Any practitioners here of Systema/b, a martial arts system based on Russian Orthodox Christianity?
From: http://www.russianmartialart.com/main.p ... m_meibukan
Could you tell us something about the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in Systema?
The foundation of the Russian System comes from orthodox Christianity. It’s a style that comes from the monasteries in Russia. A whole culture was coming out of monasteries in the old days. A settlement would be built on the banks of a river or a lake, and there was a fort, and the main structure in that settlement would always be a church. The people that defended that fort were monks, religious people, and that’s why the foundation of this warrior spirit is really Christianity.
The warriors that participated in battle were actively defending their country. Once they would become older, they would go and live in the monastery, and they would be the ones teaching the younger generation. And that’s why it’s all faith based. Warriors would want to go to the monasteries to repent for the sins that they have committed and to continue fighting evil on a spiritual level when they get older, through prayer and a righteous life.
The key quality that anyone has to develop – a regular person as well as a warrior – is humility. Otherwise our land would be gone. If you don’t try to develop humility, what you end up developing is pride, and that’s destructive; it destroys yourself and it destroys the world around you.
Search "Orthodox" in the Forum Section: http://www.russianmartialart.com/forum/ ... a1c9629f4a
and you'll come across some interesting discussion from our more martially minded brethren.
Systema UK has a nice page on St. Alexander Nevsky: http://www.systemauk.com/Hnevsky.htm
