Product Description

Russian Stick Combat Vol. 1: Defense by Vladimir Vasiliev of Russian Special Operations Unit Empty-handed against the stick... this volume presents everything you need to know to defend yourself and prevail against one of the world s oldest and frequently used assault weapons. Learn the drills unique to Russian Systema fighting and prepare yourself for any stick contact, in any position, while in-place or on-the-move, against single or multiple opponents. Enjoy this spontaneous and effortless work at both slow instructional format and at real speeds. You will be amazed at the simple and effective ways of defeating any vicious stick attack with your bare hands!

Review

Russian Stick Combat Vol. 1: Defense Brilliant!!! That is the first thing that came to my mind as I was watching this DVD. The progression and demonstrations along with perfect explanations are amazing! I have never seen anything so exceptional from any other martial art on the subject of stick fighting, and I've seen them all, from Irish to Burmese stick fighting with everything in between. Nor have I ever seen a DVD by Vladimir of this caliber. He demonstrates his true genius in this master piece. --Demetry Furman

This truly is a landmark new release Russian Stick Combat DVD. People have been clamoring for coverage of Russian Stick work for many years, and now finally our ship has come in! The personal highlights of this DVD took my understanding of weapons work and Systema fundamentals to a whole new plane. The topics list below should say it all: Warm Up Preparation for Contact Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Combining Positions Evading Under a Stick Using Body and Limbs Stick Held with Both Hands Prepare for Stick Strikes Defense on the Move In-Class Training People, this DVD is finally the last greatest word on this topic. In Russian Stick Combat, Vladimir offers a whole segment, and related material across many other segments, all the details of exactly how to work on filling the body. This is an essential mega-step forward in Systema training materials. It's obvious that the stick is the secret tool that hugely expedites this development. Another hidden gem, like so much of the Systema training catalog, the stated topic is a keyhole opening through which the entire panorama of Systema becomes sharply visible. The other theme that especially struck me was the core idea we often have heard of working against the opponent rather than the weapon. Again the equivalent of more than an entire segment is devoted to examining and illustrating this idea from every possible angle. Others more expert than myself would be able to say definitively, but in my view this idea could be the foundation for all weapons disarming and survival work. And in my opinion, the bedrock fundamental ideas of working against the man not the weapon are better presented here than I have ever seen anywhere. Another key point, for me personally, was that while other stick fighting materials that I have collected tend to emphasize the stick per se, and be limited and specialized to a particular single type of specialized implement, it is radically obvious that the stick fighting principles of Systema are completely general across any kind of impact weapon. I felt that mastering the material here would enable me to survive and prevail in any kind of impact weapon assault, such as club, bat, pool cue, metal pipe, 2 by 4, etc. As I have witnessed such attacks on several occasions, I have a lively personal interest in such generalized skills. And naturally the master at work jaw-dropping inspirational value of this DVD is beyond compare... --Martial Art Media Critic

One word that is entirely over-used in marketing today is unique--particularly when describing martial arts DVD's. To paraphrase Bruce Lee, how unique can one art truly be over another when we ultimately have 2 arms, 2 legs and only so many ways to use them? Well, that type of logic normally operates as a running referential for me until I see a DVD like this one. Non-practitioners often say that our art looks a bit like Jujitsu, a bit like Aikido, a bit like Tai Chi and so on. Naturally, all body movement will resemble one another. What I try to convey that's it's not so much our principles or techniques but rather our way of training that defines our distinction. This concept has never been more fully and beautifully illustrated than it is in the newest Stick Defense DVD. Vladimir's work is incredible as always--beyond words. Added to this, the DVD contains a healthy assortment of student work, displaying different interpretations of the same core concepts which as a teacher, I massively appreciate. These components alone would make the DVD a huge value to any library but what really sets this production apart is the sequence of drills and exercises to help build an individual's skills. These concepts and exercises are so uniquely "systemic" and yet so efficient and so obvious that I wonder how in 25 years of martial study, I never encountered anything like this. Stick has always remained a large component of my training simply because it offers a hyper-accelerated learning curve. Once you can deal with the greater length and speed of a stick, the same mechanics and clarity overflow with relevance into your empty-handed work and all other aspects of your training. I could not give this DVD a higher recommendation. Beautiful work Vladimir and crew. Thank you for making this knowledge so generously available. --Kevin Secours

• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 2.88 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Systema Headquarters
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ October 9, 2007
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Vladimir Vasiliev
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Systema Headquarters
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1