The Russian Martial Art of Systema Teaches the Ultimate Drills for Stopping Elbows, Knees and Head Butts!
The Russian Martial Art of Systema Teaches the Ultimate Drills for Stopping Elbows, Knees and Head Butts!By Aran Dharmeratnam / Photos courtesy of Vladimir Vasiliev |
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This article was originally titled "Russian Combat Training: The Martial Art of Systema Teaches the Ultimate Drills for Stopping Elbows, Knees and Head Butts!" and appeared in the February 2007 issue of Black Belt. Those who wreak havoc on the streets don’t use flashy, cinematic kicks and punches. They use rage, intensity and wild techniques. They fire off shots that convert their destructive thoughts and intentions into bloody results. In short, they take the quickest, most explosive route from inactivity on their part to injury on yours. The key to surviving such an assault is simple: If an attacker unleashes a string of fast, spontaneous actions, you must respond in a similarly sudden fashion. If he uses quick tactics, you need to use similarly efficient and direct moves. During the past 15 years, I’ve entered all kinds of violent environments to research the efficiency and directness needed to counter such hostile actions. Among other things, I learned that it doesn’t take a person long to figure out the most effective fighting moves. The more challenging part is finding a training method that facilitates the application of those moves when aggression is in your face, the numbers are against you and the fists are flying from all directions. For more and more people, that search for the right training method is ending with the Russian martial art of systema.
A hostile encounter can take place only after the attacker has closed the gap. From there, he can intimidate you, as well as strike out with short, quick techniques that do a lot of damage. Before we take a look at the systema drills designed to deal with those techniques, let’s examine the way they’re employed. On the street, the elbow is used to: • strike the face, often breaking the nose and cutting the skin, • impact the spine of an opponent who has shot in for a takedown, • smash an opponent after he’s been mounted, • slash diagonally while the attacker’s other hand controls his opponent’s head, and • strike to the rear while trying to break free of a restraint hold. Knee attacks are another weapon frequently seen on the street. They’re used to: • punish a person who lowers his head, perhaps while trying for a double-leg takedown, • attack a standing opponent’s face by pulling his head downward, and • slam into a standing opponent’s midsection or groin. The head butt is particularly popular among barroom brawlers. It’s delivered with the hard part of the skull, and the suddenness with which it can be launched in the middle of a heated argument takes most victims by surprise. It’s used to: • damage the face, impair vision and obstruct breathing, • exploit the shock factor, and • hurt an opponent who’s been grabbed and immobilized. The following progression of seven drills has been gleaned from my training with a number of systema instructors, including Toronto-based Vladimir Vasiliev and Moscow-based Mikhail Ryabko. It will develop your ability to neutralize elbows, knees and head butts in real altercations. Mirror-the-Footwork Drill Start by facing your partner. He steps in any direction—forward, backward or sideways—and you must maintain your orientation in front of him. Do that by moving in such a way that you keep a set distance between your body and his. If he steps forward two paces, you move backward two paces, and so on. When performed at a reasonable pace, this drill helps you develop natural footwork and a sense of your opponent’s movement. You also learn distancing, which helps you maintain control if he attempts to use close-range strikes. Fringe benefit: It serves as a great warm-up drill.
One of the things Russian troops learned during the Afghan conflict is that an enemy can launch attacks with unexpected suddenness—even as he’s walking past you. In a volatile environment, he might pull out a knife or gun as soon as he gets beside you. On the street, he might walk past you with a smile, then grab you as soon as he’s beyond your peripheral vision. For the walking-attack drill, you and your partner begin at a distance, then walk toward each other. Without warning, he tries to grab you, and you must take evasive action. The more you practice, the better you’ll become at sensing his intention to seize and thereby avoiding his hands. Before you get to that level, strive to slip out of his grip before he can secure it and effect a strike. Spontaneous-Strike Drill Because martial artists often fail to effect a defense during the shock phase of an attack, Vasiliev and other systema instructors created this drill for learning how to cope with the unexpected. Stand facing your partner at normal speaking range or a little closer. Without announcing the attack, your foe executes a controlled strike. Respond by flowing with the strike with no attempt to counterattack. Your goal is to simply move out of harm’s way. They key to doing that efficiently is moving only the part of your body he targets. Safety note: Make sure your partner works in slow motion. That may seem unrealistic, but it ensures that no serious damage will occur if you fail to move properly. Furthermore, the slow movements help you see how the technique develops in his body—from an intention to a movement to an attack. Perhaps it will start with an explosive shoulder or waist movement, or maybe with a glimmer in his eye or a muscle twitch. Once you’ve mastered the slow-motion drill, you can work on more rapid responses.
This exercise is actually the second stage of the spontaneous-strike drill; it’s more challenging because you must work with two people. One partner faces you and the other stands to his side, and you don’t know which one will initiate the grab. As soon as one of them does, you must evade or escape. Alternatively, you can move in the direction of the opponent’s force, but then you must position yourself so that you’re not vulnerable to the other assailant’s strike. A common solution to the problem involves positioning one attacker between yourself and the other one. Against-the-Wall Drill The next drill forces you to evade a strike while you’re against a wall. You can use any of the aforementioned drills as a base as long as the action positions you in a confined area. Instead of focusing on the reduced freedom of movement, concentrate on making your offensive and defensive techniques smaller. Jacket Drill The partner grabs your jacket or uniform. Your task is to free yourself using body movement before he can follow up with a strike. The second stage of the drill starts with his grab but requires you to counter as he tries to follow up with a knee thrust. The intention is to accustom you to dealing with strikes while an assailant pulls you about.
Once again, your partner must move slowly. His goal is to execute an elbow strike in a controlled fashion, and your objective is to place your fist against his body. You must find the optimum place to put your fist to disrupt his balance or otherwise stop him from delivering the blow. Focus on proper mechanics so you learn how to align your bones to prevent injury to yourself. The fist-placement drill looks easy, but like many of systema’s foundational exercises, it works on many levels. It’s key to learning how to strike correctly and efficiently, and it’s one of the primary messages Vasiliev and his peers are trying to spread. About the author: Aran Dharmeratnam is a United Kingdom-based self-defense instructor with a degree in law and criminology. Vladimir Vasiliev is a Toronto-based systema master. For more information and free film clips, visit the Russian Martial Art site. 
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