About Systema

"Nature knows but one kind of justice,
the inevitable conformity of results to causes."

Systema is a unique and original Russian Martial Art dating back to the 10th Century. While taught to all classes from peasant to royalty, the art was taken to it’s highest level in the Russian Orthodox Monasteries. After the Russian revolution of 1917, the communist government suppressed Systema, restricting training in this art to certain units of their elite special operations forces known as Spetsnaz. In the decades since, these teams have employed the physical, psychological, and psychic aspects of Systema in a variety of modern combat situations with stunning effect.

The techniques and strategies employed in Systema are applicable along the entire spectrum of the force continuum from empty hand combat to edged and projectile weapons. Systema is a true "aiki" art fostered in a western tradition. Relative to other forms of soft arts:

Systema:
- Is simple to learn.
- Is easier to apply in a serious altercation.
- Teaches all forms of combat
including ground fighting and edged weapons.
- Is not based on learning technique but rather on learning the principles underlying all techniques.
- Is an approach which teaches the body a new operating system which then becomes automatic even under the most stressful situations.
- Is easily adaptable directly to the individual practitioners strengths and body type.
- Rapidly facilitates the cultivation and application of psychic energy, even at beginning levels.
- Has no rank or belt system; practitioners advance at their own rate.
- Fosters a deep level of camaraderie among the students.

The philosophy underlying Systema is elegant in it's simplicity. Here is a practical modern combat art that teaches the practitioner how to fight by learning not to fight. The student learns to neither fight the external force being applied nor their own body tensions. They learn solutions both practical and spontaneous, useful in even the most extreme situations of modern combat. The student learns to allow the new operating system, developed in the dojo and ingrained in their subconscious, to take over. The necessary techniques flow from the principles firmly established by their understanding and practice of Systema.

Systema classes at the Dojo of the Four Winds are on going with students at all levels of expertise working together.