Modern society is increasingly immersed in the world of vicious and criminal pleasures that arise from widespread boredom, disorganization and the absence of clear guidelines. Not only are economic and political foundations blurred, but the most important moral and personal principles are losing their clarity. And Ukraine, alas, is no exception.
It is already quite difficult to imagine how a ten-year-old child will travel across the entire city on his own, and a young girl will return home on her own in the dark.
Moral degradation is fueled by crisis processes in the economy. The lower the purchasing power, the cheaper human life and safety are in monetary terms.
That is why the ability to protect yourself and teach your children to fight back against an aggressor takes on a completely different meaning. Especially in conditions of military conflict and fear for the preservation of peace. Often, the main military actions take place in the rear, and not in the “news” hotbeds of battle. Evidence of this is the growth of crime and social aggression. Rapid technological development provides the warring parties with the latest means to destroy their own kind. But we often forget that war is, first of all, philosophy and strategy. Therefore, combat systems based on philosophy, psychology and the culture of battle come to the fore, pushing gadgets aside. We are talking about hand-to-hand combat.
The art of martial arts has an ancient and original culture that can not only teach how to defend and attack, but also develop the backbone of social values, civic consciousness, maturity and ethics. Fighting qualities are a harsh necessity in everyday life, where there is always a chance to defend yourself from a criminal attack or fight during wartime.
In addition, the aimless existence of modern youth without aspirations and life foundations is no less dangerous for society. It is the emptiness and isolation from the idea, goal and dream that pushes young people to rash and sometimes criminal acts.
Only such professional sport with a deep psychological and social philosophy as martial arts can come to the rescue. It is not without reason that hundreds of types of martial arts can be found all over the world, each of which puts its own priority of personal development at the forefront.
Each style brings a powerful development of self-awareness and a sense of the enemy, educates the will, trains intuition. Proper training can reveal a range of incredible human resources, from physical to energetic.
That is why an interesting sports tournament “Memory” was born in the capital, which not only managed to reunite ATO veterans and internationalist soldiers under its leadership, but also involved active youth in the process of physical and moral recovery of the nation.
This is a bright talented brainchild, which is called upon to emphasize once again that every life in the struggle for freedom and peace in Ukraine was not given in vain.
Now, more than ever, it is important to awaken patriotism in the conditions of devaluation of statehood, to emphasize the importance of always being ready to defend your homeland.

In order to better reveal the key features, we talked to Nikolai Zentsev, the President of the All-Ukrainian Association “Combat Self-Defense ICO”, retired Major General
N.Z.: Combat self-defense IСО (International Combat Organisation) is a professional organisation that has managed to take a worthy place in the global sports community and lives by its own rules. In Ukraine, under the leadership of Combat self-defense IСО, fifteen martial arts of varying degrees of contact and different weights are collected. Such diversity is essential, because it gives a real chance to meet in battle with masters of different styles and directions, moreover, this is a real step towards uniting the highly specialised and sporting interests of various Ukrainian security agencies and services. Many educational institutions recognize the primacy of kickboxing, hand-to-hand combat and judo as a way to form a harmoniously developed personality, to educate strong and integral youth, capable of easily and stress-resistant adaptation in society.
The rules of Combat ISO provide an opportunity to educate not only a professional fighter, but also to form professional teams to perform combat missions.
Such styles as combat sambo, karate, wushu are able to develop a strong-willed character and self-confidence, as well as to form resistance to stress, problems and force majeure.

K.: What is the composition of the tournament participants?

N.Z.: The uniqueness of these competitions is that an athlete and an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a military man and an escort can meet in the ring and tatami. After all, life does not contain templates, and an emergency situation always conceals such surprises and differences in the preparation of opponents.

K.: Are only martial arts represented in the tournaments, or can applied types of combat also be seen?

N.Z.: No real fight can be held without auxiliary devices. Of course, we could not ignore knife fighting, defensive strategies against attack, escorting and others.

The key point is not the ability to fight, but the cultivation of professionalism and patriotism on guard of state security.

K.: What styles will we be able to see during tournament fights?

N.Z.: Our Association represents brilliant kickboxers, Thai boxers, including representatives of the fair, but not the weaker sex, world champions and masters of sports.
All fights will be supervised by honored respected coaches, and refereeing will be carried out by judges of the national category.

K.: When is the best time to start practicing martial arts?

N.Z.: Sports education can begin as early as 4 years old, because martial arts not only form excellent physical fitness, but also a holistic, harmonious education.
Our tournament pays special attention to the younger generation, because the future of the country and the quality of its security protection depend on it.
In my opinion, involving children in sports activities develops health, optimism in them and leaves no time for the ills of the modern world.

K.: Why was the idea of combining different styles born?

N.Z.: Alexander Slipchenko (head coach of the Combat Self-Defense Association ISO, author’s note) and I discussed the idea of comprehensive training of fighters and athletes a long time ago. Each process goes through its important and integral stages: introduction, theory, practice. But, as I said earlier, each type of martial art forms its own special skills. By combining various techniques and skills, we get a mobile and versatile athlete, a law enforcement officer, and simply a citizen who is able to stand up for himself. The experience of Alexander Slipchenko is invaluable, since he has been training athletes and law enforcement officers for 40 years, and has been able to raise many champions and masters in judo, Thai boxing, karate, and hand-to-hand combat. It is important to understand that our new sports symbiosis makes it possible not only to physically influence the offender, it forms psychological health and resilience, nurtures the spirit, and sets goals for the younger generation. This is the only way we can protect our country and create a healthy, purposeful, and harmonious society.