The costume of a Cossack woman is a whole world. The main thing is that the suit sits

Founders of new styles: reanimators or falsifiers?

From the editor:

In this and subsequent issues of "Kempo" we will continue to publish materials covering the true, and not fictitious, history of domestic martial arts. In this issue, we offer readers an abbreviated version of the next chapters from the fundamental research of G.K. Panchenko (Kharkov) "Non-Asian martial arts".

It is more than likely that the inflamed apologists for "Russian styles" will not see in the materials we publish anything other than an attempt to discredit the "holy cause of the patriots." Meanwhile, the author of this article, as well as the editors of the magazine, say something else: that all the so-called "Russian styles" are MODERN creations that have no direct connection with the old fistfight. Yes, these styles are Russian, Slavic. But they are all created today, and have nothing to do with tradition. Instead, the public is offered a bizarre cocktail mixed with delusions, fantasies, and even deliberate falsification of the authors of all these "staples", "kolo", "goritsy" and other pseudo-old, pseudo-folk, pseudo-military schools.

A typical example: Oleg Onopchenko from Riga. He practiced karate for several years, was one of its first propagandists in the Baltics. Then he studied taijiquan and qigong for a long time. Later he added Hapkido to them. Achieved good results in all these types, repeatedly spoke in various periodicals about his path. And suddenly last spring he announced that all his life he has been practicing not what is listed here, but ... the family system of the martial art "Kolo"!

And now Mr. Onopchenko is traveling around the USA, demonstrating to the gullible public the excellent technique of "soft" combat and shamelessly asserting at the same time that he owes his achievements not entirely to the East, but to the Slavic heritage.

Thank God, even though Onopchenko is a master himself, he has something to show. Most of those who work in the field of Slavic martial arts, in this sense, are absolutely nothing. Take, for example, Minsker Gennady Adamovich. This gentleman was engaged in judo for several years, received the first sports category. Therefore, he became interested in the Vietvodao-vovinam, reached the third student degree (that is, he did not reach the notorious "black belt" for another three steps). And then he declared himself the "heir" of the secret Vietnamese school "Thien Duong", the owner of the 7th dan (!). However, it was ridiculed by the sports community, after all, Minsk is not such a big city, here all the "Easterners" know each other to some extent. Then Adamovich realized that it was incomparably more profitable and safer to declare himself the "heir" of some Slavic school. "Nine Circles of Death", "Cry of the Night Bird" - what are the bad names? Now Slavic "stylists" from Russia talk to Adamovich as an equal. Still would! A Slavic brother from Belarus with his original, terribly secret martial art, which is actually an unimaginable mess of everything that the inventor-founder has studied or seen somewhere.

1. Medieval fistfight

In the era of the Middle Ages in Rus', in most cases, fisticuffs took place in the "wall" or "pair" version. It was combined with various types of struggle (mainly a forceful character), sometimes having a ritual-magical character. In these latter cases, a "breakthrough" of the shamanic model was possible, but, unfortunately, it was usually not supported by the creation of a SCHOOL. So what to talk about some kind of "pagan" style or "style of the Magi" precisely as a "style", moreover, allegedly inherent exclusively Ancient Rus', can either be completely ignorant of the truth, or out of extreme ignorance and only in front of an equally ignorant audience.

Moreover, there is no doubt that Orthodox Church really "extinguished" the centers of pagan psycho-training without offering an adequate replacement. Such a replacement could be the transformation of martial art from a means of war into a means of personal (namely, personal, and not "cathedral") self-improvement. Why this did not happen is another question that can lead us into the wilds of history. Speaking extremely generally, for the same reason that the ideas of urban self-government and independent judiciary, the liberties of the nobility and the personal freedom of peasants, market relations and religious freedom did not receive development ...

Apologists for current Russian styles usually count many varieties of domestic fisticuffs. In fact, we can only talk about the tactics of conducting competitive fights. Usually, a professional fighter, depending on the specific conditions, allowed (or forbade) himself to use "additions" in the form of sweeps, throws, roundhouse kicks ... Plurality is required only for modern interpreters, so that when pointing to the primitivism of specific fights in one or another historical source one could immediately renounce them: they say, this is the degraded style of late Rus', but there were real ones.

Unfortunately, as I noted earlier, there is practically no reliable information about Russian fisticuffs, either in old chronicles, or in church documents, or in illustrative materials. For example, Nestor in The Tale of Bygone Years (1120s) says in one place: " We see that the game is repaid and there are a lot of people, like upihati, they will start each other to disgrace, giving from the demon of the intended business"... Is it possible to say for sure that the term "upihati" means "distributing fisticuffs"? It is much more plausible that they do not fight at the games, but crowd, push, trample. or wrestling, but also songs, dances, performances of buffoons.

Another mention is connected with the Vladimir Spiritual Cathedral of 1274. Metropolitan Kirill said on it: " I learned that they still adhere to the demonic custom of the accursed Hellenes: on divine holidays they beat with a whistle, a cry and a cry!"Whistling and crying take place in fisticuffs, but in this case, there must have been a combination of two equally "demonic", from the point of view of the metropolitan, phenomena - fistfighting and buffoonish "whistle dancing." One way or another, these two references to truly ancient fisticuffs battles - almost the only ones in the written chronicles of THAT TIME. From them it is absolutely impossible to determine either the specific techniques of the fighters or the level of their skill. Based on this, it is not difficult to imagine the level of reliability of reconstructions in the schools of the "Slavic" direction!

And yet it can be assumed that a certain semblance of a school of fisticuffs developed in Novgorod, the only state formation in old Rus' that followed the path of bourgeois-democratic development. This school was apparently quite close in character to the "simple combat" of the Vikings (i.e. competitive unarmed combat associated with inevitable injuries). Confirmation of this can be found in the Novgorod epics and chronicles. Here is how one of the epics, belonging to the cycle of legends about Vasily Buslaev, looks like a description of such a "well done fun":

"Kotorov he will take by the hand -
He will pull his hand out of his shoulder,
Kotorova will touch the leg -
That will break a leg out of the goose.
Kotorova is enough across the ridge -
He screams, roars, creeps crawling"...

Regardless of the medieval simplicity of morals, epics are full of hyperbole. Of course, not with every blow, the hand twisted out of the joint. It is all the more difficult to assume that Buslaev defeated a thousand (!) Opponents in each battle. However, hyperbole is the most ordinary thing in medieval literature (including chivalric novels), which for some reason the apologists of Russian styles forget about. Nevertheless, a lot of useful information can be extracted from epics. For example, a careful analysis of the texts leaves no doubt that, in addition to wrestling techniques common to archaic boxing (" ... I often left you, and you left me - then and now", says one of the characters), clubs, flails, knives were constantly used - in a word, everything except for unconditionally military weapons, such as a sword or an ax. The one who "often threw" his opponents, by the way, went to a fistfight with a club in his hand, and from the blow of a club he died.

How reliable are the Novgorod epics in general? According to most researchers, they convey life and customs much more accurately than the epics of the Kyiv cycle (in which plots of this kind are not uncommon: watching the movement of the enemy, the hero looks through a "spyglass"!). But, of course, temporary failures occur here as well. So, Vasily Buslaev lived in the XII century, while the description of the life of the Novgorodians rather corresponds to the XV century. However, Mr. Veliky Novgorod - and he alone! - retained many features of Ancient Rus' in the late Middle Ages. And yet, it is not possible to fully restore the appearance of the then martial arts according to such sources as church decrees, epics, annals, according to the few surviving icons and miniatures of that time. And the Novgorodians did not leave textbooks similar to the fencing and wrestling atlases of Europe of the XIV-XVII centuries.

The poverty and vagueness of the sources makes it extremely difficult for us to understand the technical features of the ancient fisticuffs. For example, "The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov" realistically describes Russian fisticuffs from the time of the poet M.Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841), and not Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who lived three centuries earlier.

Let us dwell on this plot, which also exists in the epic version. Lermontov used a cycle of folk tales about the Tatar Temryuk (or Kostruk), who allegedly boasted to Tsar Ivan that he would defeat any Russian fighter. According to the epic, he was defeated (but not in a fistfight, but in a wrestling match) by two Kalashnikov brothers (not yet a surname, but a specialty). In some versions of the epic, Temryuk dies during the battle. In others, after the battle, he is executed on the chopping block so that he does not boast. Thirdly, he leaves Moscow in disgrace. Lermontov chose a different option: the victorious merchant was executed, and the name of his profession (remember "kalashny row") becomes a surname.

This story has a historical basis. But how far he is from epics and from Lermontov's poem! In 1561, Ivan the Terrible married the daughter of the Kabardian prince Maria Temryukovna, with whom her two brothers came to Moscow: Mastryuk (who soon returned to his homeland) and Mikhail. Marriage with the "basurman" caused a certain discontent among the people. The tsar-father, meeting the "people's wishes", took revenge on her brother: for a long time he showed obvious disfavor towards him, and then executed him.

Mikhail Temryukovich in the epics turned from a Kabardian into a Tatar, changed his name to a patronymic, and besides, he seemed to be “divided” into himself and his opponents (apparently due to a deaf memory that there were two brothers). And where is the slander on someone else's wife? Where is the insult to the national feelings of the Russian people? Where is the daring challenge to a duel and the execution of the winner? Yes, nowhere. They executed the Caucasian prince without any fights, just like that!

With a similar degree of reliability in the transmission of a not so old episode (the event itself - the 70s of the 16th century, the first record of legends about it - the beginning of the 19th century), there is a strong suspicion that all these "strangled in the hand" Pechenegs, Tatars, bulls and bears are similar "beaten" in China 1900-1925. American boxers and Japanese judokas. Yes, there is antiquity! Almost all modern expeditions of folklore collectors (1920-1970) in the USSR revealed many "combat" plots that penetrated into the people's consciousness "backwards" - from literature. Often they were tied to the names of real fighters who lived only 1-2 generations ago. But this did not prevent the plot itself from being a peculiarly understood retelling of "The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov," or the Nart joke about the duel between Peter the Great's guardsman and an English boxer.

At the same time, the literary alignment of roles changed. The fact that the "winner" has always been the compatriot of the narrator is understandable. Especially when you consider that, as a rule, a real fellow villager was called the winner, who lived, however, not 200 years ago, but only 40-50. That the "vanquished" always belonged to the "outside" world is also natural. But this "outer" world for the narrator is by no means England. Pomor storytellers are sincerely convinced that their countryman defeated the capital ("Leningrad" or even "Petersburg") champion. For the storytellers of the Volga region, the hostile champion is an alien from Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk). Folklore records made in the Murom villages leave no doubt: the giant from the "city of Murom" was defeated! All the villagers are especially willing to "defeat" the Moscow heroes.

In this sense, it is extremely instructive to compare textbooks on national species wrestling, published in the 30s and 50s of this century. Later editions not only increase the number of techniques described from a few dozen to several hundred (which in itself is a vivid example of non-science fiction), but also change the set of foreigners defeated by the champions of this type of wrestling. After all, the victory over a foreign celebrity is a favorite plot not only of Nartov's manuscripts. Before the war, the vanquished usually turned out to be a Russian giant ("fighter in bast shoes"), whom the tsarist governor set against the local undersized champion. A couple of decades later, it turned out that the local champions overcame the representatives of the West, who for some reason always turned out to be Americans.

Particularly "remarkable" in this regard is the "victory" of the master of the North Caucasian belt wrestling "tutush" Kochkhar Abaykhanov over an unnamed American wrestler, which supposedly took place as early as 1890, but was described only 60 seconds later. extra years. The fact is that the American used against Abaikhanov "blows and painful holds of the French wrestling" (!), but this did not save him either. French wrestling is a well-known classic wrestling. Where does it take blows and painful techniques ?! In general, it seems that in the last pre-revolutionary decades, there was a real pilgrimage to Central Asia and the Caucasus of Americans, obsessed with the only dream - to be defeated in the local struggle!

