Im pretty sure we all ask ourselves on occassion - "will my training kick in when I need it most?" Usually the 'when you need it most' times are when you have no time to think about it and hope that what's been learned is instictive enough to work when it matters. Seems reports Ive read here and elsewhere indicate that it does happen when it matters.... Just experienced such a case..

Falling can kill. Nothing made this more apparent than the high profile tragic case of cricketer David Hooks last year. One punch in the head, probably fairly benign in itself, knocked him over and he hit his head on the ground with terminal consequences.

I walked into the laundry and the washing machine had flooded the place out. Took one step on the tiles and went the proverbial bum up. We practice falling, even incorporating it into the warm up (its a great way to get to the situp position ), and in a flash I found myself on my back, chin tucked into chest, but still rather sore (more practice needed ). I have no doubt that but for this I may have been in a bit of trouble.

Learn to fall....

First time I really noticed such a thing was when I stepped onto a mat in the kitchen and it slid under me. It's nice to know that the falling practice and getting used to falling and working with balance and redirection paid off because I was able to adjust and just ride the mat across the floor instead of going A-over-T on the floor.


Your first problem here was attempting to use the machine yourself...


Mick

Ive been to quite a few classes where ive seen students sparring and using sweeping techniques, In fact, ive done it myself - but no-one has ever really taught me how to fall properly, and ive sustained a couple of bruises through it.

I've fallen off many things outside the dojo though, tipping myself backwards out of a 2nd floor window was particularly memorable - and so was dropping off the top deck of a car transporter while at work. No damage to myself - or the ground, before you ask

So, I think in any Karate or Martial Arts lesson - how to fall correctly should be one of the first things that is taught.

Ok...

I've only ever tried the falling thing once in class (i know if i turned up more often I'd learn it more often) and got it horribly horribly wrong...

I guess since that one class I'm a bit skeptical about trying it again. I ended up with a massive bruise over my right shoulder blade cos i wasn't trusting myself enough and falling right on the bone and i couldnt for the life of me work out how to get it right...

BUT... even though i landed on the shoulder blade and got this big bruise, i still managed to find it a better way to fall than on an outstretched arm (which i've done and broken my wrist before) or on the cocsyx (sp?) which could do massive amounts of damage to your spine or even worse.... on your head...

I'd love to be taught properly and be able to practise it and have that shoulder blade bug ironed out properly JUST in case I need to ever use it again and save little wrist bones etc...

Perhaps I should suggest it to my all my instructors and see if any one of them could see and explain to me what I'm doing wrong... get rid of this fear I've worked up... for nothing...

We do a fair bit of breakfall work and refresh it on a regular basis, which comes in very useful as we do alot of takedown work too, along with throws and groundwork. Although it's best to start on matts until you get the hang of it, we do alot of takedown work on wooden floors with no ill effects.

It does become ingrained after a while - i recall ending up accidentally being thrown head first over a 6'5" guy's shoulders onto a parquet floor during randoori one lesson and breaking the fall instinctively, rolling out of it and back onto my feet to carry on. Without being taught how to do that, I'd have most likely broke the fall with my face.

So in short - learning to fall is good for your health.

Susan, you need to be taught properly and you need to gradually increase the intensity of the fall over time. Start out by falling from a crouching (or even sitting for back/side breakfalls) position on a mat. But you've got to have a teacher who knows how to do it themselves - after all, you really don't want to learn how to fall wrongly.

Mike

:cough:

I was on a mat and it was from a crouching position....

was just me being unco and boney and not positioning my arm right which made my shoulder blade stick out more prominently

didnt think i'd have it right after one class but i dont want that bruise back so havent learnt them since

You obviously need to follow my example and eat more pies, so you can build up your reserves of 'soft muscle' to cushion the roll.

Mike

The seriousness of this cannot be overlooked. A friend of mine died 2 years ago from falling over in a bathroom at a wedding weekend. He hit his head and seemed to have concussion and died on the way to hospital. From the autopsy it looks like he fell first then had some head trauma as a result of this. This guy was super fit but in cycling and running etc. Could have better reactions saved him? Who knows?

