have a conventional
Systema training, in charge of the international instructor Frank Arias. A kind
of “long class” that would last two or three days with the advantage of having
a different version from a Canadian instructor that would give us a new vision
of this martial art.
What we found instead was something
more complex and interesting. We had Frank Arias from Canada who showed us
Systema in movement and dynamic applied. A way of facing real combat, fight an
armed and unarmed opponent, standing and on the floor. But along with Frank
Arias we had Jason Priest, another Vasiliev instructor. Jason showed us
relaxation, the punch, and several drills to increase our power. We could see
details and adjustments in combat attitude with Jason, Systema’s way of
thinking.
Another unit was given by the
instructor Carlos Albán, an athlete’s doctor from Colombia. He taught us
breathing, health and resistance. Systema is a combat method but also a way of
looking after your body and spirit. He showed us the ways to modify and isolate
the pain, divert the attention and focus it at will.
José Rafael León Delgado, from
Venezuela followed. He had prepared a firearm unit in which we studied and
trained in handling a gun, the way we moved and defended in the city. Also we
learnt the agressor’s psychology, and how to find both mental and physical
answers to an attack.
With this team, the journey was more
than justified. Not only we understood Systema applied in effective and real
situations but we also we studied Systema focused on health, relaxation, both
mental and physical strengthening and prevention. All of this took place in a
dream landscape, surrounded by a group of people who were moved by support and
good humor. We enjoyed long talks and laughs around a campfire during the
nights, tasting peruvian “pisco”. We excersised concentration and smiles during
the day, training hard. We traded stories, knowledge, ideas. We passed e-mails
and facebook contacts generating a strong bond. During the last chat we had, I
emphasized that “I feel I came to a seminar and ended up having a trip with
friends where I learnt Systema as a plus.”
However we had more coming up. We
finished the camp and flew to the Colombia’s Mountain Hunters Regiment. We were
invited by the Colombian Army to give a small Systema seminar. Out of nowhere I
found myself surrounded by soldiers ready to fight. We spent a long afternoon
sharing a complete special training with the Colombian army, an unexpected and
wonderful experience. We played, laughed, hit and fought again surrounded by
many soldiers that watched closely and exercised with us. We could have ended
there but there was still more Systema aspects to learn.
Systema as a discipline has a deep
biomechanical human study. It is based and develops the physic and mathematical
aspects of movement. Update and refresh the style comes not only by constant training
but also through science. On our last day in Cali we went to Dr. Acero’s study,
one of the main biomechanical and sports investigators. He made several videos
of movements for his studies. There we could value how movement was filmed with
special cameras, in a movement laboratory. Angles, speed, bars, gun movements,
etc. That was a very interesting aspect of the discipline: the theory.
This whole huge experience ended with
a nice dinner in a wonderful restaurant in Cali and the necessary local shopping
to buy all kind of gifts. The best memory we keep of this boot camp are the
hard training, the concepts, the landscapes, the unexpected events and the
great kindness of the group, that is usually created among Systema students.
There must be a reason why.
Diego Betous
Systema Vladimir Vasiliev training group.
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