Given the mythologization modern consciousness, I won’t be surprised if in a couple of decades, not only our descendants, but we ourselves will come across absolutely serious stories about how an Orthodox Siberian master defeated a Moscow pagan (or vice versa), how a Kyiv master of a combat hopak defeated an animal-like "Moskal" ( or vice versa), etc. And the then ethnographers, having analyzed this information, will conclude: the source material for these legends was the publications of the distant 1990s about the unconditional victories of supporters of "Russian styles" over arrogant karatekas, wushuists, taekwondoists ... But where are they, these victories? At the "fights without rules" held recently in Moscow, Kharkov and Minsk, it was not "Russian stylists" who pulled ahead, but the masters of kick-boxing, ju-jutsu, Thai boxing, sambo (which arose on the basis of Japanese judo).

Due to the extreme scarcity of domestic sources, it is necessary more often than we would like to resort to the testimonies of foreigners. Certainly the most extensive reliable description Rus' in the first third of the 16th century was left by Sigismund Herberstein, the ambassador of Emperor Maximilian. He visited Russia twice, in 1517 and 1526, knew the Russian language well, and was distinguished by observation. True, sometimes there are statements about the tendentiousness of Herberstein's notes on the grounds that he did not like all the details of the life of Muscovite Rus'. So after all, in the customs of that time, in fact, there were many terrible things. Just one example: how could an enlightened European perceive the execution of an unfaithful wife by burying her up to her throat in the ground? What is there to admire?

No, Herberstein left extremely reliable and (which is very rare) benevolent memories. In addition, it is important for us that he knew a lot about the martial arts of his time. What did he write about Russian fisticuffs? - “Young men, as well as teenagers, usually converge on holidays in the city in a well-known spacious place, so that many people can see and hear them there. They are summoned by a whistle, which serves as a conventional sign. hand-to-hand combat: it begins with fists, but soon they beat indiscriminately and with great fury and kicks in the face, neck, chest, stomach and groin, and in general, in all sorts of ways, one hits the other, achieving victory, so that they are often carried away from there lifeless. who beats more people, stays longer than others in the battlefield and endures blows more bravely, receives special praise in comparison with others and is considered a glorious winner..

So, this is a fight more like a crowd than a wall. Kicks cannot be called "high", since (judging by the context) they are applied to an opponent already knocked to the ground. Such a fight, of course, required strength, courage, the ability to "take a hit" and endure pain. But did he demand genuine art? It is doubtful ... Not without reason they praise the most enduring, and not the most dexterous.

Herberstein also left detailed descriptions of various options for fights within the framework of the "God's Court", including those that did not boil down to a purely fencing fight, but were hand-to-hand combat without any rules, for destruction. The same notes sound in these descriptions. Having duly assessed the strength and power of Russian professional fighters (almost exclusively hired professionals went to the "God's court"), the Austrian envoy seemed to sigh: to this strength and courage, one would add a good school. In any case, he advises European fighters (both swordsmen and fists) not to try to "overpower" the Muscovites. It is much more rational to go on the defensive first, let the first furious onslaught subside, and then take advantage of the superiority in technology and the almost complete absence of Russian defense techniques.

Similar conclusions can be drawn from the records of the royal secretaries of the 1630s and 40s. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich then deigned to get involved in demonstration fights held before his eyes. Along with the Russians, they were attended by "military experts" from the German Quarter (that is, the Germans themselves, as well as the French, Dutch, Swiss, British ...). Judging by the fact that awards for fencing fights were given to foreigners much more valuable than to compatriots, we can conclude that they made a much stronger impression on the sovereign. But the autocrat cannot in any way be reproached for "serving the West" ...

More than a hundred years after Herberstein, Moscow Rus' was visited by another diplomat - Adam Olearius (in 1633-34). He describes group fisticuffs in a cursory manner, adding nothing new to the notes of his predecessor. According to him, mainly teenagers and youths aged 15-20 take part in them, and these fights take place very often, almost daily. Olearius observed the fights of adult men only during serious quarrels, in which " they fight with a fistfight and hit each other with all their might in the sides and in the shameful part".

Olearius (or rather, the artist T. Gramani, who accompanied him) also left a drawing depicting games on Shrovetide, on which fist fighters converged. Unfortunately, they are depicted in less detail than buffoons, puppeteers and bear trainers: only two of them show details of their fighting stance. Nevertheless, this drawing, together with the description, allows us to conclude that for a hundred years the technique of fisticuffs has not become more virtuoso. It is curious that the creator of one of the "new Russian styles", namely the "staple", A. Gruntovsky, in his book "Russian Fist Fight" on page 152, only depicts the right fighter (!) From this drawing. Gruntovsky's book compares favorably with other similar publications by a smaller number of direct falsifications, their place is taken by overly free interpretations. Gruntovsky's explanation of this drawing is one of them. Say, the peasant does not fight at all, he "breaks".

"Breaking" is supposedly the original Russian movement technique resurrected by him, associated with the relaxation of the body. In reality, I think, the technique of Gruntovsky and others like him comes from "soft" wushu, where it is present on an incomparably more high level. In the figure, the musicians (to whose music the “breaking” takes place) are not at all next to the fighters, but at the maximum distance that the space of the engraving allows. Well, the elimination of one of the opponents in order to “correct” the technique and mentality of domestic martial arts (say, this is not a fierce fight, as follows from the text of Olearius, but a noble fun) is one of those falsifications that even moderates cannot do without. patriots.

So, both foreign authors point to the popularity of blows to the groin. Russian sources XVII also name other vulnerabilities known to fist fighters. Working on them is considered unworthy cunning, because victory, according to the general opinion, should bring strength, not dexterity! (When the rules of fisticuffs were first written down, one of the main ones was the requirement to "fight for strength", that is, neglecting agility, speed, maneuverability, etc.) But nevertheless it exists. These are blows "on the eyes", "on the ear", "under the heart". Kicks serve primarily to trample down a defeated opponent. Morals are cruel, but they do not exceed the cruelty of fighters medieval Europe. And in terms of effectiveness, fisticuffs are still not inferior to their contemporary Western counterparts (unlike fencing and wrestling). Perhaps, of all the shock types of martial arts in the time of Olearius (mid-17th century), only English boxing began to go "into the lead."

In addition to Herberstein and Olearius, many foreigners visited Russia in the 15th-17th centuries. However, practically none of them paid attention in their memoirs and travel notes Special attention Russian martial arts. A very indicative example is J. Fletcher, who devoted only one phrase to our question in a voluminous book: "After dinner, the king goes to rest and usually rests for one or two hours, unless he spends one of them in a bathhouse or in a fist fight." In the same way, they mention, but do not reveal the essence of fisticuffs, wrestling, "God's judgment" and even military affairs Horsey, Busov, Paterson, Petrei, Tiepolo, Turberville, Michalon Litvin, Halkuit, Chancellor and others ...

2. In the new time in the old way

The 18th century provides an opportunity to get acquainted with the descriptions of fisticuffs made by the Russians themselves. As before, their virtuosity is very relative, and the rules are very cruel. Those modern authors who are trying to present a wall fight as a noble fun with elements of comradely mutual assistance, the absence of blows to the head and a categorical ban on attacking a knocked down person - to put it mildly, embellish reality. Most often, wall fights at that time turned into mass battles with the use of knives, bludgeons, short clubs and "stash" (covered in a mitten or clamped in a fist weighting agents such as copper coins, lead bullets, iron rods). "Wall", after which there were not even a few killed or maimed, was a rare occurrence.

The rule “they don’t beat the lying down”, which became a proverb at the end of the 18th century, was first formulated in the Decree of Empress Catherine the First of 1726: So that there would be no crippled battle and whoever falls, they would not beat anyone lying". Most of the fighters perceived this decree as an attack on their sacred rights and decades passed before it began to be at least occasionally observed. Usually the fights took place at the same level of severe uncompromisingness as in the days of Buslaev or Herberstein. But another rule - "Beat erysipelas, but don’t hide your clothes "- was put forward" from below ". And it was usually observed, since grabs for clothes are fraught with damage to the latter. Meanwhile, clothes for a significant part of the population were too expensive to be allowed to tear them in every battle.

Were counter techniques practiced against weapons used in fisticuffs? As a matter of fact, no. Hence the spread of all sorts of "stash". Sometimes almost all the participants of the "wall" on both sides stocked them! Neither team saw any other way to deal with the onslaught of the enemy. There was no defense technology. Even in 1863-66. V.I.Dal in his "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language" gave examples of the use of flails in wall fights, arguing that "there is no approach to a man armed with a flail in a fistfight." Two conclusions arise from this. This means that in Dahl's time (or in the recent past for him), wall fights were carried out not only with fists. In addition, the flail in experienced hands is certainly a formidable weapon, but it is against it that a lot of counter-methods are possible. In any case, more than against the same knife. And if there is no "approach", then there are no any reliable skills in working with bare hands against weapons.

Along with the verbal description, in the 18th century, fisticuffs and wrestling became the subject of the depiction of "folk engravings" - popular prints. Lubok engraving betrays poses and movements imperfectly, moreover, it is sometimes difficult to guess whether a real battle or a theatrical performance of "stupid people" - buffoons, playing comic skits of fights, is depicted on the lubok. Still, some conclusions can be drawn. Basically, they reinforce what was said earlier.

Pair fights outside the "wall" exist, but they are more typical for wrestling than for boxing. All classes participate in such fights, up to the upper strata of the nobility, and it is not customary to succumb to well-born opponents (although this happened, as the earliest of the "wrestling" luboks, dating from 1730, testifies). The participation of the aristocracy in wrestling and fisticuffs was a new phenomenon. During the formation of feudalism, the nobility not only did not participate in such amusements, but generally neglected unarmed martial arts. There is no information about them either in "Vladimir Monomakh's Teachings to Children" or in other sources. Hunting, horseback riding, weapons exercises - but not wrestling and fisticuffs, even with people of their own circle, not like with the common people.

In fisticuffs, a blow was delivered, in addition to the knuckles of the front of the fist, also with its lower part (when swinging from above) and the inside (when moving the hand from the side). It is curious to note that this technique persisted until the 20th century. When, shortly before the revolution of 17, the young V. Nabokov (the future famous writer) competed with his peers, accustomed to fisticuffs, he was accused of Anglomania - on the grounds that he only hit the front, and not the inside or bottom fist. Only the victory helped him prove that he uses the technique of English boxing because of its effectiveness, and not out of admiration for the arrogant British ...

Knockouts and hooks of the legs (the notorious "kick from the toe") have been preserved both in fisticuffs and in wrestling. Their arsenal was very limited, but all the same, the ability to carry out at least some sweeps was considered the height of perfection, accessible not to every fighter. As before, a high accuracy of strikes, which makes it possible to work on vulnerable zones, is still not widespread (although it has not been condemned any more). However, their list has narrowed even more, for example, low blows have become less popular. And the main acting factors remain, as before, physical strength and endurance.

All this can be found out not only through the analysis of popular prints, but also from the notes of contemporaries - their letters, memoirs, everyday descriptions. Some additional information is also given by the captions to the luboks themselves, but they should be treated with more caution than the pictures, since they are designed in a deliberately obscene spirit. And if texts like "if you want to make a fool - hit in the eye with your fist" can still be interpreted with a big stretch as a recommendation to work "by sight", then the phrase "get up to a fight, break each other's assholes" that is regularly found on luboks hardly indicates the most popular blows.

