Why Systema Teaches Breathing and Relaxation Before It Teaches Fighting

Walk into a first Systema class expecting to learn how to throw a punch, and you might be surprised to spend most of the session lying on the floor, breathing.

This is one of the most common questions from newcomers: why does Systema spend so much time on breathing and relaxation before addressing anything that looks like fighting? It seems backwards compared to most martial arts, where day one usually means stances, strikes, or basic self-defense moves. But the order isn't an accident — it's the entire foundation the system is built on.

The Problem Systema Breathing Is Designed to Solve

When most people are struck, grabbed, or suddenly threatened, their body does the same thing automatically: it tenses up, and breathing stops or goes shallow. That reaction feels protective, but it's actually the opposite. A tense body moves slower, tires faster, and telegraphs its next move. Held breath spikes stress hormones and narrows decision-making exactly when clear thinking matters most.

Systema breathing exists to interrupt that automatic reaction. Instead of letting the body freeze and hold its breath under pressure, a Systema practitioner trains to keep breathing steadily — even while being struck, grabbed, or put into an uncomfortable position. That single skill, practiced repeatedly, changes how the entire body responds to a threat. Continued breath keeps muscles from locking up, keeps the mind clearer, and keeps movement available instead of frozen.

This is why breathing comes first in Systema training rather than last. Every technique in the system — strikes, throws, ground work, defense against weapons — depends on the practitioner staying relaxed and breathing through it. Teaching the technique first, without that foundation, would mean teaching students to perform a movement they'll likely abandon the moment real stress hits.

Emmanuel practicing his Systema Breathing at FightClub Toronto in East York

Relaxation Isn't Passive — It's a Trained Skill

The second piece, relaxation, gets misunderstood in the same way. In Systema, relaxation doesn't mean going limp or being unprepared. It means removing unnecessary tension from the body so that the muscles you actually need are free to move quickly and efficiently. A tense shoulder, a clenched jaw, or a braced stomach doesn't make someone stronger in a real confrontation — it makes them slower and easier to unbalance.

Systema drills relaxation the same way other martial arts drill a jab: repeatedly, under increasing pressure, until it holds up under stress. Early training might involve a partner applying light pressure or a hold while the student practices staying loose and breathing through it. Over time, that same skill gets tested under a strike, a takedown attempt, or multiple attackers — but the underlying skill being tested is always the same one trained on day one: can you stay breathing and relaxed while something is happening to your body?

Why This Order Actually Produces Faster Progress

It might seem like spending weeks on breath and relaxation before "real" fighting would slow a student down. In practice, it does the opposite. A student who has built the habit of breathing and staying loose under pressure can absorb new techniques much faster, because the technique isn't fighting against a tensed-up, breath-holding body. The movement simply works better.

Compare this to a student who learns a technique first without that foundation — under real pressure, the tension and held breath that Systema trains away from the start will usually override the technique entirely. The move gets forgotten, and the old instinct to freeze takes over. Training breath and relaxation first prevents that gap from ever forming.

Beyond Self-Defense: Why This Training Extends Past the Mat

Systema breathing and relaxation aren't only useful in a physical confrontation. Because the skill being trained is really about staying composed and breathing steadily under any kind of pressure, students often find it applies directly to stress at work, difficult conversations, or physically demanding situations that have nothing to do with combat.

This reflects a broader idea explored in Eudaimonia: The Highest Human Good — that real capability isn't built by collecting more external tools, but by doing consistent internal work that holds up under pressure. Breath and relaxation are the clearest example of that principle in physical form: unglamorous to train, easy to underestimate, and the actual foundation everything else depends on.

Experience Systema Breathing Training in Toronto

The only real way to understand why Systema trains this way is to feel it directly — most students describe the shift in how their body handles pressure within the first few classes. FightClub, based in East York, has taught Systema breathing, relaxation, and movement continuously since 2003 under founder and head instructor Emmanuel Manolakakis.

Get Started today < Or read more about the philosophy behind the training in Eudaimonia: The Highest Human Good.