Systems
Within
Systems
Sifu Lawrence Hill
Instructor Vikram Sarath
Sifu Lawrence Hill has been in the Martial Arts for over 40 years training in a number of different disciplines including: Wing Chun, Hung Gar, Praying Mantis and Yang Style Tai Chi. He has taught members of the Military and Police in seminars and through the school and was involved in a number of real life combat situations. Through these experiences he developed
the philosophy behind the Systems Within Systems school and his personal combat philosophy “The Unsheathed Sword”. Sifu Hill believes the training is a Way and that a true Sifu practices and teaches to bring out self understanding in all areas of life.
“The training is a Way; each person has to make discoveries about the self along their own path. As a guide, I cannot walk the path for anyone but show them how to lead themselves. By understanding the self one can see those aspects in other people and help them change. Leadership is bringing out the potential in those around you not imposing a will upon them.”
- Sifu Lawrence Hill
Vikram Sarath has been involved in the arts since childhood, beginning practice in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu at age 12 with Prof. Barbara Gessner. He began training with Sifu Hill at Rutgers University in the Spring of 2010, and has been training continually since then.
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In addition to being an instructor in Systems Within Systems, he holds the rank of Nidan (2nd degree black belt) in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu through the Pacific Jujitsu Alliance, and a brown belt in Kokikai Aikido through the Kokikai Aikido Federation. Other systems he has studied at a more basic level include Kodokan Judo, Muay Thai, Ving Tsun, Brazilian/Gracie Jiujitsu, various forms of armed and unarmed combatives, and self-defense with an emphasis on force law. He is also an ACE certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Exercise Physiologist through the ACSM.
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Ultimately, he sees the training as an amalgamation of high technical sophistication with a deep understanding of self-expression that remains valid only if it can be (and is) used in all venues of life