If I remember correctly, Spetsnaz (special forces of russia) train 6 months in Systema and though of course they aren't masters after this, they are still highly effective. Systema also spends a lot of time on teaching evasion techniques, rolling on the ground in various ways. The scenario you talk about in this article we did a couple of similar scenarios during the 10 classes I took at Systema. I hope I can continue my training, ideally under Mihail Ryabko or Vladimir Vasiliev.

But yes, having an enthusiastic training partner is very important. It is also important that, though you will start out soft and slow, that you increase speed and force as you get more familiar with the movements, and most important and primary self defense skill is running and evasion. That means a little bit of parcour type stuff, practising jumping off walls to give you a little distance, vaulting fences and climbing taller ones, and , yeah, number 1 important thing is to sense an attacker soon enough before they even get within rock throwing distance. You might walk wide of suspicious people 100 times and 1 time you give yourself the edge that avoids a conflict altogether. An Escrima teacher (philippino stick fighting) who I went to train with we had a first conversation and he basically said that the first thing you have to learn is how to avoid a fight altogether, and that wanting a fight makes you an unsuitable student (I didn't see him again). I had been attacked though I was pretty much also provoking these assholes back, not long before.