Break falling techniques are a safe method of falling that
all practitioners of judo learn. An Integral part of Judo is knowing how to
break your fall. Judo concentrates on throwing your partner to the mat in
training, so knowing how to fall is essential especially if you want you and
your partner to be able to get up again to continue to train.
Few martial arts teach break falling techniques and most of
those that do usually wait until the student has reached a more advanced
level. Knowing how to fall protects you
from injury in training, in competition and for self defense purposes. If you
fall badly either from being pushed down, Knocked down, tripped, thrown or
slammed to the ground in a fight you
risk disabling injury.
Break falling techniques (Ukemi) allow you to hit the ground
with any kind of reasonable impact and recover without injury. Basically, break
falling techniques spread the impact of a fall over the widest area possible
allowing the person getting thrown to disperse that force over that area. Okay physics time!!!!! Break falls work by
using the laws of physics. Pressure is the key force here. Pressure (P) is
defined as unit of force (F) per unit of area (A), in mathematical form: P=F/A.
When you do a break fall, more of you hits the ground. So this means that a
larger area makes impact. Because the force of impact is divided by the area,
more area means less pressure. Less pressure means less damage.
In addition, as you learn to be more and more comfortable
with falling you become more relaxed. By learning how to place your body
correctly and thereby learning to relax as you fall you disperse the force thus
reducing the chance of injury. The more relaxed you are also lessens the chance
of being injured.
BASIC BREAK FALLS
Break fall drills begin gently and from low postures. As the
student progresses they are performed faster and from higher postures.
BACK BREAK FALLS (Ushiro Ukemi)
Squat low, crossing your arms in front of you, and fall
backward, keeping your chin tucked in and slap the mat hard as you fall. As you fall, slap the mat with both of your
arms, striking it with the forearm and hand. It is utmost important to be
relaxed and to keep your chin tucked in to prevent striking your head against
the mat.
SIDE BREAK FALLS (Yoko Ukemi)
From a squatting position, raise your right arm out in front
and across your body, and step out with your right foot. You will now lose your
balance and naturally fall to your right side As you fall, to keep your head
from hitting the mat keep your chin tucked in tightly to your chest, looking
down toward your right foot. Slap the mat hard with your right forearm and hand
as you land on your back and let your feet down on the mat. It is important
that your feet do not touch each other when falling sideways, as the bones
striking each other may cause injury.
Resume the squatting position and practice falling to the
left, reversing the above directions. The sideways fall is the most important
method of falling in Judo.
FORWARD ROLL BREAK FALLS ( Zenpo Kaiten Ukemi)
Step forward with your right foot, raising your right hand
in front of you and curving the fingers inward. Bend forward at the waist, touching the
mat lightly with both hands at the same time step forward with the right foot bending at the knee. basically executing a shoulder roll keeping your
chin tucked in to avoid hitting your head on the mat. Keep your arms relaxed as
you tumble, and do not straighten your arms. As you land on your back, slap the
mat hard with your left hand.
