Hello,
A new member wrote to ask me:

...for those with limited access to instructors and experienced
training partners what is the most recommended way of training. I
appreciate that you don't need someone to breathe, roll move
etc but for strikes, kicks etc and feedback whats the best way.

Of course, I have suggested Vlad's essay "Training Without a Partner"
http://www.russianmartialart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101 Another
great resource is Israeli instructor Sharon Friedman's blog:
http://systemablog.blog.com where you will find many drills and
suggestions for solo training. I thought I'd share a few ideas in
this message - and I hope that some of you will offer additional
advice. Let me preface this, for all new members, by saying that I
have been a Systema student for 3.5 years and am by no means an
expert, so please do not consider this as anything more than
suggestions from a fellow student.

Limited access to instructors is a challenge - one I've never had to
face, fortunately, as a student at Fighthouse, we are quite lucky to
have three certified teachers in three locations and more Systema
classes than I have time to take. But I have read a few suggestions
on Vlad's forum from students who are far from Systema schools. Many
use Vlad's forum liberally - it is the best place to ask questions
and get virtual guidance from the instructors, who are always glad to
help. Students without instructors also try to make the most of the
closest seminars they can find - even if only a few times a year.
Systema people are amazingly helpful and hospitable to fellow
students from out-of-town - it's not uncommon for people to open
their homes to complete strangers simply because of the Systema
connection. So if you are thinking of traveling to a seminar but are
a bit daunted by traveling far, I encourage you to post on Vlad's
forum and the local students will certainly reply with advice about
traveling, directions, places to stay, local eateries, and of course
traveling on a budget is always a topic of discussion. While at the
seminar, it's also good idea to ask the instructor for advice and
suggestions about continuing your training at home, without
instruction or partners. I read a write-up of a recent New Zealand
Systema seminar where the instructor spoke about training from DVDs
and information from the Internet. The instructors are very
supportive of students learning on their own.

But - this is a huge "but" - some people are geographically distant
from even the occassional seminar. So, we all know that breathing and
rolling can be practiced solo, just as the new member described. But
I'm going to write a few lines about it anyway. Falling and rolling
softly is such an important life skill - it's not falling and rolling
specifically, but the transition from standing to the ground to in-
between and back up again - it's difficult to be equally comfortable
at all levels. I think there are few students who can't use more
practice with this - regardless of whether they have regular access
to instructors. I highly recommend Roy Poyton's essay on falling and
rolling: http://www.systemauk.com/art6.htm and for a beginner's
perspective, a few years ago I wrote on this topic: http://www.new-
pony.com/systema/fallingandrolling.html

To make falling and rolling practice more dynamic even without a
partner, you can use various accessories and obstacles. I remember
one class where we were doing lots of rolls and Edgar scattered all
kinds of chairs, wooden blocks, and training equipment all over the
floor as a challenge to us. Rolling is not just a gynastic exercise -
it's also about adapting to circumstance. It's challenging for me, so
I often practice just the roll itself, trying to get my rolls more
controlled. Slow rolling is very good for this - rolling vertebrae-by-
vertebrae, forward and backwards. But rolling and falling solo can
also be more dynamic. You can mark a line on the ground (I use my
bandanna) and see how closely you can roll over that. Or throw a
practice knife or any item and roll to put yourself close enough to
pick it up. Roll from a seated position in a chair, or roll over the
chair. When practicing outside, I like to use the trees and bushes in
the local park as "training partners," falling and rolling around
them, or keeping my eye on one as a "target" while I fall and roll in
various directions, or "tripping" myself over the roots and trying to
land softly....there are so many different ways to practice falling
and rolling solo, I think it can be learned quite well even without a
training partner. But of course, if you can get a friend to push,
pull, or trip you, that's even better. Your friend doesn't have to be
a martial artist, just willing to shove you around a bit!

So I've rambled on about rolling because it is quite easy to practice
by yourself, but the question wasn't about rolling - it was about how
to practice strikes and kicks without an experienced partner. I would
venture that while a partner is indispensible to this kind of
practice, an experienced partner isn't necessarily so. I often train
with inexperienced partners and I suspect many students with regular
access to instruction also train with beginners. But of course it's
easier with an instructor for guidance. Lacking that, I'd suggest
DVDs - even though Systema is highly individual, sometimes it helps
to just mimic the movement you see on the DVDs, as a starting point.
Keep in mind that strikes and kicks are still Systema movement - so
incorporate them into your movement drills rather than treating them
as a separate topic. Avoidance and yielding drills can be the
foundation for striking and kicking drills. Striking in particular
can be physically and psychologically damaging if done with ego or
ill intent. There are considerable advantages to learning strikes
from an instructor - not that I am saying no-one ought to try without
one, just that it is a somewhat advanced skill. You can't *want* to
strike or kick your partner, it's too narrow a goal and will distract
you from other dangers, - which sounds rather vague and New Age-y, I
know - but your goal is survival and a strike just happens to be one
way to accomplish that when the opportunity presents itself.

