This is Valerii Kolesnikov, a serving Russian Orthodox priest, who was forced to reconcile his vows of peace with his passion for ancient swordplay techniques and defensive martial arts. Valerii has an unusual life outside of his holy duties at the cathedral in Gubkinsky, in the heart of Russia's Far North. He devotes much of his time to practicing the Japanese self-defense art of aikido as well as fine-tuning his skills with the saber in the ways of the old Russian Cossacks.
A young group of students meets with Valerii in a local school gym every week to learn his techniques.
Kolesnikov, who stayed fit and played sports as a child, said that studying martial arts gave him good physical form and self-confidence. However, after he took his holy vows, he realised that the aggression of boxing or hand-to-hand combat went against his Orthodox values. That's why he took up aikido, which is based on self-defence and suppressing your opponent’s aggression, as well as Cossack sword dancing, which does teach excellent saber handling skills.
Valerii doesn't stop tending to his flock outside the church, many of his aikido and Cossack sword dancing pupils regularly attend religious services lead by the warrior priest himself.
It's not always easy to find a compromise between your passions and your principles, but Valerii took it a step further. His religious beliefs only complement his love for martial arts and Russian swordplay.
