Systema for Real-Life Martial Arts

I've been taking an interest in a Russian martial art called Systema. It is apparently growing in popularity in the U.S. since the Iron Curtain came down over a decade ago. What I like about it is that, as the martial art of of Russian special forces, it's a no-B.S. art that equips a person to be prepared for real-life encounters and it prepares you quickly. While I have great respect for the discipline and training required to master the traditional martial arts of the orient, I think military martial arts offer an individual accelerated training to be able to handle a situtation on the street--a skill that every honest Joe should have. To get started in your systema training, there are lots of videos on YouTube. Here's one of my favorites, dealing with getting the bad guy before he gets you:



BTW, for those of you into martial arts, Pavel has a great set of training videos geared to ramp up your martial power and really put a hurt on your opponents:

Martial Power: Hard-Hitting Combat Secrets from the Russian Special Ops

Here's what one reviewer said about the videos:
"This is one badass intensive martial arts power training video. I would recommand this video to anyone who is discipline enough to handle this explosive lantern of power." Onebadhero - North Carolina, NC USA