Martial Arts · Ethan Minor

Bando & Systema

Two roots, one practice

Ethan came up in Bando from childhood and found Systema as an adult — the two now move as one in how he trains and teaches.

Bando is the foundation: an 8th-degree lifetime member of the American Bando Association, a second-generation practitioner who began training as a child under Great Grand Master U Maung Gyi, the Association's founder, with 100+ full-contact competition bouts behind him. Systema opened a different door, a more internal, adaptive way of moving in the lineage of Vladimir Vasiliev and Martin Wheeler, which he has taught since roughly 2012. Both come back to the same idea Ethan trains everything on: kindness and de-escalation do more than force.

Know thyselfDe-escalate firstLess violence, more control

How to train

Ways in

Private instruction. One-on-one, from a single hour to multi-day intensives.
Security-team training. Less-violent control, harm reduction, and real-world readiness for crews, including High Rock Security, The Guardians, and Black Rock City Rangers.
Camps. Twice a year, on the land, with visiting masters, including Martin Wheeler and the late Sergey Makarenko.

Camps & intensives

Dates move with the seasons. Join the list and we'll let you know the moment the next one is set.

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Lineage

Real teachers

Ethan thinks of himself as a conduit. What his teachers gave him, he passes on. The lineages are real and still living, not something invented.

American Bando Association. The Bando lineage.
Wheeler Systema. Martin Wheeler, Ethan's direct teacher.
Systema HQ. Vladimir Vasiliev and the wider Russian Martial Art tradition.
10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo, early 2000s.

See the lineages

In their words

“Working with Ethan consistently has allowed me to move in ways I had thought were impossible 30 years ago. This is more than just push-ups. Linking motion to breathing, and being conscious of muscle tension — but more importantly relaxation — has unlocked new ways of moving myself through the world.”

— Adam H.