With the growth of civilization of the Russian nobility, it gradually began to move away from participation in wall fights and in double fights. The very possibility of a gentleman competing with a peasant, and even with the threat of being defeated, began to be considered "indecent." The participation of the nobles in the struggle continued longer, but even there they gradually moved into the category of "sponsors" and "fans". However, there were exceptions confirming general rule. We are talking about two bearers of the count's title - Alexei Orlov (1737-1808) and Fyodor Rostopchin (1763-1826) - who reached championship heights at the end of the 18th century precisely in fisticuffs.

True, it was rumored about Count Orlov that he received training in the field of English boxing. The fact is that his military career took place in close contact with the English sailors, in those years (1760-70s) literally obsessed with boxing. And he began to take part in wall battles only from the age of 38, at the end of his military career. But I'm not going to insist on this version, if only because there are no reliable data on Count Orlov's boxing training. Besides, he probably didn't need it. At least in order to defeat the wall-builders. After all, his height was 203 cm (!), And his weight was over 150 kg, and by no means due to fat! For the eighteenth century, when people were in their mass much lower than they are now, this is simply phenomenal data. With a well-placed blow and a much greater general culture of movements than that of the village wall-builders (if only because Orlov studied fencing, which is absolutely obligatory for people of his circle), such a "heavyweight" was truly invincible in battle. As for Count F. Rostopchin, his mastery of the English boxing technique is a well-established fact.

It is impossible not to mention another legend in this regard. Count Orlov is credited with the ability to kill a bull with one blow of his fist. The author was embarrassed by such "anticipation of the exploits of Oyama", but since Pushkin's contemporaries wrote about him, for whom Orlov's times were the recent past, he had to believe. And only recently I managed to find the memories of people who personally knew A. Orlov. It said that the count really killed the bull with one blow, but not with a fist, but with a saber!

In the 18th century, not only "folk", but also quite professional sketches of fisticuffs by Russian artists could appear. Unfortunately, they did not appear, in any case they did not reach us. But in the XIX century they are known in the amount of several dozen. Until 1800, only sketches by foreigners survived.

All of them confirm our concept of Russian fisticuffs as a quite serious martial art, but not even close to martial art. Yes, the racks are open, but this is a forced measure, associated with the inability to carry out high-quality protection and, apparently, with a lack of understanding of its necessity. Fighters are very little aware of what a truly skilled strike can do when it hits the “vulnerable point”. In addition, a very peculiar idea of ​​​​valor takes place in folk fisticuffs: the highest merit is measured by the number of injuries received!

As for the “relaxation”, which the current creators of the “a la russe” styles consider a virtue that supposedly allows them to avoid blows, then it is the greater, the lower the professionalism of the drawing. The same, by the way, is typical for images of English boxing. In the so-called "folk pictures" (very close to luboks), boxers are also open and relaxed. And in the more skilled drawings (often depicting the same people in the same matches!) they have much more "collected" and "closed" stances. You can see something different in popular prints only with a very strong desire. A. Gruntovsky, of course, has such a desire when he comments on Korneev’s lithogravure based on Geisler’s drawing (and not vice versa, as Gruntovsky claims), that “the nature of the struggle and the reaction of the audience - everything speaks for the fact that this is a struggle, not a fight, as translated from German" (p. 156). Alas, the original source does not give grounds for such a conclusion. The audience is really in no hurry to separate the participants, but precisely because this time they are fighting seriously.

Fights "according to the rules" took place in two cases. Firstly, according to the categorical requirement of the "sponsor" (A. Orlov, F. Rostopchin, M. Lermontov and others), who clearly defined the place, time and conditions of the battle. Secondly, with "intra-communal" peasant competitions. This is indeed a very interesting phenomenon, but not from a military point of view, but from a historical and ethnographic point of view. Their universality, mass character and regimentation make us think that this "event" dates back to the ancient era of "male unions". The age division works for this version (teenagers start the fight, the youth continues, the “bearded men” are included last), special terminology, public control over compliance with the rules (lynching of violators, as well as over those who refuse to go out to a common battle; the last act has already become symbolic and usually amounted to a monetary penalty). However, since ancient times, the ideas of a military alliance have been inherited rather than specific fighting techniques.

In addition, it must be taken into account that during the "intercommunal" fights (the same ones that took place on the ice of the rivers separating two adjacent territories), great virtuosity was not observed. But much less restraint by the rules is everywhere. There were finishing blows to the lying down, and "stash", and even the invitation of paid professionals. Such professional fists everywhere in Russia were called "goliaths" (the popular pronunciation of the name of the biblical giant Goliath). Judging by the descriptions that have come down to us, they fully justified their nickname: natural strength of physique, low sensitivity to shock, brute force and very poor technique.

Goliaths played a decisive role in the "wall". But against the Russian masters, who are familiar with more advanced systems (such as English boxing or Japanese jujutsu), their skill did not work. Nor could it work against a group of seriously attacking bandits, and even more so against edged weapons in any skillful hands. It was this "goliat" that the sculptor M.G. Krylov depicted in the statue of a Russian fist fighter. True, he rethought his "suit" in the traditions of academism (simply speaking, he fashioned it naked), but he hardly changed his stance.

I must say that the author happened to experience a rather unpleasant feeling. While working on my book, I studied almost all the publications of the 18th-19th and early 20th centuries that tell in some detail about fistfights in Russia (unfortunately, there are not so many of them), so now it’s not difficult for me to remember where some quotation or illustration is taken in any modern book, even if the source is not indicated (and, as a rule, it is not indicated).

So, an unpleasant feeling is caused by the fact that NOT ONE of the modern researchers who touch on the history of fisticuffs in their publications escaped the temptation to "improve" the quotes they cite in order to create a nobler image for Russian fists than follows from the original source. But I don’t mean the newly-minted "founders" of pseudo-Russian military schools (what demand can there be from them if their "creativity" is completely based on falsifications), but quite serious authors - such as I. Altukhov, M. Lukashev, E .Smirnov, V.Taimazov, A.Trapeznikov, G.Shatkov... All of them are familiar with martial arts firsthand; all of them provide in their books valuable information about the development of military and martial arts. But as soon as it comes to Russian fisticuffs or Russian wrestling, they seem to be denied scientific conscientiousness.

I will give as an example one of the examples of such an "improvement" of an old primary source. From book to book, the story about the famous Moscow fistman of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, Semyon Treshchala, roams. He allegedly became famous for the fact that he could knock a tile out of the oven (that is, knock down facing tiles with a blow). For an unbiased reader, the very conditions of the demonstration will immediately arouse suspicion: why spoil the stoves? However, unlike Peter's grenadier (or guardsman) from Nartov's manuscript, Semyon Treshchala is a very real person. And he really had to kick the tile out of the oven. True, only once in a lifetime (more precisely, in her last moments) and by no means of her own free will.

This episode is accurately described in the criminal case opened on the fact of the event. During a game of billiards, in which Semyon participated, he was accused of fraud. The argument quickly turned into a fight. A professional fist fighter dealt a stunning blow to his offender. But he ducked, and the blow landed in the stove, breaking off the tile from it. It is unlikely that on this basis it can be argued that Treshchala "knew how" to knock out tiles (especially since tiled tiles are noticeably stronger than tiled ones, and they were attached to the stove in good faith). Moreover, it is impossible to say that this is what he became famous for. While Semyon was recovering from the consequences of an unsuccessful blow, the enemy struck him back in the temple (claimed that with a fist, but it is quite possible that with a cue) and killed the famous fist on the spot!

In 1821 the poet A.S. Pushkin, together with Prince A.I. In connection with what he saw, the prince left the following recollection: "I have not seen (local) fisticuffs, but I am sure that this fun should be much preferable to our Russian fun. Here, dexterity, flexibility and agility alone give victory!" In other words, the listed qualities were absent in Russian fisticuffs.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what he was in Rus'. Conventionality - often, seriousness fraught with bloodshed - also often. But high technical and tactical perfection is very, very rare, and, usually, on a personal, and not on a systemic level. And besides, if there is contact with one of the developed foreign schools. "Uncle Kitaev" is a fairly typical example.

3. Cossack styles

Hand-to-hand combat of the Cossacks began to be "resurrected" around the same years as the other varieties of "Slavic wushu". Zaporizhzhya saved, combat hopak, Cossack butt and other "systems" ...

This matter is doubtful. If only because the reconstructed techniques are not mentioned either by the Cossacks themselves or by the chroniclers of their opponents. Of course, the Cossack military life in itself was a training in broad sense words, but this is a common feature of any military class. And as for the "combat hopak", no one tried to declare tango or lambada as martial arts, which require no less culture of movements. Of course, when modern dance masters perform the hopak, it gives a reasonable impression that it is suitable for sweeping and jumping kicks. But does anyone seriously think that the Cossacks of the past sang at the level of artists in the opera "Zaporozhets beyond the Danube" and danced no worse than professional dancers in the musical "Wedding in Malinovka"?

There is nothing to say about classical ballet. This is where the culture of movements reaches its maximum heights. For example, the rehearsals of Maris Liepa captured on film, during which the great dancer was looking for the image of Crassus for the ballet "Spartacus", leave an indelible impression. The full impression is that before the viewer is an advanced master of martial art, who owns both body and spirit. My thought is quite simple. Folk dance, which has not undergone modern modern choreographic processing, does not contain and cannot contain full-fledged elements of martial arts. Unless from the very beginning it develops as a "dance-battle" with a peculiar technique and ideology, but even its supporters do not dare to say such a thing about hopak. If, after choreographic processing, some fighting elements appear in the dance, it does not follow from this that they were in it from the very beginning. It's just that any movement imbued with the highest perfection is applicable in the martial art.

Where it is possible to highlight the art of the unarmed Cossack battle, it turns out most often either a struggle or a fistfight of an all-Russian (all-Ukrainian) model. But there was also something else. Those Cossacks who needed the ability to sneak up unnoticed, suddenly attack, take the "tongue", owned a certain attack technique - with blows, sweeps, grabs, maybe with painful and suffocating techniques. But it is difficult to call this technique "martial arts": it is not at all assumed that the enemy is ready for defense. Therefore, there were no defensive movements.

So, I can't believe in the "combat hopak". Another thing is that this dance can still be based on the same principles as the military Cossack practice - a slight change in attack levels, squats (or even falls) followed by jumping out. For example, in the battle near Iasi in 1577, the Cossacks in this way completely disoriented the Turkish shooters during a shootout. The Cossacks have a solid history of armed clashes with a variety of opponents. There are many bright pages in this history. A careful analysis of them shows that the main weapons of the Cossacks were maneuver and shooting, by no means "direct" felling in close combat. From the "frontal" blade and hand-to-hand fights with an enemy trained in fencing (for example, with the Poles), the Cossacks came out victorious more often on the pages of historical novels than on the battlefields.

It is very amusing to trace to the end the chain of evidence of those who extol the Cossack "hand-to-hand". Usually they give references to certain facts mentioned in the historical works of official scientific institutions published during the heyday of socialism. For example, on the book by E.M. Chernova "Physical training of the Ukrainian Cossacks", published in 1955. In that book there are a number of peremptory references to other sources, some of which do not contain the information that is attributed to them, while others (for example, journal articles of the 1910s) no longer refer the reader so categorically to publications of the 1830s-50s. . The latter no longer give any references, because they are ... works of art (besides, they are typical examples of "tabloid literature").

And yet the mentioned manner of fighting - with squats, jumps, rolls, twists near the ground, with kicks from a squat or reclining position - could have taken place among the Cossacks. Albeit with not very clearly defined parameters and without fantastic performance. This refers to the combat craft of the Cossacks-plastuns, which, judging by the available data, was more of a system of movements than a system of techniques. It is worth recalling that in many regions of the USSR, the Cossacks ceased official existence only in the 20s of the current century. So the "style" of the scouts is really the thing about which one of the current old people can say: "my grandfather taught me this." In any case, crawling "in a plastunsky way", which has recently entered the army arsenal, is an objective reality.

