The importance of falling

[Shizentai]

When people I meet find out I am a martial artist, one of the first things I tend to get asked is "Have you ever used it?" I suspect most people who ask have in their mind that "using" karate means some form of hand-to-hand combat. However, as all on this forum are likely aware, there are many other important applications as well. Yesterday I was reminded of that as I looked down while peddling over a bridge just in time to see a strip of metal slip into the spokes of my front tire.

My basket and its contents (bike lock, otter box phone case, wallet, etc) are smashed. As for me, I have a couple of bruises from where the handlebars hit my thighs as I flew over them, but in the end, I don't even need so much as a band-aid. Today I would sincerely like to thank all instructors who teach falling. It's easy to overemphasize what makes the martial arts different from one another. However, the applications of these skills are universal, and have been of use to me many times in my life.

So Thank you!

[Wado Heretic]

Yes, Ukemi waza has saved me from a few nasty falls on ice, and trips on my wilderness hikes. The flexibility, and strength training, has also helped a multitude of ways in making life easier.

One-dimensional thinking is I suppose the hall-mark of half-learners though; they half-learn about something and then seem to believe they know all there is to know. One knows Martial Arts is for fighting or evolved from the need to fight, thus it's benefits come only when one needs to defend them self.

[sensei8]

Yes!! How easy it is to see about the many things we do as MAists, things that are natural, and yes, falling is a natural thing, without thinking about it...not even for a second...and how it relates back to our MA training.

I can see you, Shizentai, when I close my eyes, how your experience unfolded, in slow motion. Through your muscle memory, you knew exactly how to fall/roll to alleviate any significant injury. Yeah, you had soreness, but nothing else.

I consider the surface that you had to fall on, and it was no picnic for you. It wasn't the mat at the dojo...it wasn't inside the safety of the dojo...no...it was on an unforgiving surface.

We take many things for granted, and the MA is no exception. Training DOES pay off in the strangest ways, and at the most unexpected time and place. Not always in a life and death situation or in an attack, but in our daily life's, doing everyday things.

And yes, we owe it to our Instructor(s)!! Had we not been under their guidance along the way, that trip over the handlebars might've resulted in something much more unpleasant.

Thanks for sharing the story, Shizentai!!

[JR 137]

Not exactly related to your thread, but worth mentioning nonetheless...

A university I worked at had a judo club. Part of one of the rank tests they held (not sure which rank) was the students had to demonstrate some basic falling and rolling in the parking lot. They weren't in gis, and I didn't know who they were, so I just had to ask. The Sensei was a great guy. His mentality was if they couldn't do it properly without a mat, then they truly didn't understand falling and rolling, and in everyday life there aren't very many mats to break your fall.

[Nidan Melbourne]

You can never truly underestimate learning how to fall until you actually use it. As I've fallen numerous times either due to my own clumsiness or due to being in a self-defence situation and having fallen w/ the assailant and have fallen safely.

[Lupin1]

Yes. Falling is really the only time I've "used" my martial arts, but it's saved me a few times.

One time I was being dumb and stood on a swivel chair to hang something on my bedroom ceiling. As soon as I push the stapler in, the chair went spinning and I went flying. I flew off the chair, hit the tv standing knocking the tv over, and landed on my back with a nice slap just in time to catch the tv. After I caught my breath it took me about five minutes to find my glasses which had flown to the other side of the room. I hit the ground hard and it hurt, but the only lingering pain I had was my wrist where the tv had landed on it.

There have been a few other small slips on ice or trips over things, but the one above is where I really could've gotten hurt without the training.

[Shizentai]

I can see you, Shizentai, when I close my eyes, how your experience unfolded, in slow motion. Through your muscle memory, you knew exactly how to fall/roll to alleviate any significant injury. Yeah, you had soreness, but nothing else.

You really called it! day 2 was pretty sore. Day 3 so far is improved, but a bit stiff.

I consider the surface that you had to fall on, and it was no picnic for you. It wasn't the mat at the dojo...it wasn't inside the safety of the dojo...no...it was on an unforgiving surface.

A university I worked at had a judo club. Part of one of the rank tests they held (not sure which rank) was the students had to demonstrate some basic falling and rolling in the parking lot. They weren't in gis, and I didn't know who they were, so I just had to ask. The Sensei was a great guy. His mentality was if they couldn't do it properly without a mat, then they truly didn't understand falling and rolling, and in everyday life there aren't very many mats to break your fall.

I really lucked out here. It was asphalt, but there was so much paint on it marking out the bike lane that it was pretty smooth. No road rash at all! It reminded me a lot of the nice wood floor of our dojo actually -well, minus that pleasant 'springiness.' We are mostly striking, so the mats almost never come out. Just a few weirdos like me rolling around on the wood. I really think it would be nice to have more ukemi waza in the JKA regimen, not just as a special class, but the core curriculum. It's so obviously useful. I'm glad my sensei taught it anyway!

And yes, we owe it to our Instructor(s)!! Had we not been under their guidance along the way, that trip over the handlebars might've resulted in something much more unpleasant.

Ossu!

[Focused Mind]

Falling is very important and is a universal skill.

Knowing how to fall is useful when training but also a great aid in any ordinary circumstance.

Take motorcycle racers for example; I understand many of them don't do martial arts but they have been taught how to fall off the motorcycle at over 100MPH! Most of the times they hardly sustain any injuries - this just shows you how useful this information is.

[vantheman]

Ukemi is probably the most important and useful physical skill that martial arts can provide you (aside from basic physical fitness). Learning how to do it correctly can be a huge boon. I know an Aikido and a Danzan ryu, both of whom are more than willing to take a flipping break fall on concrete or asphalt. Not a terrible thing to practice once you get up to that level of ukemi.

[ninjanurse]

Falling skills area must! Protection from slips on the ice, trips, bicycle crashes, waterskiing crashes, snowboarding falls, car crashes..... oh, and throws too!