Cossack Spas
Козацький спасUkrainian combat system, officially the sport of Ukrainian rukopash Spas, developed in Zaporizhzhia since 1992 by Oleksandr Prytula, who claims Cossack origins.
Quick Facts
UkraineCharacter & Origin
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Cossack Spas
Cossack Spas is a Ukrainian combat system that the state register of recognised sports lists as the sport of Ukrainian rukopash Spas, in the section of national sports under number III.004. The sport is overseen by the All-Ukrainian Spas Federation, whose president is Oleksandr Prytula. The Kyiv regional sports department states that Spas was recognised only temporarily from July 2008 and was entered in the list of recognised sports only by ministry order No. 306 of 9 February 2010.
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The history of Spas is documented mainly by articles co-authored by Prytula himself. According to Prytula and Konokh (2022), the first article about Spas was written by Leonid Bezklubyi in 1989, claiming that the art had survived in Cossack families. The same article states that in 1992 Prytula became sotnyk of a Cossack martial arts sotnia, that the same year an experimental Spas group was formed in Zaporizhzhia, and that in 1996 a school of traditional Cossack martial art followed. According to Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (2007), Prytula bases the continuity on family memory. We have not found an independent peer-reviewed study that would critically verify the Cossack continuity of Spas. The register lists the Cossack duel (III.001) and rukopash hopak (III.002) separately, so Spas is officially a different sport. We have not found Spas in Ukraine's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage or on the UNESCO list.
History
The history of Spas is documented mainly by articles co-authored by Oleksandr Prytula himself. According to Prytula and Konokh (2022), the first article on Spas was written by Leonid Bezklubyi in 1989. In the early 1990s an initiative group led by Prytula then formed in Zaporizhzhia to look for bearers of the art, and from 1992 to 1996 expeditions went through the villages of Ukraine and Kuban. In 1992 a Cossack martial arts sotnia was founded with Prytula as sotnyk, together with an experimental Spas group whose students became the first trainers. The same article states that Prytula learned some elements from his grandfather Fedor Khudoliie, studied under Bezklubyi from 1994 to 1998 and under Anatolii Bondarenko from 1995 to 2003, whom he describes as a bearer of a family tradition. In 1996 the School of Traditional Cossack Martial Art Spas was founded, and in May 1998 the Zaporizhzhia City Council opened the Spas Cossack sports school for children and youth. According to Suspilne, the All-Ukrainian Spas Federation was registered on 7 June 2005.
How it differs
The State Register of Recognised Sports lists Cossack duel (III.001), rukopash hopak (III.002) and Ukrainian rukopash Spas (III.004) separately, so Spas is officially a different sport from the other two. Prytula and Konokh (2022) describe rukopash Spas, combat hopak, Ukrainian belt wrestling and navkhrest fighting as distinct national systems developing in parallel. They also distinguish their beginnings: according to them, combat hopak began in 1985 in Lviv with Volodymyr Pylat, and Spas only in the early 1990s in Zaporizhzhia with Prytula. The 2012 teaching syllabus includes hopak only as a folk dance among supplementary games and dances. Radio Svoboda (2007), citing the federation, names, besides Spas, other revived Cossack systems, namely combat hopak, svarha, tryhlav and khrest, and calls Spas the most widespread of them.
Technique
The 2012 syllabus for sports schools lists hoidok, povzunets and prysid among the movement techniques of Spas, and hip, shoulder and back throws and sweeps in grappling. Among hand strikes it lists nyrky, zatuly, priamyi stusan, bichnyi stusan, kriuk, molot, dzyha and vychlest, among kicks kopniak, skis, pidsik, tynok, mitla, poloz and loshak, and in addition the knee strike bryk. The Ukrainian Wikipedia designates hoidok as the basis of Spas technique, that is a quick approach to the opponent with evasion from the line of attack, and lists the strikes cherez, hup, vychlyst, vulyk, vkliak and nalyhach.
Training
The 2012 curriculum includes folk games and dances, including the hopak, demonstration performances and festival participation. Konokh and Prytula (2015) proposed 864 hours of specialised subjects for bachelor's students of physical education specialising in Ukrainian rukopash Spas, including Spas folk games with Cossack combat dances and songs, and riding training with survival basics. According to Prytula and Konokh (2022), the first university Spas section was founded in September 1994 at the International Institute of State and Municipal Administration in Zaporizhzhia. Teaching under Bondarenko, according to the same article, concerned not only holds but also Cossack songs, games, dances, Cossack tally notches, and prayers and incantations. The Ukrainian Wikipedia states that, because of the high injury rate of the techniques, Spas is taught mainly through games collectively called kozackyj hraj.
