I can think of very few - if any - martial arts clubs that I've trained in or visited over the years that weren't in the usual setting of a sports centre, church hall or similar space. Often training would be on mats or on a sprung wooden floor. The area would be clean, well lit and not too crowded.

Compare this with the places you are likely to encounter aggravation - a pub, club, a street or alleyway, an entertainment venue. Consider also the likely conditions of that environment - hot, dark, crowded, slippery, restricted. Often the two environments are vastly different.

Given that, it makes sense to train in as many types of environment and situation as possible. Doing so can give us valuable experience in how we can potentially respond in each situation, how we can interact with the environment as well as the people in it and to some extent help us overcome fear of the "unknown".

Like any aspect of training good care should be taken to ensure the safety of all concerned and, as with any training, it is best to start at a reasonably comfortable pace. Your training methods may vary from ours, of course, but whether you work a technique based or a principle based approach I hope the following will give you some good ideas.

MOVEMENT
I always like to start this type of training with movement. One reason for that is that one of the major principles of Systema training. Aside from that it is good experience to train your movement in less than ideal conditions. Let's start with the floor.

Rolling / ground movement should be practiced on different surfaces. Mats are OK at the very start, but do not give accurate feedback as to whether you are rolling correctly. A wooden floor is better to start. From here try grass, concrete, gravel and rough ground. Each has a different lesson to teach. You should also practice rolling over and around obstacles. An easy way to do this in class is place some chairs around. Or have people roll over sticks, other people or similar objects! Rolling work should then be extended to falling and diving. A further challenge is to practice on slopes or stairs - please take great care with the latter and it should only really be attempted under supervision.

We can take a similar approach for stand up. You can run general footwork or evasion drills amongst tables and chairs, in a confined space, outdoors, on a slippery surface and so on.

There is also an intermediate level between ground and standing - sitting down. See how you can move off of a chair, either by sliding off, by rolling off, or even tipping the chair back and rolling.

ATTACKERS
Once you have movement down you can start adding in attackers. There are endless variations, but here are a few examples we have played with recently (you can see some of these on the video clips at the end of the article).

- attacked with a grab, punch, kick or knife whilst sitting
- ditto, but both people are sitting (next to, in front, behind)
- ditto but sitting at a table
- attacked whilst on the floor amongst tables and chairs
- attacked on or around stairs
- two people try to prevent a crowd getting through a door
- attacked a confined space, corridor, toilet, doorway, etc
- two people confronted in an alleyway by a crowd
- attacked in or around a car
- being on the ground while a fight is going on around you

SITUATION
Once you have the basic outline above you can add in many other factors, for example:

- you are on your own
- you are with wife / husband / children who you have to protect
- you are injured (can be simulated by tying an arm, closing one eye, etc)
- you are with a number of friends who can help
- you are drunk (can be simulated by closing your eyes and being spun round a few times, I wouldn't condone drunken training....)

One thing to consider is what your aim is in the situation too. Should it always be to fight? As an example (seen at the end of clip one) we had set up a situation where two guys had to get through the group in the alleyway. Everyone tried a different tactic. Some hugged the wall, others tried a quick charge. The best effort? The two guys who jumped over the wall at the side of the alleyway and ran around the group!

So please don't think that you have to "fight to the last", often the best thing is these situations is to escape. Working in different environments will open up new possibilities to you and force you to be creative. That includes the use of improvised weapons, or even the environment as a weapon (a brick wall is a hard surface!)

CONCLUSIONS
It's important to not that you shouldn't view this training too much as a "rehearsal" for the real thing. For one, there are so many variables you could be training in situations from now to Kingdom come. So don't get too stuck on "what if's". Instead, this type of training should be viewed as an opportunity to spark your creativity. Otherwise it becomes another form of technique training as opposed to principle.

This article has touched on only a few basic ideas and ingredients, with a little thought I'm sure there are many other ideas you can come up with. Please keep it safe - and be aware of locals and spectators when training outside!