In connection with the issue under discussion, we should mention the "butt" system and specifically its basic section "basement" (modern schools love "original" names), developed by A. Argunov, A. Nikonov, S. Romanov. Despite all the assurances of the creators (or is it the "re-enactors"?), it is not at all a "super combat system". But, on the other hand, it is much more effective and realistic than the "combat hopak".

To believe in the complete reality of the butt is hindered by the statements of its propagandists. Not only do they indiscriminately stigmatize all martial arts as "sports" (as if there really are no others), but their Cossack elements look rather strange. For example, one of the main basic elements of the "basement" is a turn with an emphasis on the hard heel of the boot and a blow with either a hard toe or a spur attached to the heel. This technique is called traditional. However, it is known that boots with a rigid base were mastered by the Cossacks very late, only in the second half of the 19th century. And then the Cossacks preferred "soft boots" at every opportunity. As for the spurs, the Cossack riding technique GENERALLY did not provide for the use of such. Spurs appeared among the Cossacks as a detail of the dress uniform of command personnel already at the beginning of the 20th century! Why are the plastuns here? In addition, always and everywhere, for "normal" foot combat, spurs were unfastened. And even more so for crawling, rolling and jumping.

Equally "convincing" is the absence of grips (including pain and suffocation) in the current "butt" system. In a series of articles about this system, modestly called "Plastons vs. Ninjas" (where did they meet?), an explanation is given for the absence of these: the capture is slower than the blow. Right. But how to remove sentries and take the "language" without capture? After all, to engage in an honest maneuvering battle with him, avoiding his attacks with a "basement" - like death! During the fight, the enemy will first of all scream, which will be the end of both the secret sortie and the scout personally. (By the way, modern ninjutsu instructors sin the same way. With perseverance worthy of better use, they teach their students maneuvering combat techniques, often effective, but have nothing to do with genuine ninjutsu. So the current "plastuns" and pseudo-ninjas really stand each other).

I think that in the most favorable version for the “butt”, its reenactors were familiar with the fighting techniques (by no means a system) of scouts, but considered them insufficiently developed and not noble enough (since they probably boiled down to a sudden attack from an ambush on an unsuspecting enemy). Therefore, they supplemented these techniques with techniques taken from other systems, or created anew on the model of Eastern systems.

In a less favorable version, this school was not completed, but was built by analogy with oriental martial arts. Such an assumption does not cancel its quite decent effectiveness, but simply removes all historical justifications.

4. What was the old fist fight

And what, strictly speaking, do we mean by the seemingly absolutely clear term "fistfight"? Truly ancient sources clearly demonstrate the presence of either wrestling or duels with weapons; there is no mention of fisticuffs. "Hellenic demons" (the evidence of the XIII century) can mean anything. Apparently, the practice of fisticuffs was already present on them. But it is unlikely that it was developed to such an extent as to leave its mark on the general contours of martial arts, moreover, not identical in nature to different regions. We have established that the Novgorod fist fight of the XIV-XV centuries was very different from the fight of Muscovite Rus' of the XVI-XVII centuries, and that one - from the all-Russian fist fight of the XIX-beginning of the XX century (in which regional differences are also distinguishable). Is it possible to assume that in the 9th-13th centuries the "ancestors" of this type of martial arts differed from the "descendants" even more? And the main difference was a more noticeable "wrestling bias"?

The very term "fistfight" first began to be used only in the era of the "developed Middle Ages". Only the subconscious desire to consider all pre-Petrine Rus' as some kind of monolith prevents us from seeing this fact, realizing it. I am far from arguing that truly ancient Russian martial arts were similar to Okinawan karate or Shaolin wushu. But perhaps they were just as little like boxing? Speaking of English boxing. The deeper its roots go back to the Middle Ages, to the 13th century and to the earlier era of Viking invasions, the wider the range of strikes used, but ... the smaller their percentage in the entire set of techniques. And the smaller the percentage of blows with a fist! Not only and not so much because the sharp predominance of fisticuffs is characteristic of already significantly formalized (conditional) martial arts, but primarily because their optimal technique has not yet been developed!

In disputes about both English and Russian fisticuffs, one cannot by any means assert that "everything was better before." Yes, from some point in many traditional types of duel, a departure from truly combat equipment in favor of sports equipment begins (which is very typical for the martial arts of the East in the current era). But first, this military equipment still needs to take shape, which is a task for centuries. And the more primitive the technique of striking, the less there is a system in it and creativity that is not spontaneous, but based on a certain theory - the more important is the struggle, even if it is also primitive and not systematized ...

A very remarkable description of hand-to-hand combat was left to us by the prominent figure of Ukrainian culture of the 17th century Theodosius Sofonovich in his fundamental work "Kroinik about Rus'". This is the very duel of the Russian hero (according to Theodosius, he comes from Pereyaslavl), which is familiar to us from the laconic description of Nestor ( "And often hold tight ..." "And strangle the pechenezin in your hand to death"). His background is set out according to an ancient chronicle (and, let us add, according to the scheme of a heroic fairy tale): a young fighter first tears several oxhides, and then pulls a piece of skin from the side of a bull attacking him. But the battle itself is presented in much more detail and more spectacular than Nestor's:

"The Pecheneg is great, like Goliad, fighting higher, laughing at the pereyaslov, even though the pereyaslov was small in stature, he called him zholvia(turtle) . However, where the pereyaslovite boldly showed himself, he sounded with a great pechenig, they took to fight and fight with their fists. Pereyaslovets, speeding up, hit his pechenig with his forehead in the womb, and the pechenig fell. Throwing himself from the ground, the pechenig rushed with anger at the pereyaslov and hit powerfully with his fist, and the small peryaslov and, where he got sick of the swing, fell pechenig to the ground. Pereyaslovets jumped up on him, began to beat the pechenig and strangle him, taking him by the throat, strangling him to death.

Of course, Theodosius did not read additional details from the list of chronicles unknown to historians (all surviving copies unequivocally speak only about the struggle, and the style of presentation does not correspond to Nestor), but simply “supplemented” the ancient text with a description of the characteristic details of close combat of his times. But if we have a realistic description of hand-to-hand combat in the middle of the 17th century, then what kind of battle is this? Ukrainian, Zaporozhye (of course, not the mythical "combat hopak"), Russian, Old Russian, Lithuanian or Polish? Most likely, it is as multi-component as the language of "Kroiniki", which is equally difficult to call Ukrainian, Russian, Lithuanian or Polish.

The main thing, however, is something else. Here, as in all other old texts, there is no talk of a highly developed martial ART. And the point is not even that none of the "declared" fisticuffs, in fact, did not reach the goal, and not even that the emphatically fat-bellied opponent only does that he falls down (moreover, once as a result of his own miss ). But the only well-described strike - a run-up head to the stomach - is usually used by low-level fighters, but it works against even less skilled opponents. In this regard, two facts are worth noting. The first is the attribution of a similar blow to an English boxer in Nartov's manuscript. But this manuscript relies precisely on domestic ideas. The second is a drawing by T. Gramani from the book of Olearius, depicting the moment of applying just such a blow. Apparently, this technique is typical for the Slavic martial arts of the XVII-XVIII centuries. And this is the time to stop. Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming like our opponents, who build far-reaching conclusions on insufficiently verified facts, or even their complete absence.

Finally, let's take another look at the late forms of Russian fisticuffs, as it was at the final stage of its existence. In addition to the usual "wall to wall" fights, there were less organized fights in small groups ("dump fight", or "hitch"). there were also pure fights - "one on one". An excellent description of such a duel was left by Maxim Gorky (1868-1936). Recall that in autobiographical works, the writer conveyed everyday scenes from the time of his youth absolutely accurately. These are the 80-90s of the XIX century, the Volga region:

"The soldiers vigilantly looked at each other, shifted, right hands forward, left - at the chest. Experienced people immediately noticed that Sitanov's arm was longer than that of the Mordvin. It became quiet, the snow crunched under the feet of the fighters ...

Sitanov swung his right hand, the Mordvin raised his left for protection and received a direct blow in the stomach with Sitanov's left hand, grunted, said with pleasure: - Young, not a fool.

They began to jump at each other, throwing heavy fists into each other's chest with a swing ... Mordvin was much stronger than Sitanov, but much heavier than him, he could not hit so quickly, and received two and three blows in one. But the beaten body of the Mordvin, apparently, did not suffer. He kept hooting, chuckling, and suddenly with a heavy blow upwards, under the armpit, knocked Sitanov's right arm out of his shoulder.

- Dilute, a draw! shouted several voices at once...

What do we see in this description? Front stance with a slope to the right, most blows - to the body. Protection is practically not set, it is carried out exclusively by the support of the hand - not by diving, not by turning, not by evading. Most of the blows hit the target with all their might, but for the time being they do not entail any consequences. The same technique is characteristic of both pair duel and group combat (shown in other fragments of the autobiographical prose of the "petrel of the revolution").

The picture of the battle in terms of technology lags behind boxing by one and a half hundred years. Of course, this is not the only option for late fisticuffs. According to other descriptions, it is known that sometimes blows were applied almost exclusively to the head (which was protected in such cases with a winding). The stand was also absolutely frontal (left-handed, it still almost never happened), then the chops acquired more importance than the coasters. In some cases, undercuts were used. Gloves did not soften the blow, but only saved the fist, experienced fighters sometimes fought with their bare hands. But as before, there were very few dives and slips (sometimes there was a step back and a bounce, not a rebound), there was no "foot play" at all.

It can be objected that this type of fisticuffs does not correspond to ancient Russian and medieval models. Yes, it hardly does not correspond to them, after all, most of the details of the hand-to-hand fights of old Rus', which we managed to recreate with difficulty, have their own parallels here. In addition, only the skills of such a fist fight add up to a fairly complete and consistent picture. There is no doubt that Russian fisticuffs were fertile material, on the basis of which a great master of martial arts would create a good school. Most likely, it would be much closer to English boxing than to martial arts. But it is not identical to him (identity would be prevented by the complete absence of fencing skills among the fist masters, which would force them to look for other ways). All that was needed was a few high-class teachers, and even a "social order", as in England.

But that did not happen. And it won't happen again. And those "Russian schools" that are emerging now are a completely different phenomenon. If any of the old Russian fistmen saw the tricks of any of those who consider themselves his descendant, he would probably say something like: "However, you, soaring, are nothing but a mournful head ..." Speaking to the point, they are all garbage dumps of martial arts, not only oriental ones.

Among the "resuscitators" of the ancient Russian schools, among their most notable figures, there are mainly those who could not achieve any significant success in the field of karate, boxing, wushu, sambo, judo and other sports or traditional martial arts. Such is Belov-Selidor, such is N.B. Tumar (president of the Ukrainian Cossack Wrestling Association), such is G.E. There are many, many more.

The author of these lines had to spar with representatives of the school of Slavic-Goritsa wrestling. One of them had poor boxing technique. As it turned out later, he really was a loser boxer. The other gave the impression of an average taekwondo player, which he was before he took up the Slavic-Goritsa wrestling. But in their new school, they were among the best and tried hard to believe themselves and others to convince that both practice the same style. It is clear that the main opponents of such Slavic "stylists" are the TRUE martial art schools existing in the CIS countries. By the mere fact of their existence, they prevent amateurs from feeling like masters. Fortunately, we have a lot of genuine masters, many of them already have international prestige.

Let us now recall the main argument of our domestic "ninjas" and the like: "Eastern martial arts (however, like Western ones) are unacceptable for us, since they are alien to the Slavic spirit!" That's where the dog is buried! It is no coincidence that the “Russian style” was discussed only in the second half of the 1980s, when, along with democratic tendencies, chauvinism and the desire for a “state church” flourished. The thesis about the contradiction of something eastern or western to the national-religious spirit of the Slavs is now extremely popular. At least among certain sections of society. But the SPIRIT OF MARTIAL ART does not contradict anything at all!

