Pravilo is a specialized exercise apparatus primarily used in Russian martial arts. This device consists of suspension ropes, springs, and a frame, which enable comprehensive body training aimed at developing strength, flexibility, endurance, and coordination. The following analysis explores the history, applications, benefits, and anatomical, physiological, and biomechanical aspects of Pravilo. 1. History Pravilo originates from traditional Russian martial arts, which have evolved over centuries. Initially, Pravilo was integrated into military training regimens to enhance soldiers’ physical resilience and overall fitness. Throughout the 20th century, Pravilo underwent modifications as sports science and training methodologies advanced. The design of Pravilo was inspired by ancient Slavic tools used for body conditioning, combining elements of gymnastics, acrobatics, and combat techniques . Over time, Pravilo found its way into broader circles, reaching fitness centers, sports academies, and specialized training programs. This evolution was driven by the need for a multifunctional tool that could support various physical exercises, from muscle strengthening to improving balance and coordination. 2. Applications Pravilo is a versatile tool with various uses in physical and combat training. Its main applications include: Strength Training Pravilo facilitates muscle strengthening through resistance stretching and stabilization exercises. The ropes and springs provide constant tension, stimulating muscle fibers to grow and increase strength. Flexibility and Mobility Pravilo’s dynamic stretching system enhances muscle and joint flexibility. Regular use improves overall body mobility and elasticity, helping to prevent injuries and boost performance. Coordination and Balance The suspension ropes create an unstable environment, encouraging the development of balance and proprioception (awareness of body position). This improves coordination among various muscle groups during movement. Cardiovascular Endurance High-intensity exercises on Pravilo can significantly elevate heart rate, improving cardiovascular endurance. The blend of strength and aerobic activities contributes to overall heart health. Combat Preparedness Pravilo simulates combat situations by applying varying degrees of resistance, preparing the body for real-world scenarios. Quick and dynamic movements on Pravilo are essential for effective self-defence techniques. Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention Pravilo is also used in rehabilitation programs, restoring strength and flexibility after injury. Controlled exercises allow for gradual recovery without putting undue stress on the joints. 3. Benefits of Using Pravilo Pravilo offers numerous physical and mental benefits: Increased Muscle Strength Consistent training on Pravilo leads to hypertrophy (muscle growth) and increased strength through resistance. It strengthens large muscle groups as well as smaller stabilizing muscles, making it an effective tool for overall body conditioning. Improved Flexibility Stretching on Pravilo improves flexibility and increases the range of motion. This promotes muscle elasticity, helping to prevent injuries and enhance movement efficiency. Enhanced Coordination The need for balance during Pravilo exercises engages multiple muscle groups, improving motor control and overall coordination. Cardiovascular Health Regular, intense exercise on Pravilo supports cardiovascular health by boosting heart rate, improving circulation, and lowering blood pressure. Mental Resilience Pravilo training combines physical exertion with breath control, enhancing mental focus and resilience to stress. These elements promote mental clarity and emotional balance. Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention Pravilo supports injury recovery by gently strengthening muscles and tendons. It helps reduce the likelihood of future injuries by promoting flexibility and stabilizing vulnerable areas. Posture Improvement Using Pravilo improves core strength, promoting better posture and body alignment. 4. Anatomical Considerations The use of Pravilo engages several anatomical systems: Muscular System Pravilo activates major muscle groups in both the upper and lower body, including the shoulders (deltoids), back (latissimus dorsi, trapezius), arms (biceps, triceps), core (abdominals, obliques), and legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves). This ensures a comprehensive approach to muscular development. Skeletal System Mechanical stress from Pravilo exercises strengthens bones by promoting osteoblast activity. This can improve bone density, potentially reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Connective Tissue Regular Pravilo use enhances the elasticity and strength of tendons and ligaments, supporting joint stability and flexibility. This reduces the risk of injuries caused by sudden or excessive movements. Joint Mobility Pravilo encourages increased joint mobility by promoting the production of synovial fluid in the joints, improving their health and flexibility. Core Stability Exercises on Pravilo significantly engage core muscles, which are essential for body stability, posture, and injury prevention. 