To recap, there’s inherent danger in practicing martial arts, where the point is to inflict damage, yet we have to train in such a way so as to not injury each other while we are learning how to injury the bad guys. This raises the question, “How do I stay safe while training, given the Read More …

A student asked me yesterday about what to do as he is being taken down to the ground. He said that when his partner was taking him down, it was instinctive for him to grab on to his partner and continue to fight on the way down. He asked me if that follows Systema principles. Read More …

Many years ago at a seminar, Vladimir told me to lie flat on my back, which I eagerly did, not knowing what he had in store for me. He then instructed another student to lie down on top of me. “Ok, so now what do I do?” I thought. But he wasn’t done. One after Read More …

Newbies. The first kind of students who risk injury are Newbies. Newbies are suseptible to injury simply because they do not yet know how to move to prevent injury. They might fall awkwardly rather than smoothly rolling away, snapping a wrist, breaking a collar bone or suffering a hard, jarring impact with with the floor. Read More …

Having taught a brutal martial art like Systema for decades I would expect a fair amount of bumps, bruises and breaks.  Surprisingly, in spite of the injurious nature of Systema training, serious injuries during training Systema are far less than you might imagine. I’ve taken a closer look at the students and situations involved in Read More …

We took a week off last week to enjoy some Spring Break rest and recovery time, and now Systema Colorado is once again OPEN for classes for April 2019. See you on the mat. P.S. Not 1, but 2 students from 10 years ago have recently returned and picked up training were they left off. Read More …

A few years ago we had a visitor to Systema Colorado who had just returned from Summer Camp. He was pumped up, excited by his week of training, and a little too eager to show my students everything he learned. This is all to be expected, because intensive training sessions engender good vibes for a Read More …

Paige M.J. Erickson When I tell people that I travel alone in Europe eight months a year, the first question is always whether it’s safe for a woman. (The second is: how do you pack only one suitcase for eight months?) While I do feel comfortable as I travel, it’s likely because I’m mindful of Read More …

In January 2017 at Arapahoe Basin, a skier was being let off the ski lift when his backpack got caught up in the lift chair. He was yanked past the skier drop off and pulled, along with his backpack, as the chair returned on its way to the base of the lift. As he was Read More …