Each people inherits a legacy from previous generations, made by their hands, created by their talents. Folk costume is the memory, traditions, life, history, worldview of a certain people.

The cultural heritage of the Cossacks, accumulated over the centuries, is great and diverse, but time, especially the hard times of the 20th century, did not spare much, traditional Cossack clothing almost disappeared from everyday life. Separate details of the wardrobe, dictated by the conditions of life, are still preserved. Women, while working in a special way in different parts of the Don, tie scarves, men wear sheepskin coats in winter, white woolen socks that are tucked into trousers, and all light shoes are called "chirps".

The national costume of the Don Cossacks is unique, it does not look like the costume of the Great Russians. Donets have always stood out for their appearance, a peculiar appearance of the Don Cossack clothes evolved over the centuries, and the Cossacks were jealous of their independence. On the Don, they were very fond of clothes of bright, picturesque colors, which the Cossacks brought from campaigns. Many dressed in rich Turkish, Circassian and Kalmyk dresses, adorned themselves with weapons set with Asian luxury in silver and gold. Samples of real Cossack clothing can be found in ethnographic museums, whose expositions make it possible to judge the high artistic value of products made by hands folk craftsmen. Folklore groups used as a "folk" costume military uniform and women's "deuce" - a long skirt and peplum blouses, often sewn from cheap synthetic fabrics. In recent years, when the movement of the revival of the Cossacks began to develop, everything more teams began to turn to ancient samples of the Cossack costume.

In general, the Cossacks liked to show off their extraordinary splendor in their clothes. Of the materials, calico, kindyak, kumach, morocco, nastafil (a special kind of brightly colored cloth) were used. Nastafil was considered more expensive bright crimson (worm), yellow and blue (tmosin), and blue and green flowers cheaper.

The clothes of the Don Cossacks in particular reflected their ancient connection with the steppe tribes and peoples. Pants, invented by the Scythians, are an important element of the Cossack costume. Without them, the life of a horseman is impossible. “Over the centuries, their cut has not changed: these are wide harem pants - you can’t sit on a horse in tight pants, and they will wash your legs and hinder the rider’s movements. So those bloomers that were found in ancient mounds were the same as those worn by the Cossacks in both the 18th and 19th centuries. Cossack stripes were of particular importance. It was believed that they were introduced for the first time by Platov, but stripes are also found on ancient Cossack clothes, and even on the clothes of the Polovtsy, and even earlier - the Scythians. Significantly, this connection began to manifest itself from the time of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, and then during the period of lively trade with the East: men's trousers with a wide step and the way of wearing a shirt tucked in from them; a hairstyle with a sedentary, the names "hood" for a headdress and "epancha" for outerwear, found in early written sources.

The Don Cossacks from time immemorial were divided into riding and grassroots. This division is based on significant differences in the economic structure, life, material culture, including clothing. The traditional costume of the Don Cossacks was formed as a result of the interaction of different cultures, which is associated with the peculiarities of the emergence and development of this original ethnic formation. Nevertheless, the Eastern Turkic element played a very important role in this. .

To me, as a woman, more the clothes of the Don Cossacks are interesting. This is a vast and varied world, and volumes would be required to describe all the details in detail. Therefore, we will only get acquainted with the types of clothing characteristic of the Don Cossacks.

While the men were engaged in military service, all conduct household, spiritual and moral education children were assigned to women. It was they who created and created those costumes that could bring them joy and convenience.

CLOTHES:

Women's outerwear in design almost did not differ from men's, the difference was in the details, size, length, degree of decoration. Women's clothing, especially festive ones, was more decorated. The abundance of lace was characteristic. When the clothes wore out, the lace was cut off and stored separately. Since they were of particular value, they were often sewn onto a new one. Both men's and women's outerwear were wrapped in the same way - the right floor overlapped deeply on the left, so the right floor was often made longer than the left (by 5-20 cm). The line of the side is oblique, the fastener was located mainly to the waist line: buttons or hooks on the right field, loops on the left. By the way, the Cossacks have pants - bloomers until the 19th century, they were an integral part of everyday clothing, only among the Lower Don Cossacks they were traditionally wider, and among the Upper Don Cossacks they were narrower, similar to pipe trousers. Bloomers were made from thin silk or paper fabric.

The State Museum-Reserve of M. A. Sholokhov has photographs, collections of collected Cossack clothes of the late XIX - early XX centuries. Women's clothing, located in the funds of the museum, 46-48 sizes. This indicates that the Cossacks had beautiful figures.

The main part of the costume was the dress - kubelek or kubilek, - reminiscent of the cut and shape of the Tatar camisole, an old festive dress known in the Don since the 11-12th centuries. For the rich, he was sewn from brocade. The bodice of the dress was fastened with silver or gilded buttons. Parallel to them, there was a second row of buttons (gold or threaded pearls), which served only as an ornament. When a Cossack woman raised her hands up, the wide sleeves looked like wings of a moth, and, obviously, the name of the dress in its original Turkic form came from this similarity, because the Turkic peoples call a moth, a butterfly with the word "kebelek" (male). In some styles of dress, the wide sleeve was gathered with a cuff and hung over the hand with a puffy puff. For the rich in the old days, cups were made mainly from brocade; their length was below the knees, but high from the heels. Ordinary Cossack women wore a kubelka made of plain black cloth.

A kubelka was sewn from several panels of fabric, with a detachable bodice, to the waist. The front floors and the back were made whole, adjacent and connected with undercut barrels.

The hole for the neck was cut out in the upper part rounded, shallow. Straight and narrow sleeves gathered at the shoulders and ended with cuffs. From below, a wide, gathered skirt, not sewn in front, was sewn to the bodice.

Kubelek was worn with a simple or silk shirt with wide sleeves coming out of his sleeves. The hem of the shirt and its front were also visible.

The kubelek was comfortable, being sewn from a variety of fabrics - a lighter fabric or a warmer one - it protected well from heat and cold, and did not restrict movement during work. The cut features of such a dress made it possible to make it at home without much difficulty, and then it could be easily adjusted to a specific figure with minimal time and effort, since the style was quite unified. Girls sewed such dresses for their dowry, at the same time learning the basics of making clothes and stuffing their hands for more complex things - elegant and wedding suits.

Elegant, richly decorated cupels were a real work of art. The most skilled craftswomen worked on them for a long time. Often in poor families, the material for such a dress, as well as various accessories for decoration - beads, pearls, gold and silver embroidery - were painstakingly collected over several generations, sewn onto the dress gradually. In this nature of the work on the costume, the principle of continuity was reflected - the dress was inherited from mother to daughter, who had to add something of her own, new to it, and at the same time keep the already bequeathed from the ancestors intact and safe. The ability to preserve a fragile expensive thing showed the girl's wealth as a hostess, her ability to dispose of family values ​​with care. After all, such a dress was no longer just nice outfit, but a kind of archive, a family chronicle, by individual elements of which it was possible to tell the story of the weddings of previous family members. In addition, the kubilek was a symbol of increasing wealth - adding more and more rich finishing elements to it each time, the woman, as it were, spoke to her future family to increase material well-being, and in case of extreme need or misfortune (fire, for example) the dress could be sold.

Kubelek Cossacks wore until the middle of the 19th century.

The kubelka was tied with a belt ( tataur) above the waist and consisted of interconnected silver, gilded links. There were also belts of colored velvet embroidered with pearls. The floors of the kubelek came in one after the other, without fastening.

AT summer time women, leaving the house, put on kavrak- caftan made of silk or brocade. It was sewn to the waist with a closed collar, but without a collar, with short “three-quarter” sleeves, from under which wide kubelka sleeves were issued, decorated with braid and glass beads. The usual length is below the knees, and especially the front ones are even longer; the right floor was wrapped over the left; sometimes worn unbuttoned on the chest, revealing the agate buttons of the goblet.

Shirt(trout) Don Cossacks was underwear and outerwear at home.
An old white homespun linen shirt with a straight collar and a low standing collar is peculiar. The collar was fastened with copper buttons or tied with ribbons. The panels in it are located asymmetrically. The sleeves are narrow, with the help of inserted wedges they expand downwards and along the edge they are sheathed in two rows of colored ribbons. The Don shirt has a straight collar slit and a low standing collar. Under the chin, the shirt was tied with a red patch, threaded into loops. The collar, shirt hem and sleeves were decorated with bright red woven patterns, and sometimes these parts were sewn from red chintz and embroidered with paper thread. The female Don costume also included a composite shirt, the upper part of which was made of silk, the sleeves and shoulders were made of brocade, and the hem was made of linen. The collar is usually red, lined with colored threads, called azharelok. Shirts were girded with a red woolen belt, woven in a special way on the fingers. The girls wore such canvas shirts as outerwear "until the wedding". Married Cossack women wore a sundress over it - a sukman or a kubelek.

Sukman- outerwear of married Cossack women (a kind of sundress). These are overhead clothes, most often blue or black, sewn from four panels of fabric, distinguished by very narrow and short sleeves. In front of the collar there was a short straight cut on copper buttons, called "bazka", "pazuka" and trimmed with a wide silk ribbon along the edges. A colored cord running along one of the edges of the bosom and not sewn to it in the appropriate places formed loops. Along the hem, the sukman was sheathed with a wide red or blue silk ribbon, and along the very edge with a garus (a kind of braid woven in a special way on the fingers). Sukman was girded with a braided red or blue belt with tassels.

Gradually, by the 80s of the 19th century, the kubelek and homespun sukman were replaced by a sundress, which was sewn from colored chintz, with a high one-piece bib, narrow armholes, which, converging behind, were sewn to the sundress at waist height. The sundress was sewn without a back, with a short hole in the buttons on the left side at the base of the bib. At the back, the sundress was a waist-length skirt with armholes and laid along the upper edge with numerous frequent gatherings; the sundress was decorated with colored ribbons along the upper edge of the bib, at the back along the gatherings, and at the bottom along the bottom edge. A sundress was tied with a wide plush belt, lower than the waist, so that "taxes and ribbons" were visible from behind. On the Don, a bright calico sundress was called komashnik. In a number of riding villages, a sundress was preserved in the women's clothing complex until the 20th century.

spare wheel- a long piece of dense matter woven into colored stripes, which served the Cossacks until the 19th century instead of a skirt. The name comes from “smoke”, because, indeed, it was wrapped around the hips and tied in front with a belt; the front solution was covered by a long curtain. It went out of use after the Cossack women stopped wearing bloomers, because they did not cover their underwear enough.

Zapon(veil, hvartuk) was an integral element of the women's costume. Zapony differed festive and everyday (common). Don Cossack women put on a zapon (veil) made of smooth or stuffed material, lined with something red (kyrmyz) along the hem. This is a kind of short apron with sewn on big breast nkoy, small folds are laid along the seam. Ties around the waist with ribbons. A pocket was sewn on the left side. They wore cufflinks exclusively on sundresses and were not worn on sukman or kubelek. An everyday apron was sewn from bleached canvas, and a festive apron was made from expensive fabric and was decorated with lace, ribbons, and seams.

Skirt. Cossack women wore long and wide skirts, in summer they were light, in winter they were warm from striped woolen fabric. Rich Cossack women had 15 - 20 different skirts.

Festive skirts were made from purchased fabrics: chintz, satin, velvet, cambric, nanke, maleskin, rep, cashmere. The most fashionable skirts were sewn at that time more often from Bengalin. What is not on these skirts, behind the assembly and frills along the hem, wedges, buttons, braid, beads, ribbons, lace, trim with another fabric. Overskirts, especially festive, flared ones, had a wide frill at the bottom - a splash, trimmed with a ribbon, a strip of lace, plush. Warm skirts were sewn on a warm lining and at the bottom with brushes (braid). They did not allow the bottom of the hem to wear out.