5. Physiological Aspects Training with Pravilo has several physiological benefits: Metabolism Increased muscle activity boosts metabolism and aids in body weight regulation. Intense exercises also burn calories, both during and after training. Endocrine System Physical activity on Pravilo stimulates the release of growth hormones and endorphins. These hormones aid muscle regeneration and improve overall well-being. Respiratory System Pravilo exercises require controlled breathing, which enhances lung capacity and the efficiency of gas exchange. This improves oxygen delivery throughout the body, enhancing endurance and stamina. Cardiovascular Adaptation Regular Pravilo training increases cardiac output, improving the heart’s ability to pump blood more efficiently. This supports healthier blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Nervous System Training with Pravilo stimulates the central nervous system, improving the speed of neural communication and muscle contraction. This leads to quicker reflexes and better motor control. Immune System Regular physical activity can boost immune system function, enhancing the body’s defense against infections and diseases. 6. Biomechanical Aspects Pravilo utilizes biomechanical principles to optimize training efficiency: Resistance Principle Pravilo’s suspension ropes and springs provide adjustable resistance, allowing for progressive muscle overload. This allows individuals to increase intensity gradually, improving strength over time. Elastic Energy The springs store and release elastic energy, enhancing the dynamic force of movements. This boosts muscle power and explosiveness, making Pravilo highly effective for strength development. Kinetics and Kinematics Pravilo exercises involve movements in multiple planes and axes, fostering complex motor coordination and overall balance. Stabilization and Balance The unstable platform forces the activation of stabilizing muscles, improving balance and core strength. Biomechanical Angles Proper alignment of joint angles during Pravilo exercises maximizes efficiency and minimizes injury risks. Correct positioning ensures optimal force transmission while reducing joint stress. Movement Mechanics Pravilo integrates both isometric and dynamic exercises, ensuring comprehensive loading of muscles and joints. Isometric exercises build strength without changing muscle length, while dynamic movements enhance endurance and power. Proprioception Pravilo promotes proprioception by requiring continuous
Massage therapy is usually applied on relaxed bodies. However, massage under tension (expanding or stretching) has a new quality! When massaged under tension, we manually help expand and stretch the tissue, especially the fasciae. Surprisingly, it also effectively relaxes the fibres of muscles and tendons. Massaging under tension is very intense. When you taste the efficiency of synergised expanding (or stretching) and massage, it’s hard to resist and do not combine it! The Pravilo device gives the body a wide range of unique expanding and stretching positions. So, a therapist can pay full attention to massage therapy under tension.
Between Sky and Earth by Tibi Moravcik Flow Our posture can be created as stiff and solid as a tree. It is not a good idea to be rigid like wood. It’s much healthier to have a fluid quality in the body and mind, to be relaxed, soft – and flow like water and flicker like fire. Read more about liquid power… Liquid Power Uplift However, we stay. We do not passively hang on the skeleton like jellyfish or melting ice cream! We understand how the gravitational force pulls our physical bodies down, but which force pulls us up??? It’s Vital energy. Spirit. Light. In Vedic culture, it is called Puruṣha. This Inner Fire is known as Yang energy, Chi (Qi) or Ki, Kundalini… In Slavic culture, it is called Zhiva*. We understand fire, and we can easily visualise the quality of fire; therefore, we will call this quality Inner Fire. This Inner Fire gives life to every animal; it pulls all plants up to the sky. Inner Fire pulls us up, similar to how fire lifts a hot air balloon… So, we acted upon two main forces: Gravity pulls us down, and Inner Fire pulls us up. The Fire is lifting us, and we wave with our bodies as the wind waves a flag… A relaxed, flowing body posture directly affects your emotions. You will believe in yourself- your feelings; you will see your life more positively, etc. We don’t need to exert special effort; we just relax and let the Inner Fire create our postures. We can feel how the Inner Fire lifts our bodies if we are sensitive. A better position increases Inner Fire, pulling you up more… Letting the Inner Fire lift you up creates a virtuous circle. We desire to flow up the same way that fish swim… We don’t just swim horizontally, but vertically up to the sky… Let it flow Inner Fire flows better through a relaxed, straight body. We tend to passively hang down on the skeleton; we do not use the Inner Fire to lift us! A collapsed position causes deformation of our posture and is often a cause of a backache. In a collapsed position, the flow of the Inner Fire is restricted – we have less vital energy – Inner Fire, we trust ourselves less, we are ‘down’. In hanging position, via a screwed body, we are like a fireplace with a blocked chimney. A good chimney creates a draft to pull the fire upwards. Therefore, we must keep a nice, straight, relaxed position. The Inner Fire flows nicely and easily via the nice straight body. Also, undesirable tension restricts not just our movements; it restricts the flow of Inner Fire. Tension makes our ‘chimney’ narrower. Read more about Inner Fire… Inner Fire Balance The Inner Fire helps you automatically flow to your optimum balance without active movement. Read more about Active and Passive Movement… Active and Passive Movements Expand like fire You can expand like fire. Expand is the