You can start by pushing your partner with your fist, seeing where
you pushes break his posture. Generally pushing into the spine will
cause a person to bend, whereas pushing straight is more likely to
make him turn. Move all around your partner, pushing different areas
with your fist, including the head, legs, and arms. Experiment with
different placement and what feels comfortable - remember to keep a
straight line from your wrist to the top of your hand, and your
fingers neatly aligned so that your fingers and knuckles don't stick
out. You can also strike lightly, moving around your partner and
hitting the muscular areas. Don't hit the joints - there is nothing
to be gained by physically hurting your partner. Get comfortable with
the placement of your fist on your partner's body. Of course, switch
roles. And ask for feedback - it's important to avoid provoking fear
and distrust. It seems a little strange, after all, who isn't afraid
to get hit? But practice is never one-sided; as you are learning
about delivering strikes, your partner is also learning how to avoid,
absorb, or deflect strikes, and how to handle fear. Feedback is so
important because if you generate too much fear, it's actually
counterproductive - it's like if you're afraid of water, and someone
throws you into a pool and says "sink or swim!" - it can easily make
you more rather than less afraid of water and we do not want to
increase fear of contact through Systema practice.

Once you are both comfortable with the placement and precision of
your strikes, you can begin to work on avoidance, either from a
stationary position or by rotating and stepping around. It's easier
to work from the contact, since your direction of escape will be
obvious, so work slowly when avoiding contact. I think we've all
experienced the unpleasant effect of turning right into an incoming
punch in a mistaken effort to avoid it. Conversely, there's nothing
fun about clocking your partner twice as hard as you intended because
he turned into your fist. If this happens, slow down a little until
you are sure of your avoidance. One person can strike the other, who
avoids, or you can exchange strikes and practice using the wave to
generate your strike as you avoid your partner's. If you feel
comfortable with that, have one person walk right into the other, who
rotates to avoid and delivers a strike as the other walks past him.
Be careful not to retract your strikes - you want to strike "through"
your partner as part of your avoidance, not bounce your fists off
him. The hardest part about that drill is that you must walk right
into your partner as if you were just going to plough right through
him. You can't stop a few inches away - you must accept that you will
be hit and that's why it's so important to make sure that practice
with strikes is not increasing fear. If your partner is visibly
disturbed by your strike - if there is fear in his eyes as he
approaches you - no-one will benefit from it. Fear of pain is one
thing - we all have that, it's perfectly natural for the body to want
to avoid damaging itself, and that's why we practice tempering fear.
But training partners shouldn't fear each other and if they do, it's
almost impossible to progress. It does happen, so don't be alarmed -
just step back a bit, slow down, maybe work on another exercise for a
few minutes until a positive environment has been restored.

One of the hardest parts of learning to strike is relaxation - you
can deliver a hard strike with a rigid arm and tightly-clenched fist,
but it does not penetrate nearly as deep as a relaxed arm, it is not
as adaptive, it is much more visible, and it also takes far too long
to "load" such a strike. In a dynamic situation, you will need to
strike from any position, and there may not be enough time to clench
your fist, pull back your arm, and find the target. For example, if
you're practicing grabs and escapes, your partner grabs you around
the neck, and you slip underneath his arm to emerge behind him
(without doubling over, of course) - you can also strike him as you
are slipping underneath his arm. You're going in that direction
anyway, adding a fist to the end of your arm isn't going to change
your movement. But if you try to draw your arm back, clench your
fist, and aim for your target, you'll be spending far too much time
and mental energy on the task - and might forget altogether that you
intended to slip out of the grab and emerge behind him.

I have written so much in response to the question, yet I am not sure
if it's helpful to people training without experienced partners,
because I've only relayed what I have been taught about strikes from
classes, seminars, and DVDs. I guess what I am trying to say is that
the training methodology might be a little more challenging without
access to instructors and experienced students, but it's the same
training, it's just that you will have to rely more on DVDs for
instruction and Vlad's forum for feedback to learn Systema. I met a
guy in Delaware who was a solo trainer, supplemented with the
occassional seminar, and he was one of the best students there. If
you can get a small group going, that's even better, but even if you
just have one friend, you can still learn Systema. And even if you
have no-one, simply practicing falling and rolling will give you a
good foundation. It is harder without an instructor, no-one would
dispute that, but it's human nature to find a way around such
obstacles.

Maybe someone else will add to this rather long message, meanwhile,
good luck and *vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
Rachel