Afraid to Go Down

[username13768]

I disagree with david123. You should not go on youtube and look up break-falls. You should learn them from a qualified instructor. As the folks said above, Judo is a very good style for learning breakfalls. Your own style should do breakfalls if they do take-downs. Ask your instructor about them and let him or her know that you are uncomfortable. The only way that you get help is to let someone know. Save yourself some pain and possible injury and get comfortable falling first.

[joesteph]

Your own style should do breakfalls if they do take-downs. Ask your instructor about them and let him or her know that you are uncomfortable.

This is a good point. What training are you undergoing in breakfalls, Lupin, so that you can ease into takedowns? The better the intro, the better you desensitize.

[Lupin1]

Well that's the thing-- technically we're not supposed to start uki training (which includes the breakfalls) until green belt, and I'm only a blue belt (one below green). It's just our class is so small and some people are old and can't go down, so in order for everyone to get to practice, I have to be used as uki sometimes even though I'm technically not there yet. Lately he's been modifying moves so that we don't actually take the person down, but he's still trying every so often to get me to go down and telling me to just "tuck my chin and go for the ride" but for some reason it's just starting to scare me more and more. I think I may suggest to him for me to learn the breakfalls if he wants me to be uki for takedowns and I REALLY want to learn on the mats first (one of the things that scares me is that we practice takedowns on the hard floor instead of on the mats). I guess I just need to talk to him about it. Or maybe I'll just go out in the backyard and fall on the grass until I get used to it...

[joesteph]

I don't like this at all. It's not only that you have to know how to fall, it's also that tori has to know how to throw. Someone performing, likely learning, as common a takedown as Osoto Gari can do so with too much steam and make it a hard fall on a mat. You don't need to chance an injury on a hardwood floor.

[Lupin1]

Well we're not doing any throwing or sweeping legs or anything. It's more "twist your arm or your body until you have to go down backwards and roll out of it", so really I control the speed of the fall, but I just can't make myself go down backwards.

[Toptomcat]

Judo, man! I'm not kidding. Just a week or two, please. Give it a look, it's exactly perfect for solving this specific problem.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Toptomcat

[username13768]

Again, let your instructor know your discomforts. Tell him/ her that you don't feel safe going down backwards and not knowing how to do a proper break fall. The bottom line is you need to be trained properly so that the chance for injury is minimized.

[joesteph]

It's more "twist your arm or your body until you have to go down backwards and roll out of it" . . .

This reminds me of when I took Soo Bahk Do, and my teacher had already intro'd me to a particular defense against the wrist grab, one that had three parts to it. When she had me work with another student for application, she cut out two of the "official" parts and had us substitute a twist of the joint lock so that we were taking one another down by leverage. The original drill was obviously some sort of training exercise; this worked much better. It sounds like it's the same leverage you're describing, and we'd already practiced breakfalls before this "variation." We also landed on mats.

. . . so really I control the speed of the fall . . .

If it's like what I practiced, tori controlled the speed uke was falling. Tori had control.

. . . but I just can't make myself go down backwards.

I feel you're blaming yourself, Lupin, as though you're doing something wrong. Not a single forum member who's posted holds you responsible for this natural feeling. You're an untrained person who's being taken down backwards onto a hardwood floor.

[sensei8]

Learning anything new is uncomfortable, and in that, it's scary. The unknown is only a temporary thing, and in time, with a qualified instructor, you won't even remember why you were scared and/or uncomfortable in the first place. It's all good!

[david123]

i really like falling now...i now train in judo and karate the judo helps with breakfalls!! seriously...ive been thrown onto concrete which should really hurt but since i learnt to breakfall it just hurt the palm of my hand when slamming it down...dont be afraid just go with it and be relaxed when you fall also breath out....holding your breath can hurt you...dont know why but breathing out helps... basicly cross train in a grappling art or learn a breakfall via the internet