The Tallinn-Avtotrans Groups of Yoga and Martial Arts
By Vladimir Wiedemann

Vladimir, teaching in the Yoga group of the Avtotrans. Tallinn, 1981. Vladimir Wiedemann’s archive.
I organized the yoga group Avtotrans in Tallinn in 1980 during my work as a sports instructor at the Soviet Estonian Trucking Industry Association “Tallinavtotrans.”[1] For my students and me, the name “Avtotrans” successfully combined elements of the actual name of the enterprise and, at the same time, was interpreted by the sportsmen and me as “self-hypnosis” (avto/auto + trance), i.e., a constructive element of raja yoga and other contemplative techniques

An emblem of the sports club Tallinavtotrans. Tallinn, 1981.
The group worked according to my own method, based on the theory and skills learned from my guru, the philosopher Śrī Rāma Michael Tamm (1911–2002). This was the first legal yoga group in post-war Estonia and possibly the entire USSR. Up to three dozen people attended classes there during my time as а group leader until 1982.
In the photograph published in the newspaper of the “Tallinavtotrans” Signal on June 26th, 1981, as an illu-stration for the article written by а “sportmetodist (sports methodologist and trainer)” Vladimir Kasatkin, we see a group of yogis.[2] The group used a series of Hatha Yoga or ioga sily (Yoga of Strength) exercises to develop stamina and flexibility of the body and regulate breathing, as well as a Hatha Yoga-based auto-training technique. In the center is me, and at the top (the first figure to his right) is Irina Yankevich-Som-mer. Below, in the left corner (in a checkered shirt), is the artist Vello Tamm (my guru’s namesake). Unfortunately, the names of the remaining group members have been lost. In the article, the Avtotrans group called “Health” and its efforts are described as follows: “In six months of classes, the group has mastered basic asanas (body development exercises) as well as elementary pranayama exercises. Regarding the auto-training system, half a year is certainly not enough to achieve tangible results. Still, the preparatory period has been completed successfully.” The author claimed that the “group has become familiar with the basic techniques of autotraining, and each member can use them independently.” Surprisingly (but defini-tely for conspiracy purposes), Kasatkin gives both the source and the justification of the method of exerci-ses, not quite correctly referring to two authorities of ‘Soviet yoga’: “The yogic practice of our group “Health” is based on the prescriptions and recommendations of the famous Soviet doctor and Sanskrit scientist, who personally studied and practiced yoga for several decades, academician B[oris] L. Smirnov, who once publi-shed one of the most qualified guides to the study and practice of hatha yoga (Mahabharata, VII. Fighting with Sticks. Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen SSR, Ashgabat, 1963). In the auto-training exercises, the group mainly follows the methodology developed by a great master of meditation, a yogi philosopher with many years of experience, Mahatma Om Ramatamm.”
Alongside to the yoga section, Avtotrans had a section of oriental martial arts (karate, kung fu, tai chi chuan), numbering up to fifty participants. I taught this group, but many specialists were invited from other underground karate groups that existed in Soviet Estonia at that time. Two years later, I organized a further group of yoga and tai chi chuan at the Minor Production Association (a center for advanced training of exe-cutives), where part of the Avtotrans contingent moved. The group continued its work even after I emigrated to the West. It practically has survived, despite structural changes, to the present day. Mart Parmas, a stu-dent of mine, now heads it.
[1] In one of the chapters of my memoirs, I write about my first experiences and the reasons that made me want to work with groups. For more, see Vladimir V. Videmann. Zapreshchennyĭ Soiuz. Khippi, mistiki, dissidenty (The Forbidden Union. Hippies, Mystics, and Dissidents). Moskva; Sankt-Peterburg: RIPOL Klassik; Pal’mira, 2019, 429–434.
[2] Vladimir Kasatkin. “V zdorovom tele – zdorovyĭ dukh (A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body).” Signal (weekly paper of the Tallinavtotrans”), 26.06.1981, 2.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
vlwiedemann (November 20, 2024). The Tallinn-Avtotrans Groups of Yoga and Martial Arts. New Age in Eurasia. Retrieved July 7, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/1309r