opposite force to condense force which creates stress. Inner Fire expanding us to the sky improves our tensegrity and lowers the pressure on our discs and joints. Read more about Tensgity… Tensegrity Read more about Expand & Condense… Expand & Condense Where does the concept of Inner Fire come from? I learned the concept of vital Inner Fire from the Cossack masters. Old Slavic culture and philosophy are preserved in the Cossack tradition. Traditional Slavic culture (before the spread of Christianity) comes from Vedic culture. The aspect in Slavic culture is called ‘Zhiva’* and is called ‘Purusha’ in Sanskrit; in English, we would call it Inner Fire or Light, Spirit. In Vedic culture, life is created by Purusha and Prakrti. Purusha is the energy of Inner Fire, Light or Spirit which lifts matter (Prakṛti). This is how Fire and Matter together create Life… The Path of the Cossack is the path of the Light… Cossacks let the Inner Fire uplift them and make them lighter. Therefore, Cossacks have a different quality of body; subsequently, Cossacks flow and move so lightly… We are lucky that today, the Cossack culture is open to us, and we can follow Cossacks on the path of Light and be pulled by Zhiva to the sky… In martial arts, dance, etc., we can see which works with Inner Fire and which works on a solid mechanical basis… *ZHIVA (Živa/Жива), DIVA, SIVA – zhee-vah | dee-vah | see-vah) from Slavic “zhiv” = alive; “zhivot” = life. Goddess of life, birth, spring, fertility and love. She embodies the universal vital powers and brings live-giving forces. Read more about Veda… Where Veda comes from? Read more about related aspects… Flow of balance The Flow of Balance in a Fight Accept or Resist Focused & Expanded Awareness Aspects of movement Try online classes… Do it
Energies flow freely if our bodies are open – expanded, and relaxed. On the other hand, condensing power creates tension, stagnates and restricts flows. These qualities affect practically all the flows: waves of kinetic energy, the flow of vital energy, the flow of breathing, blood, lymph, etc. The same is valid for flow as a mental state of mind. Therefore, being aware of expanding and condensing powers is beneficial if you want to be fluid. If you are relaxed enough, you can flow like water. Nay, you can flow like a flame! The fire quality can help us hold our body mass and strengthen tensegrity. It uplifts us and makes our movements even lighter, smoother and more efficient. Life with flow is easier, happier and healthier. The quality of fire can also automatically bring us to a balanced position. We can have a fluid body without expanding and ‘fire quality’; however, a body like this is much heavier. The expanded, relaxed body could be very soft and adaptable. The wave of kinetic energy and another flow streams freely via that body. We much more easily harmonise and synchronise with our surroundings. Kinetic energy could work for you or against you. If you accept kinetic energy, it can power your movement – you can surf on the wave of kinetic energy. If we can’t work with kinetic energy, we tend to absorb it with muscle power and move just by muscles. Many of us believe that strength is pressure (tension). However, real power comes from softness. When you are relaxed, expanded, and soft, you are more sensitive and can quickly change the direction of your movement. In the same way, as pressure makes diamonds, it crystallises tissue. Every tension is written into our tissue in the form of crystallisation. That process is one of the most characteristic parts of getting old. Crystallisation restricts our movements and often causes pain. Therefore, it’s crucial to avoid undesirable tension and stress-condensing power. And actively decrystallize our tissue. The best ways to decrystallize are expanding, waving movements and massage. The quality of your body is a reflection of the quality of your mind. To have a fluid body, you need a fluid mind! The fluid mind doesn’t have expectations; it can be in the present. If you let your body and intuition react instead of rational mind, your movement will be much quicker. Actually, you would flow instead of reacting. Read More…
There are two ways to build a strong body construction… The first one is building up by shrinking and tensing up. This construction is rigid. It could be firm like stone, but it also can be brittle, like a mud house. The second one is building up by expanding. Then, our bodies are supple, elastic and light like a bouncing castle. It is valid not just for the body but also for the mind. “Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus, whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.” Lao Tzu
Vision is the closest physical aspect linked to our mind. It follows that vision is a helpful tool to switch between focused and expanded awareness. A focused vision leads to focused awareness. Peripheral vision leads to expanded awareness. With focused (tunnel) vision, you can see sharp details of a small point. Your view is narrower. Your attention flows to the point. With (expanded) peripheral vision, everything is slightly blurred, but your view is much wider. Your attention expands – you can work with more perceptions/impulses. Focused vision is good when you need to focus on one thing (e.g. one arm, one ball or one body). The problem arises when you try, with a focused vision, to keep track of more than one object, e.g. 3 limbs, 8 balls or a crowd of people. Peripheral vision is much more suitable for multitasking. You have much better spatial awareness in the expanded vision mode.
