The Eye and the Mind:

Sophisticated ancient warrior arts had particular ways of using the eyes. This methodology maximized the brains ability to process information. The eyes don’t see, the brain “sees”. How the eyes are used determines how effectively the brain can process information. It also impacts how the brain perceives the passage of time.
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The Psychology of Combat:

I was pleased to see a review of the book “Bloody Iron” in Volume 24, No. 3 of Aikido Journal. Here is a book that speaks plainly about the reality of conflict with edged weapons in circumstances involving lethal force. The authors, both long time residents of some of Americas finest prisons, describe in detail the prison environment as regards to the edged weapons conflict that is a part of daily life.The nature of such situations is presented graphically so that there will be no mistake as to their grim reality.
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Virtue of the Sword by James Williams

I am frequently asked why I practice and teach classical warrior skills and adhere to a philosophy that appears outdated to many. The sword has defined the warrior for thousands of years. It has defined the power, ethics, duty and self-defense of a class of people who have shaped the face of civilization on this planet. The skill, exercise, mental development, and sheer pleasure of using a sword is unique. Hand-to-hand combat with edged weapons is the most demanding form of human physical combat. It not only requires the most skill, both physical and mental, it develops in the adept abilities that separate him from others and elevates intuition, reflexes, and technique to the highest degree. For the warrior, the sword represents his duty, his honor and his responsibility.
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Systema: Principles of the Russian System by James Williams

If someone had told me a few years ago that out of a western Christian tradition would come a martial art as deep, sophisticated and evolved as the best of the oriental arts I would not have believed them.Yet there is such an art coming out of the ancient Russian culture with deep roots in the Russian Orthodox monasteries. At its root in the present day is an exceptional man, Mikhail Ryabko.
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