Brad Scornavacco · Systema Explained · Longmont, CO Most people who find Systema come from somewhere else. They’ve trained in Karate, or Taekwondo, or Jiu-Jitsu, or Kung Fu. They’ve put in real time and developed real skill. And then they encounter Systema — and something shifts. The question they almost always ask is: what’s actually Read More …
In his groundbreaking book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky contrasts the life of a zebra on the savannah with the life of a modern human — and the difference has everything to do with stress. A zebra lives with a calm psychological baseline. It grazes, drinks, wanders. Occasionally a lion gives Read More …
Systema Saturday Seminars are BACK! On February 28th, 2026, 11:15AM – 3:15PM Systema Colorado will present a special seminar designed for Beginning Systema Students and for Long-Distance Learners. THE FOUR PILLARS OF SYSTEMA HOUR 1: Breathing, the Master Skill (psychological) HOUR 2: Relaxation, the Key to Unlock Your Abilities (mental) HOUR 3: Proper Form, the Read More …
Following is an interview with Systema student, Sara Olsson, who has trained for just under a year with her teenaged daughter (and now also with her adult daughter). Q: So the first question is why did you decide to do a Systema class here? So how did you find out about it? What were you Read More …
When I was a teenager and new to martial arts training, my cousins and I kept coming across print ads proclaiming that martial arts didn’t work and we could learn how to fight “for real.” Eventually, we took the bait and sent away for a VHS tape of these secrets to self-defense…. What a waste! Read More …
Never apologize for wanting to improve, and don’t succumb to the insidious idea that wanting to excel is somehow evil. Every master of any craft had the burning desire to excel and translated that desire into prolonged, determined action. Michelangelo competed with DaVinci and other Renaissance artists for commissions. Some of their greatest masterpieces were Read More …
Edward Van Halen, who rightfully earned the title of guitar virtuoso, died this week and garnered universal respect from the music world. One of my fondest childhood memories was hanging out in my grandmother’s basement listening to 8-track tapes of bands like REO Speedwagon, Styx, and Van Halen’s eponymous debut album. Whether or not you Read More …
Negative Space Any middling artistic skill I have owes itself directly to Betty Edwards’ book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, a classic text in the field of visual artistry. Edwards masterfully presented various exercises to overcome my doubts about my ability to draw, such as copying a piece of line art by Read More …
Before you start Systema, it will help to know just what it is. Systema is often explained in negative terms — there are no uniforms, no memorized techniques, no kata, no belts — All the elements that people have come to expect to see in a martial art. So,whenever this explanation is given about Systema, Read More …
