Hi I am new to systema (I am waiting for the book to arrive) and a
student of korindo aikido for many years. I teach the new students to
roll and fall and I have a few observations that might help:

1. roll forward or to either side the movement takes you. When we roll
the energy is toward the movement you wish to complete and the goal is
to use the energy instead of being planted in the ground.
2. the angle you hold your head dictates the movement of the entire
body. If you wish to form a round shape that can use the enrgy of the
movement and roll instead of driving yourself to the floor, try and
form a round shape and if the head is not a part of it and you
unnaturally look toward the ground you are headed for than you break
the shape and hit the floor instead of using it.
3. Calm breathing will help relax the body and adapt a natural use of
the body.

Cheers, Ransuru.




--- In systema_group@yahoogroups.com, "rkxyz" <rkxyz@y...> wrote:
> It's been awhile since my last post; thanks for sticking with this
> group. I will post more regularly when my full-time job starts in a
> few weeks—I've been working more than full-time lately, plus going to
> school, training, and volunteering, so one full-time job will allow
> for more personal time.
>
> My summer goal is getting comfortable with rolling. It took only a
> few months to get comfortable with falling, but many more to learn
> how to roll. After much careful practice, I can roll from a standing
> position, by crouching down considerably. It's not very smooth,
> though. Even so, a few months ago, I had trouble rolling from a
> kneel. So I can see the progression. Edgar has told our class that
> rolling is "advanced…to intermediate skill." My backward rolls are
> very awkward.
>
> Most people find falling easier to pick up. But I think, to get
> comfortable with the floor, take it back even further. Get on the
> floor every day. It is immensely helpful to the muscles to roll
> around on the floor, the way a dog might, using your hips and
> shoulders to move yourself. Let on leg fall over the other, as in
> a "4" shape, keeping the other leg straight and on the floor. Allow
> gravity to move your limbs, let your hip or shoulder move your leg or
> arm. Movement should originate from the center of the body, rather
> than the outer limbs.
>
> To be comfortable on the floor, you must have a certain psychological
> mind-set. Groundwork, falls, and rolls reveal much that is hidden
> during standing work. Some people are more relaxed on the floor, but
> by and large, I'd say most people are more uncomfortable. Fear and
> tension will make any contact with the floor uncomfortable. Letting
> go of fear is a leap of faith. You have to trust that your body will
> protect itself. It will, if you do not interfere with natural
> function.
>
> Systema falls are a skill that we all learned during our first few
> classes; Edgar considers it important for safety. With one hand on
> the back of your skull to protect it, slide into the ground, like
> sliding under the bedclothes, "like fabric," Edgar says. He uses a
> stick and slides it along the floor until it is parallel and flush,
> to demonstrate. I explain to newcomers that it's almost like sitting
> down with one leg held straight, the other bending as low as
> possible. Usually, we keep our legs flat and flush to the ground
> after we fall. This allows you to use your legs more covertly. If
> your legs fly up when you fall, it's tension in the lower body. Try
> to use a wave-like motion during the fall, to let this tension ripple
> rather than block movement. Kicking can be effective, but if you can
> kick low, it's easier to avoid your partner catching your ankle
> between his legs.
>
> You shouldn't make much noise as you hit the ground. It's a soft
> movement. In my opinion, acquiring this soft contact with the ground
> is critical to Systema training. That contact with the ground must be
> avoided is a mental barrier. It's fear, and as long as your movements
> stem from a desire to avoid the floor, you'll be restricting your
> range of motion, acting with a plan.
>
> If you aren't comfortable going down to the floor, have someone push
> or pull you from all directions. Practice on grass or sand if you are
> uneasy, but move to a hard surface as soon as you feel comfortable.
>
> There are other ways to fall, forward, backwards, sideways, but
> obviously landing on your back is more strategic than landing on your
> stomach. It is also less dangerous, your back has more padding, and
> with the hand protecting the back of the head, and soft contact,
> falls are perfectly safe.
>
> Never struggle to avoid the floor. Accept it, for the ground will
> always be beneath you; discomfort with going down will impede your