Girls began to wear a skirt with a jacket from the age of 15. If there were 2-3 sisters in the family, then the younger sisters did not have the right to put on a skirt with a blouse before wooing, but walked like girls in dresses, although they could already be much more than 15 years old. "In order not to put under the trough older sister' the family said.

Under the overskirts they put on petticoats, sometimes four or five pieces. The richer the Cossack woman was, the more skirts. They were sewn from chintz, white madapolam or zona (calico) and were called zonal, zonovka. Twelve straight panels were gathered at the waist in small folds under the lining with long ends. The bulk of the assemblies were back zoning. The lower edge of the skirt was decorated with a frill of fabric with lace. The underskirt was sewn longer than the top, so that the lace was visible from the outside. It was fastened at the waist with the help of the ends of the skin wrapping around the body several times, which were then tied on the side.

From the same fabric as top skirt, sewed sweater complex cut. The fastening with small buttons went along the armhole and along the shoulder. A small stand-up collar also fastened on the side. A long sleeve gathered at the shoulder, wide to the elbow, tapered to the wrist. The jacket was decorated with lace and stitching, which the Cossacks called batistovka, as well as pearls, beads, ribbons and buttons. At the beginning of the XX century. the jacket spread matene- free-cut slightly below the waist, open with a front closure, long straight sleeves and a stand-up collar. They were worn only by married women.

Young Cossack women liked to wear blouses to the hips, tightly fitting the figure with a small peplum. Such blouses with narrow long sleeves gathered at the shoulder and with a stand-up collar were fastened in front with many small buttons. They were called "cuirass".

Kokhta- outerwear for women's festive clothes for spring and autumn from factory-made fabrics on wadding, quilted with lining. It was a swinging garment with a solid, widening back, with wide floors and side wedges, knee-length. The collar is round, without a collar, the sleeves are long, narrow. It was fastened with one button sewn at the throat.

The coats along the upper field and sleeves were decorated with plush or sewn across the back and shelves closer to the hem with silk fringe. They were common among the Don Cossacks in the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Served as a winter outfit for the Cossacks Don fur coat, long to toe, Asian cut in the form of a wrap-around robe, diverging downward like a bell. It was usually sewn on fox or marten fur with long sleeves and covered with beautiful expensive fabric: brocade, satin (green or of blue color with black patterns), embossed patterned wool. The entire fur coat around the hem, sides and collar was often trimmed with a piston (otter fur, in the old days, an edge on women's fur coats was made from its black shiny fur, and they were also sewn Women's hats with satin top).

For those Cossacks who had small children, the cut was special. The right half was sewn longer, a baby was placed under the floor and the child was wrapped in it. It was possible to hide hands in fur-trimmed sleeves to keep warm, and they created the appearance of a muff (the sleeves, wide at the top, hung much below the hands, and if they rose above the hands, they gathered at the top like puffs). On holidays, very beautiful shawls were worn with a fur coat, rich Cossack women put on sable hats with a quadrangular velvet top and pearl chikiliks.

There were also white sheepskin "covered" fur coats, trimmed along the edges of the sleeves, along the field and bottom with a narrow strip of kurpey, that is, the skin of a young lamb. There were sheepskin coats without trim, "naked", that is, uncovered. They were worn by poorer Cossack women, it was believed that they were intended for winter street chores around the house. They girded a sheepskin coat with a knitted woolen scarf in blue, green or red.

The old Don fur coat, despite the fact that coats and various fur coats became widespread in the 19th century, has not lost its popularity.

Zupeyka- winter outerwear. It was a straight coat made of factory-made cloth on wadding with a small collar and a fastener in front. Zhupeika was worn by the Don Cossacks in the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Pliska- women's outerwear for winter made of plush on wadding with a lining, was a straight-cut coat with a round collar, trimmed on the chest with black ribbons and lace. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, it was fashionable clothing among the Don Cossacks.

In the 19th century, the clothes of the Don Cossacks became more and more “urban”, and after the war with the French in 1812, European fashion also penetrated the Don.

SHOES:

Boots the Cossacks wore, as a rule, the Tatar sample with a strongly curved toe and a figured line of the upper edging, dressed from morocco in bright colors: red, yellow, green. Worn and chedygi- boots of the Astrakhan style, pointed, with high heels.

Special love was enjoyed by soft boots without heels made of embroidered, multi-colored leather— ichigi and chiriki- galoshes, which were worn either over ichig, or over thick combed socks, into which trousers were tucked. Chiriki were made on soles, with wide heels, blunt toes, and sometimes sheathed along the edges with a white leather strap.

In the eighteenth century on the Don, women wore red leather ichigi with embroideries, and widows wore black ones. Even in ancient times, Scythian women's shoes were richly ornamented, women gravitated towards decorating their shoes. In the place where the head of the shoe was connected to the top, a strip of red woolen braid was sewn in, which was decorated with leather appliqués. The soles were also decorated with leather, tendon thread. Despite the fact that, as a rule, the decoration of the sole was more characteristic of the steppe peoples of Asia, who had the habit of sitting with their feet folded with their heels outward, historians have found much evidence that the Scythians often decorated the soles of their shoes.

FROM festive dress Cossack women put on shoes made of morocco. Men, like women, wore coarse paper or woolen white stockings with shoes, invented at one time in Baghdad. Young Cossack women liked to wear coarse white woolen stockings without garters. It was considered a special panache if the stockings were gathered in thick folds on the narrow part of the leg above the ankle. It was widely believed among the Cossacks that stockings made of sheep's wool protect against the bite of tarantulas, which are afraid of the smell of sheep, since sheep eat tarantulas. Therefore, Cossacks and Cossacks, even in summer, willingly walked in woolen stockings. Cossack women were excellent needlewomen. They gathered in the evenings, spun and knitted. Woolen stockings were knitted on knotted wool knitting needles - black, white or patterned: white on top, below - black stripes and zigzags. To this day, the fashion for shoes crocheted from knotted woolen yarn without ties has been preserved. Many elderly Cossack women can still see them now.

Wealthy Cossack women wore ceremonial, dandy "chiriki made up of sour", that is, shoes trimmed around the edges with a white leather strap. Later, the Cossacks began to sew the already festive "bordered", i.e., shoe trimmed with colored ribbon. (Kislina is white, not soaked in tar skin, from which, for example, harness is made). They were worn in the summer in dry weather, put on a woolen sock.

European-style shoes were worn with elegant clothes - leather boots with laces (hussariki) and buttons (gaiters - high boots with a clasp on the side) and low-heeled shoes with narrow toes - baretki. Hussars- festive leather colored boots with heels with lacing in front, at the end of the 19th century they were worn by girls and women from wealthy families. Older women wore lace-up boots, in which only the heel, sides and toe were trimmed with leather; wore them with galoshes. And in the harsh winter, men and women only from wealthy families wore felt boots. Felt boots with short tops were called boots, they were worn around the house, and with long ones - on the road.

At the beginning of the 20th century, rubber galoshes became fashionable. They were also worn with white woolen stockings, and now on the streets of the village one can meet echoes of this old fashion.

HATS:

Women are not supposed to go to the temple with their heads uncovered. To seem "straight-haired" was a sign of ignorance, savagery. Without a headdress, the appearance of a woman in public was as unthinkable as the appearance of a military Cossack without a cap or hat. The headdress was worn in full accordance with marital status- a married woman would never have appeared in public without him, therefore this obligatory element of the Cossack women's clothing was extremely diverse.

Shlychka- a cap, cut in a special way, was put on the hair so that it was slightly visible from the front. The hair was gathered under the cap in a knot and supported it in an elevated position. For the same purpose, cotton wool was used, placed under the top seam of the pin. The shlychka on the head was tightened in front with a ribbon threaded into it. Sewn from expensive bright fabric, it was decorated with embroidery, sequins, glass beads. The shlychka was not visible and served only as a skeleton for tying scarves on top or was covered with a transparent silk shawl.

A young Cossack woman with a festive outfit put on her hair fashion.This silk black lace kerchief of pertussis work, knitted in the form of a knot of hair with ends tied at the back with a bow, was very adornment of a woman, the fashion was very popular.

tattoo- headdress of married young women, which was a hat oval shape of silk on a solid frame of cardboard or glued canvas with a cotton lining. The silk of the cap was usually laid in folds. Tattoos were decorated with ribbons, bows, lace.

In the 19th century, on the Upper Don, the headdress of the Cossacks came into fashion - cap. This is a holiday headdress. married women. It was knitted from silk or paper threads in the form of a stocking with terry cloth at the top, sometimes decorated with beads and embroidery. He was dressed on top of a bun of hair, which was removed at the back into a knot (kugulu), the wide edge was bent at the bottom with a cuff and the upper end was laid behind this cuff. When going out into the street, a scarf was put on over the cap, which was removed indoors, remaining in the cap. On his head he had the appearance of a tight bandage. Attractive cap coloring. The edge, and sometimes the entire cap, was decorated with a printed pattern (floral ornament); favorite background colors are black, green, less often beige.

The cap was mostly worn in combination with the kubelka. It is assumed that it was borrowed from the Tatars. Indeed, in form and modified name, it is very reminiscent of the Tatar kalfak. The difference is that the Tatar kalfak is a girl's headdress, while the Cossack cap is women's. Braiding, hair styling in a feminine way and putting on a cap were part of the Cossack wedding ceremony.

Kolotovochka or casimirka- a scarf with a small pattern, small, red, quadrangular, usually worn in the summer. One of the corners of the bell was bent and superimposed on the forehead, the two lateral ends were tightened at the back with a knot, under which the third corner was passed. That is, the kolotovochka half covered the forehead, temples and ears. An upper scarf or shawl was tied on a kolotovochka, and from the sides they were slightly laid inward, and above the forehead they were gathered in a "corner", which was considered fashionable.

In the cold season, over a shawl thrown over the head under the chin, covering the ears, a handkerchief was tied, its ends were tied at the crown, the so-called. bridle. The bridle was usually red and white. The ends of the shawl were already wrapped over the bridle, covering the lower part of the face and mouth, around the neck and tied in front with a knot.

In combination with dresses of the Tatar cut, they wore Russian headdresses: a warrior or a horned kichka.

Kichka("duck") - an old headdress of married Cossack women; made on a solid basis in the form of a boat, a miter, a wide hat with two or four horns, and also in the form of a tiara, decorated with wavy magpie scallops along the upper edges. Elegant kits were made of green or burgundy velvet, embroidered with gold and silver thread, beads, pearls, wealthy Cossack women wore chikiliki with a magpie, and metal jewelry on their foreheads. There were kichki and in the form of a small round hat.

All the polls went in kichki. The rich kichki were decorated with pearls and even diamonds, embroidered with gold or silk, beads. By the 60s, in wealthy circles, kichki are being replaced by fashionable hats and bonnets. The disappearance of kichka is explained by its high cost. Kichka was a small round hat with a low band and a flat top, the hair was carefully combed under it, but could be seen in front and behind. Chikiliki hung from the kichka over the ears to the very shoulders - long threads studded with pearls, and metal jewelry on the forehead. Cossack women were very fond of jewelry, and the most characteristic of them were chikiliki. This is a wide ribbon of scarlet satin, decorated with pearls, to which a thick net of large pearls was attached. The ribbon was tied around the head, and a pearl net hung from under the headdress, partially covering the cheeks.

On holidays, they wore sable hats with a square velvet top, embroidered with pearls, diamonds and yahonts. From under the cap, as in the old days, hung chikiliks.

Married women wore warriors on their heads, which were on cotton wool, from expensive brocade and about seven inches high. They gradually narrowed towards the top and were fixed on the head with a special scarf, to which flowers or ostrich feathers were pinned.

povoynik- a headdress in the form of a soft cap, which completely covered the hair braided during the wedding ceremony from one girl's braid into two. The braids were placed high on the head and covered with a warrior. The warrior would not allow the woman to flaunt one of her main jewellery.

