Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October 2026
Ryo Onishi
Netherhall School, Cambridge
A weekend with one of the most respected international Systema instructors. Two days of breath, structure, and natural movement under pressure.
East Anglia Systema, Cambridge
Move better. Breathe better. Defend yourself naturally.
East Anglia Systema helps busy adults reduce stress, move better, and develop practical self-defence skills through breath-based training. Weekly classes in Cambridge. International seminars twice a year.
Two seminars, 2026 and 2027
Train with the source.
East Anglia Systema brings two of the most senior instructors in the art to Cambridge in consecutive years. Both seminars are open to all levels.
Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September 2027
Vladimir Vasiliev
Cambridge area, venue to be announced
Vladimir Vasiliev travels rarely. A Cambridge visit in 2027 is the closest most students in the UK will come to the source of the work in Toronto.
What we teach
A martial art built on breath.
Systema is a Russian martial art with deep roots in Cossack training and Russian Special Forces. The work is calm, slow, and breath-led. It teaches the body to remain composed under pressure, and the mind to stay clear when it would otherwise narrow.
Most students arrive looking for stress relief, fitness, or a practical self-defence skill. Most leave with something closer to confidence, posture, and a quieter nervous system.
Who it serves
Built for busy adults.
Our students are professionals, parents, older adults returning to movement, experienced martial artists looking for depth, and people who want to know they can keep themselves safe.
No belts. No grading. No theatre. The training is mixed-ability and slow enough that beginners are welcome alongside thirty-year practitioners.
Free trial class
Your first class is free. Wear loose clothes, bring water, come early.
We run weekly classes in Cambridge for new and experienced students. The first session is on us. You do not need experience, fitness, or any particular age or background.
Lineage and instructors
A school in good standing.
East Anglia Systema continues the work Gareth Ashby has done in Cambridge for many years under the name AESC Systema. The international seminar arm is led by Andy Cefai, cofounder of Systema Japan and a regular guest instructor at Systema HQ in Toronto.
Portrait, Gareth Ashby
black and white, 4:5
black and white, 4:5
Gareth Ashby
Founder, Senior Instructor
Founder of AESC Systema in Cambridge and a senior instructor under Systema HQ Toronto. Has held the standards of the school steadily and quietly for many years.
Portrait, Andy Cefai
black and white, 4:5
black and white, 4:5
Andy Cefai
International Instructor
Cofounder of Systema Japan, regular at Systema HQ Toronto, and longtime instructor in Singapore. Leads the seminar arm of East Anglia Systema.
What students say
Quiet, considered, useful.
Testimonial placeholders for v1, to be replaced with real attributed quotes from long-standing students and seminar attendees.
Calm work, slow when it can be, sharp when it must be. Not what I expected from a martial art, and exactly what I needed. Student, Cambridge, placeholder
The breathwork alone has changed how I sleep, how I handle deadlines, how I sit at my desk. Student, Cambridge, placeholder
Stay close to the work