> training. Also avoid struggling with your partner, resisting going
> down. Slow sparring requires a certain amount of "playacting" as
> Arthur Sennot described it. Unlike ordinary playacting, slow sparring
> makes circumstances more, rather than less, realistic. A car can
> execute a turn at 30 mph that it cannot perform at 80. We must keep
> that in mind during slow sparring, and avoid thwarting our partner's
> confidence by being resistant where we could not do so at ordinary
> speeds. (I am paraphrasing Arthur's excellent article "The Slow
> Sparring Game of Russian Martial Art.")
>
> So that means no speeding up, and also no stopping. A real attacker
> would not stop. Some people do this thinking it's making it easier
> for their partner. In fact it's making it more difficult, unless the
> exercise specifically calls for it, follow through with the attack.
> And do not hold yourself a few inches off the ground when an attacker
> moving at full speed would have knocked you cleanly down. Respect the
> rules of the slow sparring game, in order to get the most benefit
> from this excellent training tool.
>
> Most people are comfortable with falling after a few months, however,
> some people are naturally relaxed and take to it right away.
> Naturally relaxed people have an advantage over more tense newcomers.
> They have one of the fundamentals down "pat." It's the hardest
> fundamental to train yourself into. Form, breathing, movement, these
> can be "learned." Relaxation has to be "felt." I do wish there was a
> way to mentally "relax" people but it must come from within. In my
> very limited experience, discomfort with the floor is usually due to
> fear, and this is overcome with practice.
>
> An important part of falling is getting up again. You should aspire
> to rise from the floor without using your hands or even your knees.
> This is not as easy as it sounds. Slow squats help build the strong
> tendons needed to rise in this way. I can't do it, so I just try to
> get up using one knee. Rotating while falling, sort of spinning one
> leg to fall in a circular fashion, helps me to rise more easily. I
> also rise in circular way.
>
> Rolling is a lot harder than falling, in my opinion. Try starting on
> all fours. Think of yourself as a square, and drop one corner of the
> square (your shoulder). Keep the arm straight and outstretched as you
> drop the same shoulder. Tuck your head under the opposite shoulder.
> The other hand can simply guide the roll, or move naturally out of
> the way. Don't cross the spine; if you start on your right shoulder,
> end up on your right side. Denis taught us to land on one side or the
> other, never flat on the back. It makes it faster to get up again.
>
> If you want to change direction mid-roll, instead of crossing your
> spine, rotate your shoulders and hips. It's easier to learn how to do
> this if your partner lies on the ground, stomach down. Roll toward
> them, and change direction so that you land not on your back, but on
> your stomach, across them.
>
> You can also practice rolling from a flat position on your stomach.
> Draw yourself upward, knees into chest, like an inchworm, and drop
> your hips over. Don't push yourself into the roll, just bring your
> hips up and drop them. You should be able to roll in a narrow space
> in this way.
>
> Instead of thinking of it as a roll, think of just "turning yourself
> over" as you would in a swimming pool. Don't heave your legs over
> yourself, instead, move your tucked head under your armpit and just
> turn yourself inside out. You hardly need to put any energy into a
> roll; gravity does the work for you.
>
> Once you are comfortable rolling from all fours, move to a kneel.
> This is no different from all fours; your feet are still on the
> ground, and you simply lower your upper body a bit more from a kneel.
>
> The next stage is rolling from all fours, but with your knees off the
> ground, like an ape. I found this to be very scary. I have only just
> gotten comfortable with this. What helped me was bringing my feet and
> my palms close together, making an acute angle with my body, so that
> all I had to do was slightly elevate and drop my hips over, and
> gravity helped me into the roll. After that, rolling from a standing
> position wasn't much harder, although it's still not very smooth.
>
> You should eventually learn to roll from a walk, or from being pushed
> or pulled in different directions. Edgar sometimes has us mill around
> and drop into a roll when he claps his hands. But I still use my
> knees for a roll from a dynamic position. I am very pleased with my
> progress; it has taken months, but it's simply a matter of getting
> over the fear, and that in itself is just a matter of time.
>
> *Vsego nailuchshego* (best wishes),
> Rachel