Aleksei Kadochnikov
Алексей Алексеевич Кадочников
Russian close-combat instructor (1935–2019) from Krasnodar, after whom the Kadochnikov system is named, author of fourteen books and a patent for a self-defence method.
Quick Facts
RussiaBiography
Alexey Alekseevich Kadochnikov was a Russian close-combat instructor after whom the so-called Kadochnikov system is named. According to Russian Wikipedia, he was born on 20 July 1935 in Odessa and died on 13 April 2019 in Krasnodar.
In 1939 the family moved to Krasnodar. From 1955 to 1958 he served in the Soviet army, and in 1965 he graduated by correspondence from the Krasnodar Polytechnic Institute. We have not found a martial arts teacher in the sources, and in an interview from 2003 he said only that he had studied various martial arts in his youth.
From April 1983 he headed a laboratory at the Krasnodar military command and engineering school of the missile forces, and from May 1994 as a psychologist of a military unit. In 2000 his patent for a method of self-defence against attack was published, so the method is protected, not a style. According to Russian Wikipedia, his approach rests on anatomy, physics and psychology rather than memorised techniques. He published fourteen books.
Russian Wikipedia lists the Order of Honour among his decorations. His son Arkady Kadochnikov continues in the style of his father. Numerous undocumented claims about special forces service surround Kadochnikov, and Russian Wikipedia also cites criticism of his training. In 2003 he did not consider himself the creator of the style. We have not found a quote with a documented origin.
Early life
According to Russian Wikipedia, Alexey Alekseevich Kadochnikov was born on 20 July 1935 in Odessa. A regional article from 2003, however, gives his age as 69, which would fit the year 1934 better. In 1939 the family moved to Krasnodar, and during the war the children of soldiers were evacuated to Pugachev in the Saratov Oblast. In 2003 he himself related that he had been miraculously saved in childhood during a bombing and that he came from the Urals.
Training and teachers
From 1955 to 1958 he served in the armed forces of the USSR, and in 1965 he completed the Krasnodar Polytechnic Institute by correspondence. We have not found any martial arts teacher in the sources. In 2003 he himself said only that he had studied various martial arts in his youth and later trained students at the institute unofficially. Russian Wikipedia writes about the eastern roots of the system without giving a source.
Contribution and innovations
In April 1983 he became head of a laboratory at the Krasnodar Higher Military Command and Engineering School of the Missile Forces, and in May 1994 lead specialist psychologist of military unit 62986. His method was registered as patent RU 2159580, published on 27 November 2000, so what is protected is a method of self-defence, not a style. According to a report by 24smi.org, he published fourteen books, and the USSR Ministry of Defence made documentaries about his system. Russian Wikipedia states that the system rests on anatomy, physics and psychology instead of memorised techniques. He acted in the film Bolevoy priyom from 1992 and in the series Apostol from 2008.
Legends and documented facts
Russian Wikipedia states an origin from hereditary Ural Cossacks without a citation, and Kadochnikov himself does not mention Cossacks in the interview from 2003. A journalistic article from the same year links him with a GRU unit, but we have not found his service in special forces documented. The title of academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences is given only by this article. The publisher AST calls the style a national treasure of Russia, which is advertising copy. In 2003 Kadochnikov himself said that he does not consider himself the creator of the style. Russian Wikipedia cites an article from the magazine Ratny Trud from 2015, which criticises the weak preparation of instructors and the lack of contact with a resisting opponent.
Legacy
Russian Wikipedia lists the Order of Honour, a bronze medal of the VDNKh, the medal For Fruitful Work in the Development of Mass Sport in the Kuban, and thanks from the Supreme Commander Vladimir Putin. He died on 13 April 2019 in Krasnodar, his death was announced by his student Alexander Tseruta, and he was buried on 16 April at the Lenin Khutor cemetery. His son Arkady Kadochnikov continues in the style of his father and in 2008 published the book The Combat System of A. A. Kadochnikov with the publisher AST.