A few weeks ago my son had one of his friends come over to our house. As the day went on, they did what young boys do on a sunny day with a big grassy field. They rough housed.

As I watched the two, my son's friend threw some impressive kicks and punches at my boy. Knowing that he had been training for a while at a local martial arts school, I was interested to see how this friendly sparring match between two nine year olds would turn out.

My son moved and escaped from his friend who was trying to give him the business. As he moved, I waited for my son to respond with attacks of his own. As things went on with my son simply moving and evading the other boy’s efforts, a look of frustration began to form on the friend's face. Finally, the boy shouted to my son, "Why don't you fight like I fight? I do kickboxing and you are doing nothing but moving." My son while still evading responded to his friend, "I do fight. I do Systema!" "What's Systema?" asked his friend. Then. My son very swiftly, but gently threw his buddy to the ground... As he helped the boy get back up, my son stated "That's Systema!"
... And I learned from this.

Peace and good health to you all.


Systema HQ Toronto offers youth classes for kids ages 8 to 17.