Does Systema really work?
Systema is a Russian martial art that was originally used and developed by the KGB during the Soviet era. Although it was secretive for many years, it has now spread into becoming a mainstream martial art. Because of its relatively young age, there’s still a lot of confusion when it comes to Systema which also doesn’t help due to Systema having a fairly fluid and flexible system. As a result, many people often ask the question of whether Systema is legitimate or not. Below, we shall give an honest opinion on whether Systema really works, or whether it’s a bunch of bullshido.
Is Systema nonsense?
Systema can be nonsense and sometimes suffers from the same pitfalls of Krav Maga. Having said this, it doesn’t mean that Systema isn’t legitimate either. This will take a bit of explaining to do. Basically, as you can imagine any martial art done by KGB agents is going to be realistic which also includes Sambo. It’s literally a matter of life or death in certain combat scenarios for these guys so it makes sense that KGB is efficient. In fact, that goes for practically every country’s special services doing martial arts in a real scenario.
However, the issue is more that Systema has been watered down and ruined by certain people who have jumped onto the bandwagon for the wrong reasons. In other words, due to its sometimes vague nature in what it teaches and represents, people have started teaching Systema to gain financially rather than genuinely help people.
As mentioned, Krav Maga has suffered a similar fate. There are definitely legit Krav Maga schools out there, but sadly there are also ones that teach unrealistic moves without experience. As Krav Maga’s popularity has spread, its quality of techniques have dipped as its original moves have been lessened and watered down.
Arguably, a similar thing has happened with Systema which actually teaches a similar curriculum at times. To answer the original question, Systema in its original, purest form is not nonsense. However, if we’re talking about strip mall Systema, then sadly it’s effective.
So, is Systema effective?
As seen above, the answer is not a simple one. If you can find a teacher with a genuine KGB background then Systema is effective. If not, then you’re taking a potential gamble. That’s not to say there are not legitimate teachers who aren’t Russia, instead it’s saying they’re more likely to be further from the original source.
For example, Systema teaches a lot of realistic stuff that would genuinely work in a street fight. These moves include throws, submissions, and certain striking methods. Sound familiar? In this sense, Systema does have a lot of close ties with Krav Maga, and it’s not surprising they were both made for military use.
Furthermore, if done correctly then Systema will turn you into an athlete which is a big advantage when fighting. It’s a stereotype that Russians are strong and fit, but this is no coincidence. True Systema will also teach how to move correctly as well as strengthen and condition your body. Although directly not linked to fighting, these are great habits that also go a long way in combat.
Where Systema is questionable
Earlier, we mentioned how Systema can be poorly taught at times. As the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as a bad martial art, just bad teaching” and this fits Systema’s criticisms well.
Knife defenses
One issue with Systema is that it teaches how to defend against knife attacks. Of course, there is skill and technique to learning knife defense like there is for everything in life. The issue is, these techniques can never be taught under a truly pressured environment such as boxing sparring. In other words, the reality of life cannot be replicated by drills, or even sparring with plastic knives for that matter.
This is where Systema can get questionable. Is it going to be good stuff taught by a legitimate Russian who is close to the original source? Definitely. However, what happens when someone teaches bad moves and there’s no way of pressure testing them? This is one of the pitfalls of training moves that are literally too dangerous to use in sparring.
The result is you need to trust your instructor completely, which is fine when they’re legit but is bad otherwise. Having said this, these critiques are also applicable to other arts such as Hapkido, Kali, Krav Maga, and other disciplines that train with weapons.
Systema breathing techniques
Undoubtedly, a lot of the Systema breathing techniques are legitimate. As seen by Rickson Gracie – one of the greatest MMA fighters ever, there’s a lot to be said about breathing correctly. The idea of this is that you won’t panic and breathe too quickly which would effectively shut down your body. Instead, by breathing as efficiently as possible, your body can respond to danger both physically and mentally.
Again – there’s definitely something to the Systema breathing methods and in this sense, the art was years ahead of its time. However, once again it falls for the same criticism. This is, that people are teaching the original techniques in a harmful way. Sometimes, bad teachers will overemphasize the spiritual side of breathwork in Systema.
Obviously, optimal breathing has proven important when fighting and it’s good to learn, but sometimes Systema can delve into the mystical side of breathing too much when it should instead focus on the basics and remember it’s about self defense more than it is about yoga.
Loose body work
One idea of Systema is that your body needs to be loose to fight properly. Again, this isn’t neccessarily wrong and you don’t want to be stiff during combat. However, some schools will take this too far and force students into borderline bullshido techniques that are meant to loosen the body.
For instance, some parts of Systema almost end up in Aikido territory when it comes to using your body. One example of this is supposedly being so loose that when your opponent goes to strike you, they end up missing and you use their momentum to engage in a counter attack. There may be some reality in this but it’s also a bit unrealsitic at times.
During a demo you may see someone lunge with a punch, which is dodged and countered with a wrist lock. This is potentially possible but in a real scenario may be difficult and rare to pull off. With this in mind, it brings up questions about whether Systema is genuinely good at its original design, which was to provide realistic self defense classes.
Final Thoughts on Systema
Overall, it’s fair to say that judging Systema is not neccessarily easy. On the one hand, it’s definitely got some effective fighting methods that are useful in street fighting. On the other hand, it also falls into the same pitfalls of other martial arts, as being too mystical and unrealistic at times.
As you may have gathered throughout this article. In theory, there’s nothing wrong with Systema. However, the practical side of things is that certain people are teaching certain techniques that simply don’t work under the guise of Systema. In other words, if you’re going to begin training Russian Sytema, make sure it’s with a legit teacher.