So reactions are critical Matt just keeping your head off the ground makes all the difference. Falling forward it a tight area better break a forearm that your head.

I will follow this one with interest.

We do quite a bit of falling in our classes, its amazing how quickly it becomes a natural re-action.

One of my students was recently hit by a 4wd, it was at slow speed, it knocked him over and he swears that the break fall saved him from serious injury. All he suffered was a broken hand, which was from the bullbar hitting him.

After he told me this it really sunk in how beneficial this type of training can be.

Rocket

I wonder how much of that instinct would kick in after several pints on a saturday night. Im not sure karate was designed with the pub culture in mind.

I started learning to breakfall so I wouldn't crack my head on the ice (again) while ice skating. Last weekend I was told I needed to learn to roll as well. So I am. And apart from all the benefits mentioned so far - it's good fun to learn too!

he he i love doing the breakfalls, when i started ju jitsu, i was a bit scared of the handstand and flip breakfall, now i do it for fun
Sam

*me makes note "find out about handstand and flip breakfall"...*
Is that one breakfall or two?

They are two breakfalls.

handstand breakfall is do a handstand then just fall over , slap the floor with your hands,feet with soles on the floor, chin tucked it to your chest, arch your back off the floor.


Flip breakfall is exactly as it sounds, kinda a rollypolly in mid air, landing as above .

Sam

Cool!

... no wonder some of this MA stuff is easier for kids.....

I dont think I could even do a handstand!

Show off

I prefer not to have to attempt flip breakfalls unless the flip is involved in coming out of a throw. After all, I have two perfectly good legs to stand on...


Mick

Ok.... let's leave hand stand and flip break falls for a while

On a more simpler note I have been practising my breakfalls using what I've learned in class (briefly - sorry Mick) and also the small amount of knowledge I have on anatomy and actual "floor work" to get it right for me. I've adapted it to get that shoulder blade out of the way and used a little advice given to me by a couple of others and BAM...... I can safely break fall (from a lowish position) and can now begin working on mastering it...

Thanks all.....

Go Susan!
Next... hand stands and flips....

Breakfalling.. useful for:
Baseball/softball


Hackey sack (for the less coordinated among us)


Skateboarding


<-- Nooms

I could do that.... I think....

And... I think....



I think I need higher ceilings......


And a softer floor....

I walked into the kitchen a couple of nights ago. Actually I was Click to view attachment through the house and when I got to the tiles in the kitchen I discovered that wearing socks, while it keeps the feet warm, probably isn't the best for Click to view attachment on tiles. And all I have to show for it is a graze on my wrist where I scraped it on a benchtop on the way down. And there probably won't be anything much left of that to show off by next week either. Actually that's probably a good thing.


Mick

Sorry to hear that Mickles, hope you are okay....


But....



you guys always laugh at me when I go bum up, so now its my turn

Today i was with a fellow student at my karate class and we were doing grabling techniques and after grabling each other down on our knees and holding each other at the shoulders for about a minute (i think he was a bit heavy handed to me) he pushed me to the ground and i fell backwards and hit my head (quite a knock) on the floor obveisly i yelled out aww!

Now i feel light headed and probably have a bad headache or wake up feeling rough tomorrow morning

Hi Emma

Hope you're feeling better when you get up today. If you feel sick or disorientated you should go to A&E immediately.

Assuming that you're OK, do you practice breakfalls in your class? If you don't, ask your sensei if they can teach you. Its (usually) fairly simple to avoid hitting your head when you fall, a bit of proper practice should make a world of difference.

Mike

The same thing happened to me last year whilst on a course.I was taken down and banged the back of my head on a metal punch bag stand.To add insult to injury I was punched in the front of the head a couple of minutes later! It did cause concussion and I felt sick the next day but suffered no lasting effects.If you vomit I would take Mike's advice and go and visit A&E.