Ranks and progression
The 2012 curriculum for sports schools, compiled in Kyiv by Prytula, Ryzhov and Lukoianova, has the Molodyk grades I to VI, youth and adult sports classes, candidate master of sport and master of sport, and the examination for the title of Kozak. The Kyiv regional sports department states that in 2012 the official competition rules, the curriculum for youth sports schools and the classification requirements were approved. The ministry issued for Ukrainian rukopash Spas Appendix 105 of the qualification standards of the Unified Sports Classification of Ukraine with requirements for sports classes. The Kyiv MAUP issued in 2009 a syllabus for a course on traditional Cossack martial arts, authored by Prytula as head of the department of national martial arts.
Competition
According to Prytula and Konokh (2022), the first open city championship in Ukrainian rukopash Spas was held in Zaporizhzhia in November 1994 in honour of the birthday of Nestor Makhno, and it grew into the Nestor Makhno Cup of Ukraine. In August 1997, the first competitions in Cossack fist fighting lava na lavu took place on Khortytsia within the first All-Ukrainian festival of Cossack martial and traditional arts, and the first Ukrainian championship followed on 1 August 1998. The Kyiv Oblast sports department gives the first European championship as 2012 and the first world championship as 2013. The regulations of the Ukrainian championship held on 13 to 15 June 2025 in Kyiv list the divisions rukopash, borotba na pojasakh, borotba navkhrest and borotba kotyhoroshko. Adult men compete in the weight classes up to 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 and over 90 kg, women up to 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 and over 70 kg, and adults must hold at least the first sports class. The competition rules in force were approved by the ministry on 31 January 2022.
Today
The Kyiv regional sports department reprints the federation's claim that rukopash Spas is practised in 13 regions of Ukraine and 8 countries. Suspilne wrote in 2022, citing the federation, of a presence in 12 regions and of teaching belt wrestling, hortynh and soft-sabre fencing, while Radio Svoboda wrote in 2007 of 16 regions. The Kyiv organisation Bratstvo kozatskoho boiovoho zvychaiu Spas, distinct from the federation, has held the Haidamaka festival on Trukhaniv Island since October 2008, according to Tverdokhlib (2018). The Zaporizhzhia city portal states that in the Zaporizkyi Oak complex on Upper Khortytsia the Zaporizkyi Spas Theatre of Cossack Combat offers training and performances. We have not found spas in the national list of intangible cultural heritage of Ukraine as amended in June 2026, nor on the UNESCO list. Prytula and Konokh (2022) nevertheless claim that spas has all the prerequisites for inscription on the UNESCO list.
Did you know
Prytula and Konokh (2022) state that A. Skulskyi in his 1997 book distinguishes three kinds of spas, namely protective, therapeutic and martial. Zerkalo nedeli (2007) quotes Prytula, according to whom spas and hopak are not inventions but complete systems of training for the Ukrainian warrior. According to Cynarski (2023), Volodymyr Pylat, the founder of combat hopak, also studied spas under Bezklubyi. The Ukrainian Wikipedia gives several interpretations of the name, among them the words of Prytula's grandfather that spas is what saves you in life. It also says that Bezklubyi told seminar audiences about a swing of death meant to enable dodging pistol shots.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cossack Spas a recognised sport?
Yes, the state register lists it as Ukrainian rukopash Spas under number III.004. It was recognised only temporarily from July 2008 and was fully entered by ministry order No. 306 of 9 February 2010.
Who founded Cossack Spas?
Its sport form was founded by Oleksandr Prytula, who according to Prytula and Konokh (2022) led an initiative group in Zaporizhzhia and in 1992 became sotnyk of a Cossack sotnia. Leonid Bezklubyi and Anatolii Bondarenko are named as bearers of the family tradition.
Is Spas the same as the Cossack duel?
No, the state register lists the Cossack duel as a separate sport under number III.001 and Ukrainian rukopash Spas under number III.004. According to its own rules, the Cossack duel has the World Cossack Duel Federation.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.