The main problem with systema (in the US at least) IMHO is that many of them have gone so far down the thoretical path into movement training and fitness that practical training against resistance, sparring, etc, has gone by the way side. Systema now caters to weekend warrioirs who like the "special forces" fantasy.
To bo honest, there are some very good systema practitioners out there - by good, I mean people who still train to fight and train hard (most of them that I know have had other training besides). But, unfortunately Vasiliev has gone commercial, mass marketed the crap out of the art, essentially sold instructor certificates, and turned systema into a non-martial art.
When I was training in Eastern Europe, I hooked up with a group of serbian systema guys and they were all active MMA fighters, trained very hard (soft work and hard work), and regularly sparred. They thought North American systema was a lost cause.
The fact that systema relies so heavily on it's "special forces" connections for marketing is a bad sign. Combat sambo came from there, my coach was a KGB defector and we did not need to use that to market the style - people train and they see it is applicable to reality. My coach always said that systema is the watered down verion of the movement principles behind combat sambo.
There is nothing wrong with doing systema...it has some solid movement principles, I have trained some myself, and it keeps one in shape but, if you are going to do systema, be honest about what it can offer you in a real world situation. The way it is often trained, it won't offer much.
