By Sonia Ahmed | 25 July 2020
Built in the late 15th century by Prince Ivan III (Ivan the Great), Red Square is Russia's most famous tourist attraction. It's the historical center of the country and came to be known as Krásnaya plóshchaď, meaning red or beautiful in the ancient Russian language.
Over the centuries, Red Square began to serve as a massive marketplace and meeting center, then a center for Red Russia, and now a major tourist attraction of the country. The magnificent cobblestone stretch of the Red Square and the surrounding majestic buildings won Moscow, the best tourist destination of the world award in 2019.
The architectural diversity of Red Square symbolizes the country's rich political history. It has many worthwhile architectural paragons to please the tourists.
Architectural Wonders of Red Square
Enter the Red Square from the resurrection gates to behold the iconic colorful onion-shaped domes of St. Basil's Cathedral right in front of you. Prince Ivan III was so mesmerized by its beauty that he blinded its architects so that they couldn't create a competing architectural wonder.
St. Basil's Cathedral is also called Russia's kilometer zero as all the main roads of the city lead from Red Square's exits. These roads can take you to anywhere in Russia.
To the west, you can see the majestic building complex of the Moscow Kremlin. It's UNESCO's world heritage site and one of the oldest structures in the city. The fortified complex is known for its many domed cathedrals, museums, and gardens. It's the official residence of the president of the Russian Federation too.
Your tour isn't complete if you don't visit GUM Shopping Center. It's a 126 years old archetypal departmental store built in the 18th century. This monumental place isn't just for shopping. It's a cultural and artistic center with many shops preserving the historical vibes.
Whether you're a fan of communism or not, don't miss the surreal experience of viewing the preserved body of the revolutionary soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. It's right there at the Mausoleum of Lenin, at the Kremlin side of the Red square. Though communism's importance is still debatable, there's no
denying it helped shape the Modern Russian Systema as we see it today.
Russian Systema – A Revolutionary Self Defense Mechanism
Russia's unique martial arts system, Systema, has its roots in the 10th century. It was flourishing until the communist rule in the 20th century banned its open practice. Eventually, traditional Systema was restricted only to secret groups in the Russian army.
Modern Systema originated from the practices of the ancient Russian combat style. It's quite popular beyond the Russian borders, especially in Europe and America.
The Russian Systema is more than just another martial art. It's a complete set of principles to enhance your life. Along with the basics of fighting techniques, Systema emphasizes improving human behavior, controlling emotions, and dealing with stress efficiently. As a result, Systema strives to achieve a correlation between human
psychology and physiology with natural adaptability to any given circumstances.
This practice reveals your inner strengths and weaknesses. It helps you overcome your physical, spiritual, and mental inhibitions to combat the mind and heart conflicts.
Systema is derived from the historical martial culture of Slavonic nations and refined and accumulated orthodox traditions over centuries. Because of its vast territory, Russia had to fight invaders with superior army and weapons.
As a result, the Slavs learned to avoid unnecessary battles. They also developed masterful moves, courage, and endurance with mastery of terrain to defeat the more powerful enemy.
Hence ancient Russians developed combined tactics of mind and body to form effective combat and self-defense techniques to stand against any opponent.
The Founding Institute of Modern Systema
After the Soviet Union's fall in the 1990s, the Russian Systema emerged again under Mikhail Rybaku's supervision. He is a Russian Federation Army veteran who started practicing Systema at an early age and went on to form Systema Headquarters in Moscow.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Systema became quite popular in its modern form.
European countries adopted this modern self-defense system with the continuous efforts of Vladimir Vasiliev, founder of Systema's Canadian branch, and a brilliant student of Mikhail Rybaku.
Currently, modern Systema has numerous institutes around the world that follow Rybaku Systema. Systema HQ is in Moscow, only about 30 minutes' drive away from the
Red Square, located inside the Russian Ministry of Internal affairs. The instructors at Systema HQ are skillful in their techniques and fluent in English. The campus has a very flexible training schedule according to the working hours in Moscow.
Systema HQ organizes annual international seminars to engage worldwide learners and provide practical instructions to improve the teaching-learning process. The seminar also includes group discussions, learning mind rejuvenation methods, and an informational and persuasive speech by Mikhail Rybaku himself.
Modern Systema Lifestyle and Personality Changes
Systema is a non-aggressive combat art that nurtures your resilience and enduring ability, making you tough in every aspect. The exercises aim to educate and train a person according to his/her capacity and gradually build on it.
The cognitive characteristics of modern Systema help you fight your aggression, control your fears, remove psychological barriers, and, most importantly, learn to live in social harmony. At the same time, it prepares your subconscious mind to use a rival's own strength against him.
Modern Systema builds muscle memory due to which the learner responds to aggression spontaneously with the free will of mind. It also nurtures muscular intelligence so that the learners can discover their natural movements through practice and develop their own style.
At Moscow Systema HQ, you will also experience a unique self-defense method. The practice utilizes improvisation and requires you to use whatever is available at your disposal to perform this exercise.
Though Systema is a fighting art, the skills you acquire during its training lead to your physical, psychological, and spiritual growth. A Systema trainee picks up many valuable skills that help him immensely against life's fateful punches.