Scarves. Scarves have always been in fashion. In everyday life, there were shawls made of canvas with a woven pattern around the edges, trimmed with fringe made of wool, printed chintz (blue, yellow, green, black flowers on a red background), shawls made of satin or silk, scarlet, green, blue, yellow color, in large and small cells (with tassels at the edges), lace scarves. The scarf was an everyday and festive headdress. The girls wore headscarves tied under their chins. Women tied the scarf at the back. In the coveted chest of a Cossack woman, a large set of scarves was accumulated, intended for every occasion of life: for haymaking, weddings, commemoration, gatherings, for Sunday, for covering under a shawl, etc.

The real pride of the Cossack was shawl- silk and wool, decorated with fringe (for winter). Turkish shawls have been known to the Cossacks for a long time, but in the 19th century. shawls and Russian production were bought. Unlike imported ones, they were bilateral. The drawing of some imitated the oriental "Kashmiri" pattern, others were decorated with floral arrangements. Monochromatic silk shawls (white, cream, etc.) with a brilliant pattern on a matte background were also popular.

A black lace shawl and whooping cough half-shawls were also popular, especially among the Cossack women on the Upper Don. The half-shawl draped over the head is very reminiscent of the Spanish mantilla.

Girls usually wear man-ear, a ribbon decorated with a beaded bottom, pearls, beads, embroidery, tied around the head. The brow was reminiscent of a skufia and was usually made of red velvet studded with pearls and set with precious stones. On the edges of the hood, which was simply superimposed on the head, there was a special type of stripe made of gold chains and sometimes small coins. It was often covered with an ordinary silk, and sometimes with a paper handkerchief - tarkich.

DECORATIONS:

Cossacks loved to wear on holidays necklaces and monisto.

The former were made from beads, pearls, multi-colored round, oblong, faceted beads strung on linen threads, the latter from gold and silver coins. They were worn by women and girls, 3-7-12 threads each. Beads made of pearls were worn by wealthier Cossack women.

In addition, they also wore basilicas - flat silver, gold or metal bracelets with ornament.

Earrings often with small hanging ornaments of pearls and precious stones.

Rings gold or silver rings. silver ring on the left hand - a girl of marriageable age, "praise". On the right - betrothed. Ring with turquoise - the groom serves (turquoise is a stone of longing). Gold ring on the right hand - married, on the left - divorced. Two gold rings on one finger of the left hand - a widow. The second ring is the dead or dead husband. They did not put gold in the coffin.

It should be noted that on the Don the most favorite decoration was pearls (zenchug). Throughout almost our entire history, the life of a Cossack woman has been hard, mothers and wives have had a lot of suffering, and many bitter tears have been shed, and precious pearls seemed to be frozen tears.

Gaman- a bag made of leather, fabric for storing money, various small things. Women sewed gaman for themselves from bright fabrics, silk, fine cloth, brocade, chintz, satin, sometimes lined. It was usually attached to a belt tied at the waist, or hemmed from the inside of the skirt. Festive gamans were richly decorated. Many of them were ornamented with colored silk embroidery, garus, applique from bright beautiful pieces of fabric, decorated with beads, ribbons, braid, colored buttons. Girls and young women tried to make the festive haman especially elegant for themselves. Still worn chemesin- a leather wallet for money in the form of a tube.

Great treasures were left to us by our ancestors, an inexhaustible source of inspiration and creativity.

Photos taken from Yandex stock were used to illustrate the text. Thanks to everyone who managed to save these priceless materials for posterity.

1.

4.

5.

Part 19 -
Part 20 -

Hand-to-hand combat of the Cossacks began to be "resurrected" around the same years as the other varieties of "Slavic wushu". Zaporizhzhya saved, combat hopak, Cossack butt and other "systems" ...

This matter is doubtful. If only because the reconstructed techniques are not mentioned either by the Cossacks themselves or by the chroniclers of their opponents. Of course, the Cossack military life in itself was training in the broad sense of the word, but this is a common feature of any military class. And as for the "combat hopak", no one tried to declare tango or lambada as martial arts, which require no less culture of movements. Of course, when modern dance masters perform the hopak, it gives a reasonable impression that it is suitable for sweeping and jumping kicks. But does anyone seriously think that the Cossacks of the past sang at the level of artists in the opera "Zaporozhets beyond the Danube" and danced no worse than professional dancers in the musical "Wedding in Malinovka"?

There is nothing to say about classical ballet. This is where the culture of movements reaches its maximum heights. For example, the rehearsals of Maris Liepa captured on film, during which the great dancer was looking for the image of Crassus for the ballet "Spartacus", leave an indelible impression. The full impression is that before the viewer is an advanced master of martial art, who owns both body and spirit. My thought is quite simple. Folk dance, which has not undergone modern modern choreographic processing, does not contain and cannot contain full-fledged elements of martial arts. Unless from the very beginning it develops as a "dance-battle" with a peculiar technique and ideology, but even its supporters do not dare to say such a thing about hopak. If, after choreographic processing, some fighting elements appear in the dance, it does not follow from this that they were in it from the very beginning. It's just that any movement imbued with the highest perfection is applicable in the martial art.

Where it is possible to single out the art of unarmed Cossack combat, it most often turns out to be either wrestling or fisticuffs of the all-Russian (all-Ukrainian) model. But there was also something else. Those Cossacks who needed the ability to sneak up unnoticed, suddenly attack, take the "tongue", owned a certain attack technique - with blows, sweeps, grabs, maybe with painful and suffocating techniques. But it is difficult to call this technique "martial arts": it is not at all assumed that the enemy is ready for defense. Therefore, there were no defensive movements.

So, I can't believe in the "combat hopak". Another thing is that this dance can still be based on the same principles as the military Cossack practice - a slight change in attack levels, squats (or even falls) followed by jumping out. For example, in the battle near Iasi in 1577, the Cossacks in this way completely disoriented the Turkish shooters during a shootout. The Cossacks have a solid history of armed clashes with a variety of opponents. There are many bright pages in this history. A careful analysis of them shows that the main weapons of the Cossacks were maneuver and shooting, by no means "direct" felling in close combat. From the "frontal" blade and hand-to-hand fights with an enemy trained in fencing (for example, with the Poles), the Cossacks came out victorious more often on the pages of historical novels than on the battlefields.

It is very amusing to trace to the end the chain of evidence of those who extol the Cossack "hand-to-hand". Usually they give references to certain facts mentioned in the historical works of official scientific institutions published during the heyday of socialism. For example, on the book by E.M. Chernova "Physical training of the Ukrainian Cossacks", published in 1955. In that book there are a number of peremptory references to other sources, some of which do not contain the information that is attributed to them, while others (for example, journal articles of the 1910s) no longer refer the reader so categorically to publications of the 1830s-50s. . The latter no longer give any references, because they are ... works of art (besides, they are typical examples of "tabloid literature").

And yet the mentioned manner of fighting - with squats, jumps, rolls, twists near the ground, with kicks from a squat or reclining position - could have taken place among the Cossacks. Albeit with not very clearly defined parameters and without fantastic performance. This refers to the combat craft of the Cossacks-plastuns, which, judging by the available data, was more of a system of movements than a system of techniques. It is worth recalling that in many regions of the USSR, the Cossacks ceased official existence only in the 20s of the current century. So the "style" of the scouts is really the thing about which one of the current old people can say: "my grandfather taught me this." In any case, crawling "in a plastunsky way", which has recently entered the army arsenal, is an objective reality.

In connection with the issue under discussion, we should mention the "butt" system and specifically its basic section "basement" (modern schools love "original" names), developed by A. Argunov, A. Nikonov, S. Romanov. Despite all the assurances of the creators (or is it the "re-enactors"?), it is not at all a "super combat system". But, on the other hand, it is much more effective and realistic than the "combat hopak".

Many modern "Cossack" styles of hand-to-hand combat (in the modern, amateur sense of the Republic of Belarus) make one wonder - was there such a thing at all? After all, the Cossacks were warriors, and, not burdened by laws, they could use anyone in battle - a dagger, a saber, a pike, a dart, a bow (and later a firearm). This modern, limited person must follow the laws regarding self-defense, and therefore learns, as a rule, fighting with his bare hands.

To separate the wheat from the chaff, we turned to an expert - Andrey Viktorovich Yarovoy: Shermitsy, President of the Don Federation of Cossack Military Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, historian, associate professor.

The answers were unexpected.

1. Did the Don Cossacks have hand-to-hand combat in the modern sense of the word?
- A special discipline, such as hand-to-hand combat today, did not exist either in the tradition of the Don Cossacks or in army training. Because there was no need for it.

2. Was the fighting technique itself bare-handed? Not a fistfight, but hand-to-hand combat (for example, blows to the Adam's apple).
- This is a fist fight. A mixture of fists and wrestling is a fight.
A blow to the Adam's apple is a blow to the gourd, in the tradition that is known to me. The blow was used as a favorite, used both in fists - for an amateur, in a circle (one-on-one duel, before the start of the fight), and in a regular fight.

The tradition does not know such a phenomenon as hand-to-hand combat in itself, there are fistfighting skills (very broadly understood - they beat with both fists, palms, and different parts fists), there is a wrestling skill - both are used in traditional competitions, holidays. It's just that the proportionality of the use of the skill is important here. "You beat yourself - remember God, they beat you - be silent." A fight is like a battle in oblivion, that is, in lack of control and anger, there is something to fight for and something to share .. Therefore, a fight was distinguished from fists by the presence of a pitchfork, a bludgeon or a stick in the hands. As for punches that seem to be banned today, their use was dictated by the practice of not having weight classes. As a way to defeat an opponent stronger than you.

3. That is, in contrast to the tradition of fisticuffs in the middle lane, the Donets in fisticuffs were allowed to hit the Adam's apple. Was it a universal rule? Or some local tradition?
- In the village of Verkhne-Kundryuchenskaya, they fought exclusively with fists, in the settlements where Russian peasants lived - a stick in their hand is a sign of a fight ... But in the village of Mechetinskaya, sticks were used and stones were thrown instead of snowballs, I know that in some Kuban villages there was a similar phenomenon.

4. Can you divide the martial aspect of the Don Cossack tradition into parts? For example: wrestling, fists, melee. And tell what, where and when it was applied.
- This, apparently, will look somewhat artificial - to separate the combat aspect. But, following the well-known schemes, the following can be distinguished: the battle begins with a firefight, that is, shooting from guns, then they threw themselves at darts, then checkers distance, you can use a whip in a tight fight, and we go to the distance of hand-to-hand combat - kicks ( for failure of breathing, under the ribs, on the legs, in the groin, in the stomach), the distance of the fists (palms), elbow strikes (take on the elbow), gripping the belt, legs with the aim of overturning the enemy, knocking him down or throwing him over his head. Throws outside of tradition are traumatic - head to the ground. A recumbent enemy could be finished off with their feet (by mortal combat). That's the whole martial tradition. As you can see, it includes the traditional possession of weapons, fisticuffs, wrestling.

5. How were the kicks delivered? What part of the leg? On what trajectory?
- Often with a swing like a soccer ball, a toe under the ribs, in the lower abdomen, raising the leg to the knee, kicking the foot (cutting), foot on the shin, foot in the stomach. Trajectory - ascending, trampling ...

6. What does "throws out of tradition are traumatic" mean?
- Throws outside the tradition - uncontrolled - the opponent simply throws himself over himself and flies "head and legs" somewhere behind his back ... In tradition, I believe, without causing special harm, you can hold on to the belt (or you can let it go).