In essence, two mechanical systems can maintain weight: 1. compression – bracing – bracing maintains your posture primarily via the bones, joints and discs. 2. tension – hanging – hanging maintains your posture via our fasciae, tendons and muscles – tensegrity. Tensegrity helps to hold your body weight. In addition, functional tensegrity decompresses your discs, vertebrae & joints. Thus, movements are easier and smoother by decreasing the chance of injuries. In addition, it makes you feel lighter. With strong tensegrity, you can flow much smoother! Tensegrity makes our structures stronger and more elastic, similar to ropes, which strengthen the structure of tents. How do you build up stronger Tensegrity? Expand from the ground to the sky with muscles. That would demand a lot of muscle power (vital energy) and create undesirable tension. Expand from the ground to the sky by conscious expanding (especially fasciae), which is much more efficient. Using the uplifting power of Inner Fire (fire flows to the sky). It demands an expanded and relaxed body and mind to create space for Inner Fire. And be able to feel the flow of Inner Fire to harness it and let it uplift us.
From outside – suspending There are many ways to suspend. We can use a bar, branch, wall, ground, or bone structure. We have a whole program about how to suspend. From inside – muscle contraction We expand with the desire to touch as far as possible with some part of our bodies. In the beginning, we usually do it with muscles. From inside – without muscle contraction Expanding and condensing of tissue is not muscle contraction! These qualities can be reached and move us without muscle contraction. Or they can support muscle contraction to move more efficiently – with less tension, to be stronger or quicker. Expanding and condensing can be set up without movement as a predisposition or energetic circles. Expanded, condensed or statical tissue has different qualities and will react differently. In some Chi Kung systems, energy expands from Ming Men via jang tissue and condenses back via jin tissue to Dan Tien Dantian to make an energy circle. Expanding and condensing usually happen subconsciously as a reaction to our emotions. However, with a specific meditation, we can learn to control these qualities consciously, which is not easy but opens up a long list of benefits… From inside by Inner Fire Our expanding and condensing qualities have an eminent influence on our Inner Fire. Inner Fire has expansive quality. If we have a strong Inner Fire, we expand more easily. When we have a smaller Inner Fire, we tend to condense. On the other hand, when we expand, Inner Fire will have more space and will be stronger.
Sqeesed Spirit in shrank body and closed mind is weak. With expanding body and mind is the grooving power of Spirit. It helps to find the power to live according to heart. Vital energy flows much better into the relaxed and expanded body and mind. We are happier and more enthusiastic. So, as we see, the mental effect of Pravilo is no less significant than the effect on physical bodies.
Pravilo usually pulls our bodies symmetrically from every limb. The body naturally flows most efficiently into the space between the attachments. Pravilo balances the whole myofascial body (e.g. shortens/ loosens and weak/ strong tissue). (E.g. I had a hip injury, and all the tissue around my hips was shrinking. I couldn’t stay straight; it made my torso bend slightly, and my hip was rotated and tilted. I tried to stretch it traditionally, but it had little effect. When I started to use Pravilo to heal myself, I realised that I didn’t just have shortened tissue around my hip but across my entire legs, torso and arms! Using Pravilo balanced me so I could walk straight, in the correct movement pattern, and not damage my hips more! – Tibi) When you use Pravilo for the first time, Pravilo helps to diagnose your disbalance. It is essential to feel where it pulls you so that in the future, you know where or on which body part you need to work to balance yourself. Using Pravilo helps straighten the spine and correct movement patterns, which can be very helpful in healing many posture issues, such as scoliosis. Relaxing and expanding help to lower high blood pressure (hypertension).
