2013 Russia Siberian Cossack the the Russian martial arts Taiwan seminar

Russia has a long martial history. You've probably heard of Russian sport combat. But several of the ancient martial traditions also survived to the present day. The top styles were modernized heavily, incorporated modern weapons techniques, Soviet era sports science and sports learning theory. But the principles of the old Russian style is quite evident.

There are two masters of the Russian style that stand out above the rest. And I'm happy to know them. They don't speak English. Their stuff is a lot different than martial arts we're used to. The true Russian style is both softer than aikido or taichi and harder than Karate.
It's a lot like a low/medium intensity sparing session, where you rediscover the form for yourself. You don't start being taught technique after technique, that does not work.

You are put into situations, and you solve those situations with techniques. Later on we'll pick apart the finer points. Minimizing dependence on your instructor, and openness in the entire art is characteristic of the true Russian style.

There are two teachers of the Russian style that I have learned from. I wanted to share their work with you. Anyone from any martial arts background should be interested in the level of technique displayed by these two.

Notice in the first video, the high level of relaxation at realistic speeds. And notice in the second video how much power is being generated. Relaxation is a big part of the Russian style. We have many drills to help the body relax more and more under increasing conditions. The power generation is done using several principles, primarily the so called, 'internal wave'. You essentially get relaxed enough to accumulate an impulse force through your entire body. Each segment feeds the next, the power accumulates. If you learn it, it takes surprisingly little energy.