7. That is, fought by the rules? With their?
- The rules were negotiated literally before the fight. With the Kalmyks, for example, they fought by special agreement ... the village could have its own rules. To fight: you can not bite, scratch, fight. For cams: two are fighting, the third is not going; they do not beat the lying down; on whom there is blood, do not beat.

8. What were the rules usually?
- So cams is a tough game. The task is to knock the enemy out of the line or onto the opposite shore, in the course of the battle they didn’t beat the lying one (of course, they won’t get up), on whom they didn’t beat the blood until it was wiped off ... they tried not to let the strong men into battle so that they would not be knocked down. If they fought with strangers - with Kalmyks, Tatars, artisans, etc., then they fought fiercely, the main objective games are a win.

It’s just that sometimes before the battle they arranged fights for zarevail or chieftains (leaders of the walls); young people could jump out of the wall with a swoop - they struck and hid in the wall, the challenger clapped his hands, and in general they clapped and whistled a lot and often. There was also a prize - a barrel of vodka.

9. Let's talk about wrestling.
- Wrestling fights on the Don occur in various forms: on belts, in girth, on the freestyle. Wrestling is usually understood as a type of hand-to-hand competition in which "opponents only try to overcome each other, knock them down on the ground without weapons and without beatings and fights." As the old people recalled, children fought always and quite often. Adults wrestled on holidays, on “sabantu” at the end of the harvest campaign. Older guys came to the places where the children's bands gathered: they explained the rules, "pitted" in a duel, fought themselves. Thus, the transfer of experience, acquaintance with the tradition took place, and then the skill developed in the practice of fighting and watching other fights.

10. By the way, what is the fight "for breaking"?
- Belt wrestling on the Don was called lomok, in “lamka they take the belt and throw it over themselves. In winter, they go out to the Don and fight for the lamb. They take each other's belt and currencies who wins.
Belt wrestling took place on holidays. Wrestled in a circle. The fight continued until one of the opponents fell to the ground. The one who touched the ground first after throwing was considered the loser, even if the wrestler who carried out the throw fell next. It was impossible to break and change the grip, the use of steps was stipulated. Close lamka and wrestling in a fight, when instead of a belt, the wrestlers embrace each other with their hands. “They fought, undressed in the steppe, put things softer, there were judges from the older guys, they made sure that they didn’t get bullied.” It was forbidden to bite, fight, trip, break the grip.

The description of this struggle among the Don Cossacks is presented by the Polish traveler, historian and writer Jan Potocki, who in 1797 passed through the land of the Don Cossacks to Astrakhan. He watched as his companions, the Donites, fought. “... The art consists in grabbing the opponent by the belt, then throwing himself with all his might back to the ground, so that the wrestler flew over his head; you would think that he would break his arms and legs, but the Cossack is not so gentle: in my presence they both stood up healthy and unharmed, as if they had just fallen. This game is all the more remarkable because the Cossacks attribute their origin to it. When Vladimir conquered Kherson, his son Mstislav moved to Vospor and came to the island on which stands Taman, which was then the main city of the principality of Tmutarakan. The prince of yasses or kosogs defended himself on it, they decided to end the war with a duel without weapons. Mstislav remained the winner ... ".

An interesting description of the struggle is in Sholokhov in Virgin Soil Upturned.

I'm pathetic about one thing, boy ... hefty pathetic ... Do you remember, the year before last, we fought in the walls at the carnival?
- It is when?
- Yes, this time, as posting killed. Singles fought married men, remember? Do you remember how I chased you? You were a bit thin, a green mound opposite me. I took pity on you, but if I had hit you on the run, I would have crossed you in two! You run very fast, you bounced all over: if you hit it with a pull on your side, you wouldn’t live in the world!
- Don't worry, we'll get together somehow.
(Mikhail Sholokhov. Quiet Don, Part 1, Part 25, XIX, Young Guard, 1980)

It was he who threatened to hit him with a stick. With pull.
The use of Sholokhov's works as a source on the traditional culture of the Don Cossacks is acceptable. Some things require a reservation, like any artistic source. The most interesting fist is described in the works of Kryukov, for example "Swell", and in others, there are descriptions by Skripov, Petrov (Biryuk).

12. So it was possible to use a stick in a fistfight?
- Yes, in Veshki, as in Mechetka, they fought, a kind of stick-fist fight.

13. What were the rules?
- Here the main goal is to achieve. The rules are common: whoever sits on his knees is not beaten; whoever has a broken nose and blood flows, he, having wiped himself, again gets up to fight. A sort of mixture of fencing and fisticuffs.
In general, the attitude to the fists was akin to the attitude to the game, although they hit in the face, put them on the sides, in the chest, under the ribs, but after the fight they sat down together, discussed the duel, drank. The fighting place was most often the river, as in the village of Mechetinskaya, in the village of Kundryuchenskaya, such a place was the Gypsy Meadow - an unclean place, about which there were all kinds of rumors, where they saw werewolves, the dead. In the village of Visilny, Semikarakorsky district, fists were held on a high mound, reminiscent of the ancient Slavic funeral feasts. They usually fought crowd on crowd, or with two lavas. Wall fights ended in different ways. In one case, it was enough to push the enemy out of the field line, in another case, the battle lost its structure, at dusk turned into a “hitch-dump” and ended with the onset of darkness.

The history of the costume goes back many centuries. How many modifications the pieces of linen, bones, leather have known! Yes, and the functions of clothing changed over time: at first it was protection from adverse weather conditions, then it was an indicator of a person’s position in society ... Moreover, they covered nudity in different countries differently.

Yes, there are countries! Each area has character traits in clothes. It depends on various factors: geographical location, neighbors, main trade, lifestyle ... For example, an Indian sari or not to be confused with anything. Just as peculiar are the Bushmen, the Boers, and others. Of interest are the dirdles of the Germans, and the klomps of the Netherlanders. But Zaporozhye Cossacks it's hard not to recognize by the red trousers and vyshyvanka. Attention should also be paid to accessories that can tell a lot about the owner, for example, the presence of war paint, a lot of bracelets or a wig. And in each suit the history of the country or region was displayed.

The clothes of the Cossacks - Don or Kuban - are also of interest, just as their history, way of life, and customs are interesting to us. Let's get acquainted with the costume of the Cossacks, which you will meet now only in films.

Don life

Much is known about the life of this segment of the population. And everyone is familiar with Sholokhov's epic "Quiet Don", which describes the life of these people. The historian, and even the layman, are interested in traditions and customs. All the little things make up the picture of the life of the Cossacks, about whom we watch films and read books. The Don Cossacks sacredly believed in the forces of nature, and therefore often performed various rituals and conspiracies. Of course, this was mostly done by women. Fortune-telling predetermined fate, and therefore it was useless to resist the decision of the boot, ribbon, hum, bark, ram. The house of the Cossacks combined everything necessary for life and was guarded, according to legend, by a special force contained in the image of a brownie. The respect of parents for the Cossacks is sacred. They also honored their military duty. It is no coincidence that the Cossack today is a praise, a comparison with a real man, a warrior.

Uniform of the Don Cossacks

Things for the Cossacks are not just pieces of matter, tailored in a special way. This is an expression of their independence and originality. You can learn about how the Cossacks looked from folklore - songs have always accurately reflected life. So, what did the clothes of the Cossacks look like? Before finding their own style, the Cossacks were full of trophy harem pants, jackets, shirts, hats, and accessories. But then the features of life more and more began to be reflected in the costume.

Everyone knows the name of the clothes of the Cossacks, or rather, its most colorful element. These are bloomers. They were made from different types of fabric for different ranks and seasons. Blue pants were worn on weekdays. For going to church or on a holiday, only scarlet ones were intended. In general, the color differed depending on age.

They were extremely convenient for participating in hostilities and generally riding a horse. The Cossack was girded with a thin gaschnik - an inconspicuous strap, which, among other things, also supported the wallet. If the pants were considered both wearable and upper, then the situation was different with the shirt. It was made of light canvas. On the collar at the neck, it was decorated with embroidery. A red ribbon girded the hem. A woolen belt was tied at the waist. The shirt was not tucked in. There were also undershirts, which, however, were also decorated with embroidery. The clothes of the Don Cossacks would have lost themselves without the beshmet. Now this element of clothing would be called a jacket, caftan, tunic ... He was put on a shirt and worn both at home and in public. It was distinguished by a variety of shapes (long and short floors) and colors: blue, green, gray, white, black, brown, yellow ... Like any other element of clothing, the beshmet was girdled. Jewelry hung on the belt, weapons clung. The children wore shirts and trousers. When the boy grew up and went to learn a trade or martial arts, then his clothes more and more resembled bloomers, a shirt and a beshmet of brothers, father.

What did the Cossacks wear? Cossack and Cossack clothes

The wife took care of the house. The clothes of the Cossacks were more diverse than the things worn by their husbands and sons. The main thing was a dress - a kubelek. Both the poor and the rich could afford it, however, the dresses differed in fabric. Shirts were worn underneath, peeking out in front and from under puffy sleeves.

It was also possible to wear a wide skirt - warm or light - with a jacket or shirt under the throat. However, only older daughters who had reached the age of fifteen could afford such attire. The girls, on the other hand, wore linen long shirts and sundresses. The clothes of the Cossack men were more severe, the clothes of the Cossacks were full of all kinds of embroideries, stones, fur and lace inserts. For example, a female beshmet almost did not differ from a male one, the only thing was that it was more feminine, more elegant, brighter. The main task of the Cossacks was housework, maintenance of the household, raising children in good conscience. The wife also had to be submissive to her husband in everything, and he, in turn, brought her gifts from distant countries, therefore, features of an oriental costume can be traced in early outfits.

Marks of Excellence

The Cossacks wore stripes. This element of bloomers was regarded as an awareness of their belonging to the free kingdom. Cossacks, as you know, freedom-loving, proud, independent people. And it showed up even in clothes. So the stripes were a source of pride, which, however, they tried to ban and even shot for wearing this insignia. Nevertheless, the Cossacks stood their ground and did not give up.

Life in the Kuban

If the Don Cossacks seemed harsh to us, then the opposite is true with the Kuban ones. Everyone knows the Cossacks gravitated mainly to agriculture. They were dear to the hearth, their own home, family. The memory of various events was also honored, so photographs in traditional houses are not uncommon. In general, like all Cossacks, the Kuban Cossacks had a division of labor between a man and a woman, which was noticeable in a large family. From childhood, boys were taught to love and defend their native land, and girls were taught to take care of the house. The Cossacks revered the day when all work was forbidden - Sunday. Then acquaintances and friends could meet in church and at gatherings, discuss the situation in the country, solve problems, and young people had fun dancing, singing, playing, looking at each other.

Good Cossack!

The clothes of the Kuban Cossacks are similar to those of the Don Cossacks. However, she more adopted features from the Caucasian outfits, with the carriers of which the Cossacks lived in the neighborhood and most of the time - in the world. Traditional outerwear Circassian was considered - like a beshmet. In front, it was fastened with hooks, decorated with silver as richly as possible. The shirt formed the basis of underwear, could be worn out and refueled. Boots are striking in variety. Traditional clothing turned out to be unsuitable on the field of fierce battle, so the Cossacks were given an ordinary military uniform. At parades, they were allowed to wear folk costumes.

Hearth Keeper

Kuban Cossacks wore embroidered shirts with a round neckline and obligatory embroidery. The skirts were layered. They were also complemented by an apron. Lacquer boots were the dream of any Cossack. After marriage, women always wore a headdress, the appearance in public without which was considered a shame.

Suit today

The clothes of the Cossacks, as, indeed, any other National clothes, has been assimilated. European currents penetrated it. Now few people walk around in Cossack clothes - except at festivals. But the clothes of the Don and Kuban Cossacks remain interesting and do not lose their charm, originality, and the spirit of independence. Cossacks still exist today. They still honor traditions and wear traditional uniforms on holidays.