Commonly, training will include general calisthenics, stretching, breathing and exercises which dramatically enhance strength through body weight and one's natural range of motion. Despite generally being categorized as a martial art, training includes many of these health-enhancing exercises. Some training exercises could be seen as forms of meditation or self-psychology.
Some work could be done alone and some could be done with one or more students. Because Systema's popularity has expanded more than the availability of instructors and classes, solo-work is becoming more commonly seen with those who don't have ready access to an instructor.
Systema relies on the practitioner being relaxed, confident and aware of their own capabilities, strengths and weaknesses.
Systema is particularly attractive to professionals in the police, military or bodyguard professions, and even to bouncers. A bouncer may be interested in strikes with slaps instead of fists, a bodyguard would be interested in moving their charge to the ground without hurting them. Defence with knives, crowd or individual-psychology may be particularly important.
At our school most exercises are a description or a demonstration followed by the students trying it themselves. The exercise may be varied or transformed into a new exercise, or the training could progress to a different exercise. In some cases, students will choose to vary the exercise slightly to try something new or to practice something specific. In any case, there are many moments within any particular exercise which allow for variation. Working with a bigger or smaller partner is a notable example how one specific activity can vary widely.
Although there is no official, rigid "belief system" or ideology that is taught, most practitioners over time seem to share similar core values, including non-destruction—training should not wear down the body or spirit but energize and heal. Systema fundamentally encourages practitioners to adopt a philosophical disposition of openness to their experiences.