There is a expression in mixed martial arts, that is said with respect, and sometimes awe – Crazy Russians. The will of Russian fighters to win appears sometimes to exceed even the will to love.

However, that awesome strength of purpose can morph into something else when there is a lack of training in combat sports, and an excess of alcohol. Then there is a descent into crazy Russians.

Numerous martial arts systems teach techniques with varying degrees of plausibility against a variety of weapons. Gun defenses abound, as do means to protect against knives, clubs, bats, and various other objects of mayhem.

However, to date, no one has created a system to defend against a concerted chainsaw attack. Hitherto, it has been the stuff of horror movies.

However, that may change after this video surfaced earlier in the week.

Towering Russian writer Leo Tolstoy famously wrote “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Too, every drunk Russian is drunk in his own way, which leads to some remarkable street fights.

The footage begins with your run-of-the-mill Russian chair-throwing fight in front of a bar, involving approximately 20 gentlemen.

Then one pioneer takes it to the next level, after he retrieves a chainsaw from a parked 4×4. It takes a couple of pulls to throttle to life, as the chainsaw glints in the glow from a street fight.

In the meantime, the crowd is content to have at each other, with various alliances, albeit without any overarching enthusiasm. There is however a chair vs. hatchet clash of some note. With his chair chopped by the axe, the man in white resorts to a jab, dropping a barmate.

Then Aleksander the Chainsaw, having edged away from the vehicle, charges the crowd, with his weapon of choice at full blast. Alecks, in a tasteful grey shirt, seems intent on testing his chainsaw sculpture skills on one man in particular, as some of the group attempt to hold him back.

In the end, the two disappear into the gathering gloom of the night, only the snarling sound of the chainsaw audible as the scene fades to black.

At the least, the video does demonstrate conclusively that the best defense against a chainsaw being pulled in a barfight is to run, fast.