Systema (russian: Система, Sistema, system) is a
Russian martial art. There are multiple schools of systems that began appearing after
the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, with teachers claiming their respective "systems" (usually named after themselves).
Mass media and popular culture appearances
The issue has gathered interest as its coverage has increased. Examples include
CTV Travel
T+E is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned by Blue Ant Media. The channel primarily broadcasts entertainment programming, including docu-series and dramas related to the supernatural and paranormal.
History
On No ...
's show ''Go Warrior'' in 2008 and
''Black Belt'' magazine in 2011. Starting in 2013, the FX cable series ''
The Americans
''The Americans'' is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also serve as showrunners a ...
'', a series about two Russians undercover agents as an American husband and wife couple during the
Cold War in the 1980s, use the techniques of systema in the fight choreography for the show. For the 2018 BBC crime drama ''
McMafia
''McMafia'' is a British crime drama television series created by Hossein Amini and James Watkins, and directed by Watkins. It is inspired by the book '' McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld'' by journalist Misha Glenny ...
'', actor
James Norton learned aspects of systema with David Kirillov, who runs the London School of Systema, in preparation for his leading role as a London banker drawn into the violent world of the
Russian mafia. Systema has also been used by
Lamarr Houston
Frederick Lamarr Houston (born June 24, 1987) is a former American football outside linebacker. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas.
Despite a promising start, H ...
of the
Chicago Bears in his training. In Japanese fighting games like ''
Street Fighter V
''Street Fighter V'' is a fighting game developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows in 2016. An Arcade game, arcade version exclusive to Japan was released by Taito in 2019.
Similar to th ...
'' by Capcom, character
Kolin has a systema fighting style, as well as Koei Tecmo's ''
Dead or Alive 6'' with
Marie Rose. Systema was used as the basis for the fighting style of the Black Widow trained assassins in the 2021
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
film ''
Black Widow'' starring
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
.
[ Marvel Studios ''Assembled: The Making of Black Widow'' (October 2021)]
References
{{Reflist
Russian martial arts