Words Matter

There is a word in Japanese called “Kotodama” which basically translates and “spirit of the word.” In short, it is a poetic description of the cliche “be careful what you say.” Why? Because words truly do matter. They may not always hurt you. Or they may if you allow them.

What they really can do, when spoken with an amalgamation of love and wisdom is truly inspire you.

Case in point. I signed up for Systema Vasiliev Patreon about 11 seconds after it was announced. The only mistake I made was taking so long. Aside from the exceptional and often rarely-seen videos, my favorite part is the quarterly conversation with Vladimir.

If you have met him or know him to any degree, the following will not come as a surprise. You will undoubtedly be nodding your head in agreement throughout the rest of this blog. If you have not met Vladimir, you really should. Your martial art – even if it is not Systema – will improve and that is great. It pales in comparison to how your life will improve being around him.

Invariably, every seminar and every conversation is punctuated with some deep, deep insight triggered by something Vladimir would explain or say. Sometimes even what I call “throw away remarks.” They are the comments that are often an after thought yet have incredible meaning if you have the inner ears that will listen.

Today was yet another one of those conversations. Yes, I learned how to improve my movement in Systema. And to teach in a more effective manner. And to deal with the struggles that come along with a little-known art. At the end of the conversation, I came to the best realization of all:

It is not so much I need to get better at my art. Rather, I need to eliminate the gap between my art and my life.

Vladimir never stops training nor teaching Systema. He needs not a mat or an audience or eager students like yours truly. Living life is his training and earth is his dojo.

I have said this countless times. Systema is the greatest art as it is one of the very few that seamlessly blends self-defense with self-development. If you trained for 20 years to fight and are still basically the same person, half your training was wasted. Such is never the case with Systema.

I will be forever grateful to Vladimir for his kindness, brilliant teaching and friendship. Thank you for bringing Systema to the world, especially my world.