You may not have known that they still exist, but you've certainly seen them in photographs: they wear long, old-fashioned mustaches, traditional embroidered blouses, or "vyshyvanka," and the characteristic "oseledets," or braid atop an otherwise shaven head. No, they aren't actors but modern-day Cossack fighters. Now, instead of shooting from horseback and waving sabers, they battle with their hands and feet, the way they believe their ancestors used to. The Hopak, well known as a Ukrainian folk dance, is making a comeback as a type of martial art.
The variety of schools dedicated to this revived fighting traditions is matched by the number of historical interpretations, philosophies and demands on their members, but all share a common belief: that Ukraine has authentic native hand-to-hand combat. Vadim Vasilchenko is a trainer at one such school, called Spas, which he says preserves "a heritage that has been passed down to us from our 17th century ancestors in oral form."
Today, Hopak-based martial arts are practiced more as a sport, but war songs, festivities and history often accompany the physical training. The chief goal, according to Vasilchenko, is "to bring up a generation of strong, brave and patriotic Ukrainians." Throughout it all runs the Cossack principle of independence through military discipline. "Due to its difficult geographical position in between two worlds ( East and West ), Ukraine has had to cope with several enemies at the same time and this forced people to create a genuine fighting art which could enable them to keep both Tatar bands and Polish regular army units at bay. The times have changed, but the need to protect oneself and your family remains," says Vasilchenko.
As for the various techniques, they are versatile and allow a lot of improvisation on the part of the fighter himself. One of the more common holds in Vasilchenko's club is called the Cross Bar, which imitates a fencing technique. There is also a complex system of defensive moves, which he classifies as twists, turns and pushes. "To cut a long story short, all moves express equality and freedom, both of which are reflected in the shape of a circle ... We even have special exercises, during which one has to fight against several opponents surrounding him. Don't you think this is relevant today?" asks Vasilchenko.
Not everyone agrees. Some Ukrainian historians and ethnographers, in particular, doubt the authenticity of these martial arts. "I am in no way against such organizations, but as a scholar, I am skeptical about their interpretation of Cossacks tradition, as this tradition was interrupted for more than 300 years and its revival today seems as mythical as the image of the Ukrainian Cossack itself," says professor of Ukrainian Cultural Studies at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Yulia Nikishenko.
"Of course nobody rejects the oral tradition, but the Russian empire did its best to destroy any reminiscences or even hints of the Cossack's well-known order," Nikishenko adds. Other scientists are more supportive of the claim. One of them is Yury Rudenko, who works at the department of Cossack studies at Kyiv's Dragomanov University. "We can't say the tradition was interrupted. It was prohibited and oppressed. The Cossacks' organization was destroyed, but the spirit has never died, and attempts to revive it were made as early as the 19th Century. "
 "Today," he continues, "the image of a Cossack has at last been cleansed of all the negative stereotypes that were imposed during Soviet times. Our youth is now ready to absorb the knowledge of our glorious heroes."
Mykola Velichkovich, a trainer at a different school in Lviv, who has helped to establish the theoretical, scholarly and methodological base of traditional Ukrainian combat skills, agrees. "Many say Ukraine never had any fighting schools ... This is absolute nonsense! These people simply don't have a deep grasp in this area, as there are documents and materials that tell us about the existence of such schools even during the epoch of Kievan Rus." Monastery chronicles from the 14th and 15th centuries mention "Devil Revelers," which is a reference to street fights, he argues. Writers like Taras Shevchenko and others make similar references in literary works, according to Velichkovich.
Whatever it's history, Ukraine now has what it calls its very own martial art. Competitions have been held in Kyiv (December 2003) and Germany (February 2004). The most recent one was scheduled for February 26-27 in Zhytomyr.
"Some problems remain," says Velichkovich, for example, "advertisement is poor." Nevertheless, students from as far away as Japan have come to Ukraine to learn the local techniques, and an exchange seminar was once conducted with French martial artists. "In Ukraine, we are now busy preparing professional trainers, as the demand is great." For example, classes are conduced at the Academy of Ukraine's Interior Ministry, he adds.
Ukrainian fight clubs now operate in Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, Kamjanets-Podilsky and Kirovograd, says Mykhaylo Petechuk, who runs an organization called Hopak (which Velichkovich also belongs to). "We let the theorists and scholars fight in their rings, while we spend our time training. The main thing for us is the spirit of unity, freedom and a deep love for our native country," he says.
The idea of practicing the Hopak as a martial art was started (or revived) by Volodymyr Pylat in the 1980s. But others have diverged quite a bit from his techniques, says Petechuk. "Pylat's idea is absolutely genuine, as he professionally analyzed both the fighting and dancing tradition and made his endeavor to restore the whole complex. But he also imposed a philosophy of Ukrainian paganism and a belief in the divine origin of the Ukrainian people. We are not prone to share this pompous legend, but we do continue the tradition itself."
Pylat, himself from Lviv, traces his ancestry to medieval Ukrainian knights, who in the 16th century had their own coat of arms and supposedly studied karate and other eastern fighting techniques. Together with Myroslav Shukh, a specialist in Ukrainian folk dance, he created the Experimental School for the Study and Research of Ukrainian Fighting Culture in 1985. He has also written several books on the subject and now heads the International Federation of Fighting Hopack, created in 2001.
So how does the modern Ukrainian fighter train? At first glance the sessions "look like grand dances ... one of the main ideas is the smoothness of all movements and gestures, which is one more reason why it may not seem warlike. On the other hand, you can't learn to fight without fighting ... So, it is both hard training and art, battle and dancing," says Mykhaylo.
Maybe this element of eloquence is why women comprise up to 30% of both clubs' membership. Valeria Konstantidi is one such female Cossack. She's been at it for a year and a half. "I had been thinking about attending something like this for a long time," she said, "but I soon understood that eastern arts were not for me ... I could not except either the method of teaching or the philosophy, which for Ukrainians will always remain foreign." For Valeria it's not just about physical training, but "cultural and spiritual categories, which help you to find yourself in this giant world," she explains.
Unlike the men though, Hopak fighter girls don't get to wear the traditional Cossack baggy pants, or Sharovary. On the other hand, they get more of their share of exposure. According to Valery, some of the Hopak moves are even demonstrated by pop stars like last year's Eurovision winner, Ruslana, in her performance of Wild Dances.
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