Mikhail Ryabko teaching Systema punching

Many fellow martial artists who know that I practice Systema Russian Martial Art under Mikhail Ryabko, ask me every now and then if his punches are as heavy as they seem in various videos around the net. Well, I can only describe Mikhail's strikes as "life altering", and so are the strikes of his son Daniil, from whom I have taken more...

A large number of people who attend one of Mikhail's seminars and get hit by him, stay fixated on the punches (man, how does he do it?). This is not necessarily bad since, as Daniil Ryabko once told me, "all Systema styles are good, but when it comes to punching the Ryabko style is way better". On the other side the equation Systema=Punching is missing the subtle essence of the art, which is the natural integration of breathing, body structure and movement in a harmonic whole. And, keep in mind that this indegration is good for you not only when you want to punch someone, but also when you want to play basketball, dance the salsa, get your groceries out of the trunk of your car... well, you name it!

Now that I've said all of the above, if you still insist to know what Systema punching is all about, there are two DVD sets out there that are going to help you a lot, Val Riazanov's Ballistic Striking and Rob Poyton's Systema Punching Power Workshop, that teaches you how to punch like a hammer, training with a... sledgehammer. But the basis of correct Systema punching is using mainly the weight of your fist (an attribute described as "heavy hands" by many practitioners of the art) and not the bodyweight transfer from one leg to the other as is practiced in boxing for example. So, although it might sound crazy, in Systema you don't put your bodyweight behind your punches. You can, but you don't have to, it is a choice but not a necessity. This is tactically useful, because without body movement, your strikes are much less telegraphic. For the MMA fanatics, who tend to trash Systema as "impossible to apply in the cage", please notice the punching mechanics of Fedor and Alexander Emelianenko. I'm not saying that these guys are practicing Systema - what I'm saying is that they don't use much hip torque and still they hit harder than most fighters. This I guess is the Russian way of punching, derived from Cossack Boxing, distilled by Systema practitioners, but also present in other Russian styles of fist fighting.

Anyway, if you're interested in how to acquire "heavy hands", here's a little video filmed last summer, when Mikhail Ryabko paid a short visit to Athens and the Systema Athens school, which was still under construction back then. When he found a hack hammer lying around, he took the opportunity to demonstrate an interesting analogy between using a hammer and punching. I think the point he's trying to make is obvious and a translation from Russian or Greek is not necessary. Just try it and let me know the results!



Always make sure you enjoy your training,
Spyro Katsigiannis
Systema Russian Martial Art & Filipino Kali instructor, San Shou coach.