Learning to ‘fall’ safely is a valuable life skill whether you’re a martial artist or not. In martial arts this skill is called Ukemi - 受身. Before teaching ukemi to a group of youngsters we will sometimes ask, “who has ever broken their arm?” Invariably a number of hands are raised. We then ask if anyone would like to share what happened we hear; “Fell off a climbing frame”, “fell off a swing”, “fell off a skateboard (bike, scooter)”. It’s almost always due to falling down and then trying to stop themselves. With adults falls can be very serious threats to health particularly as we get older. Falls may happen through slipping, tripping, stepping down, disorientation, etc.
The key to ukemi is to first and foremost protect the head from striking the ground, and secondly to spread the impact of the fall over a larger area of the body as possible, and/or roll out of the fall.
Like most people I’ve experienced my fair share of falls in everyday life. My most dangerous fall was when hurtling down a stony path in the desert at around 30mph, my mountain bike suddenly came to a stop but I continued through the air headfirst. As I hit the ground I tucked and rolled - as in the video - and stood up onto my feet needing a few strides to bring myself to a halt - without a scratch I may add.
With years of teaching these skills to students I’ve heard many similar stories involving both children and adults how learning ukemi had saved them from serious injury and worse. Only practice this under qualified instruction. This is for informational purposes only. #ukemi #karate #martialart
17 апр 2024
