UNIFIGHT - a military model for the civilian society

People who train in the Unifight ways are capable of dealing with any kind of situation

Not little is the concern the parents who have teenage children undergo; the decay of our society has been, for a long time now, recognized by more than a handful of people - until recently, the right-wing oriented ones - thus we have reached a “consensus” with the socialist, liberal, capitalist, ecologist parents from around here or anywhere else who agree on mourning the cultural, ethical and religious void our children are struggling with.

In a society which no longer cares about the education its offspring receives the children are often left home with the nanny whose only concern is that they don't break any window (in case the parents have the financial means) or - in case of the not so prosperous ones - they get sent to karate training with the grandmother who is  trying to prepare them for the dangers they could encounter in the public transportation system. We believe that more is needed in order to give a fair chance to the generations to come.

The dawn of elites

Throughout all times, since the beginnings, human society has been divided in several categories: the aristocracy (the scholars, the warriors, and the priests), the people who were in the service of the state and the manufacturers. The state employees and the manufacturers were bringing up their children by offering them an education in the same spirit they had been brought up in order to be prepared for taking over the job. Social migration was somewhere close to nothing. The aristocracy used to concentrate on culture and sports, following the old aphorism “mens sana in corpore sano”.

Following the French Revolution, the society became more homogenous, especially because of the all-powerful influence of capital; the manufacturers, the traders and the bankers started to rise to higher class by means of money and by marrying into aristocratic families, which was possible, yet again because of the capital. This revolutionary egalitarianism became known on our territory after it has been “imported” by the scholars who have studied in Paris in the 19th century. They have started their own revolution in 1848 and they have implemented the percepts of the French Revolution afterwards but still, they have maintained a great respect toward culture and higher education.

“Red October” represented, for the elites, the beginning of the end, in the Soviet space through coercive actions and in the Socialist Western countries through self-imposed censure of the great minds and intellectual tyranny of certain people who were “owned” by Moscow. Somewhere between the Russian gulag and the coffee shops from Saint Germaine, under the vacant scowls of the European monarchs, the traditional values have slowly faded, thus making room the political trainers who have managed to impose, since May '68 until today the dilettantism and the ignorance. The general education given in school started to become materialist, money-oriented, while culture, religion and the love for the nation became subjects of ridicule.

The model of ancient Greece still at hand

A few years back, on the World scale, a new sport emerged, a sport that originated in the ancient Greece and has been developed by the army of the 3rd Reich. Unifight - or Universal fight - is a complex military and competition training system that contains pentathlon, shooting, cutting weapons and wrestling.

The trainings have been, for a long time now, destined exclusively to the elite troops from countries all over the world but, starting in 2000, civilians have also been granted access to certain competitions which military trainees still measure 80% of their abilities.

As a sport, Unifight is composed of two consecutive stages. The first is taken by both athletes and it means a race on two parallel routes: obstacle race (web climbing, rappel, running on a beam, web tunnel), riffle shooting and knife throwing. If one obstacle is not surpassed the athlete is disqualified. The second stage is wrestling, in a ring - full contact. The winner of the first stage goes in the ring having an advantage because of the points previously gained. He also has more time to rest before the fight begins.

One must know that time is a very important factor in Unifight because, after finishing the first stage in 1.5 minutes, the fighters only have 1 minute to slip into the ring fight equipment (knee and elbow pads, chest-shell, helmet). Next, there are 2 rounds of 2 minutes each of “total” fighting, during which almost all combat styles are accepted (meaning that competitors may use any type of kicks and hits). Spectators, even inexperienced ones, can immediately see the difference between the other martial arts and the combat in the unifight ring which is a bitter and ruthless one.

The similarity with the ancient form of the Olympic Games is obvious, also because of the spirit of these games. Knowing that the ancient Greek athletes were praying before the competition for victory or death, the modern Olympics motto “the most important thing is not to win but to take part” may seem a joke to the ones presented by Homer as warriors by excellence, just as much as it seems to be very far from the spirit in which the unifight athletes compete.

The pentathlon, included in the Olympics in 708 BC, in the ancients’ description combined 5 different stages: one on a stadium, fighting, discus throw, jump and spear throwing. Each of these was considered as being of crucial importance for preparing the young ones for military. Also, the trainings that the pentathlon athletes were taking were very similar to the ones the soldiers in the regular army were supposed to undergo.

In 2000, the International Unifight Federation has been founded in Paris, under the presidency of the Olympic judo champion, Serghei Novicov, of Russian origins. The Romanian Unifight Federation came into being in 2001 and, starting with 2002 is member of the International Federation. Also in 2002, the European Unifight Federation has been founded, with headquarter in Romania. Since the first world championship, in 2000 until 2007 Romania’s results were exceptional – Romanian athletes have won at least one of the first 3 places in each competition. In November 2007, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the second place was claimed by the Romanian sports instructor for the Romanian Gendarmerie, 28 year old, Adrian Belu. These are outstanding results which have been achieved considering that the Romanian Unifight Federation has never received any kind of support or budget from any Romanian institution, since it is the only independent federation in the country.

Educating the youth – our priority

The leadership team of the Romanian Unifight Federation represents some of the parents concerned by our national youth’s lack of educational perspective.

People who study and learn the Unifight ways are capable of dealing with any kind of situation. “This is a complete and unitary discipline which can contribute to not only the fiscal development of the children but also to the improvement of their audacity, their sense of orientation, their speed and their driving” sais the RUF president, Marian Constantin. This is sustained by his own son, Andrei Constantin who is, at the age of 20, the European vice-champion and who has been training for Unifight every since he was a child.

In Bucharest, people interested in educating their children by using ancient methods consider culture and sport priorities and prefer the Unifight system as martial art preparation. The Academy “Piciu’ si picea” which functions since the end of 2009, an old fashioned after-school, you might say, has included Unifight training among other activities for children (fencing, horsemanship, swimming, piano lessons, quire, painting, religion, manners). “Obviously, weapons will be excluded from all the activities of preparation for children” explains Marian Constantin. Further more, children will not feel the need to use any weapon because this system teaches them a very efficient method of self defense as well as self containment, which will allow them to feel safe both at school and outside its premises.

The very important thing that Unifight brings is discipline, which is something any sport practiced regularly can offer and which is becomes very “visible” to all the people who take Unifight trainings. This kin of discipline is what lacks in every day life.

All the important elements seem to be connected in order o allow our children to become, one day, unwavering citizens of a Romanian society who has not yet managed to recreate itself but which can be reborn with their help. The purpose is not transforming them into modern gladiators but to offer them a system which will help them during their entire lives, even if not in competition.

The winners of the ancient Olympics were celebrated in the last day of the events – solemn moments when they were given the laurel crown. The victors were carried in marvelous processions in the middle of a crowd that would have done anything to cherish them. The heroes did not have to pay taxes and they were receiving free meals for the rest of their lives. Their name was mentioned in public places and the city was building them statues and praising them in odes.

Maybe, if we manage to reinstate the values by educating our children in a spirit of respect towards effort and recognizing true values we will have the chance of knowing a society in which millionaires will not have the door of every house opened to them, even if they learn manners, a society where money can not buy respect.

Since the Romanian Unifight Federation has chosen as anthem Radu Gyr’s poem “The creed” we will be wishing the unifighters from today and tomorrow to be worthy of these words:

May hell be rushed upon me
To break me ‘till I bleed
I’m standing tall as fir trees
And strong, just as my creed