A Proper Judo Fall?
- Thread starter hoog
- Start date
Funny you should bring this up.
I don't think I have the greatest ukemi, but its passable. I've learned to relax and just go with the flow. And it generally works.
Then tonight. Not once, but twice. I posted my arms out.
Both were slow falls. I let a newer guy throw me during randori. He went for a kataguruma, and I went over fairly slow, and for some reason I stuck my arm out. It created sort of an armbar effect. Didn't feel nice at all.
Then, not long after....different partner drop seoinages me. I post out my arms.... shit hurt. Alot. I continued to roll kind of, and ended up only bending my wrist, and mostly my fingers( bending past how they bend ).... but my hand is a lil beat up now. Could have gone alot worse on either of them though.
Both falls were kind of slow, delayed action... I think if they were faster I would have just gone over with no issue, but being slow, for whatever reason, my brain decided that I should stick out my arm.
Moral of the story. DO NOT stick your arms out to stop the fall.
I don't think I have the greatest ukemi, but its passable. I've learned to relax and just go with the flow. And it generally works.
Then tonight. Not once, but twice. I posted my arms out.
Both were slow falls. I let a newer guy throw me during randori. He went for a kataguruma, and I went over fairly slow, and for some reason I stuck my arm out. It created sort of an armbar effect. Didn't feel nice at all.
Then, not long after....different partner drop seoinages me. I post out my arms.... shit hurt. Alot. I continued to roll kind of, and ended up only bending my wrist, and mostly my fingers( bending past how they bend ).... but my hand is a lil beat up now. Could have gone alot worse on either of them though.
Both falls were kind of slow, delayed action... I think if they were faster I would have just gone over with no issue, but being slow, for whatever reason, my brain decided that I should stick out my arm.
Moral of the story. DO NOT stick your arms out to stop the fall.
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stop that shit. you'll break an elbow.
If you must reach for the mat, make sure your palm's down with your fingers pointing back towards your body.
to hoog - there's nothing like being taught in person. But if you want a visualization, imagine there's a barrel in front of you. You hug it and roll over. That is it. Just make sure to tuck your chin.
If you must reach for the mat, make sure your palm's down with your fingers pointing back towards your body.
to hoog - there's nothing like being taught in person. But if you want a visualization, imagine there's a barrel in front of you. You hug it and roll over. That is it. Just make sure to tuck your chin.
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jacksonheights
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people tend to tighten up and hold their breath as they take the fall, its good practice to push out a short breath as you're taking your ukemi to loosen your body.
Dave Camarillo teaches falls well in his book Guerilla Jujitsu- its not something you wanna figure out on your own because you can get hurt bad (dizziness can lead to spazzy motions and injuries for beginners)-
Important points mentioned above are maximum surface area, not holding your breath, and tucking your chin. For certain falls though you may want to bridge when you land and lfit your back off the floor (flying break falls).
You need to learn not only how to do a backwards break fall, forward break fall, side break falls, flying break falls- but also how to roll properly forward and backwards over each shoulder and even monkey rolls!
Important points mentioned above are maximum surface area, not holding your breath, and tucking your chin. For certain falls though you may want to bridge when you land and lfit your back off the floor (flying break falls).
You need to learn not only how to do a backwards break fall, forward break fall, side break falls, flying break falls- but also how to roll properly forward and backwards over each shoulder and even monkey rolls!
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I always thought the slap was to manipulate the law of conservation of momentum and to let you know "ground landing imminent, chill the fuck out" because the only thing worse than landing on the ground is being off the ground, disoriented, and worried about where/when/how you're gonna land.
wmike9902**
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Just remember to slap your hand and tuck your chin. your seriously going to hurt yourself if you hit the back of your head
KenTheWalrus
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The best advice I could give you is to keep practicing and to keep asking higher belts to watch you and then correct your mistakes.
Nothing on your body should hurt at all if you breakfall properly. -ken
Nothing on your body should hurt at all if you breakfall properly. -ken
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These guys breakfall really well!
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Good advice. Tucking your chin and not holding your breath are the most important things. These keep you relaxed and protect your head - allowing your to be safe and still react after the fall. You want to slap at a 45 degree angle. Slapping like a T extends your shoulder blades (which could hurt them), while having them too close to your body doesn't do much at all. Don't land on your elbow or your hand - that can mess up your shoulder, collar bone or elbow.
I found that slapping does a few things. (1) It helps spread the surface area of your fall. (2) It helps you point your elbow away from the ground so you don't armbar yourself on the way down. (3) It takes some (but not much) of the impact.
Don't cross your legs either. You can hurt them if they bang together. Usually you try to impact flat all at the same time, body and slap together. However you don't want to be stiff but rolling through the fall too. This takes time and it can take up to a year of practicing before you correct all your mistakes.
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Good advice. Tucking your chin and not holding your breath are the most important things. These keep you relaxed and protect your head - allowing your to be safe and still react after the fall. You want to slap at a 45 degree angle. Slapping like a T extends your shoulder blades (which could hurt them), while having them too close to your body doesn't do much at all. Don't land on your elbow or your hand - that can mess up your shoulder, collar bone or elbow.
I found that slapping does a few things. (1) It helps spread the surface area of your fall. (2) It helps you point your elbow away from the ground so you don't armbar yourself on the way down. (3) It takes some (but not much) of the impact.
Don't cross your legs either. You can hurt them if they bang together. Usually you try to impact flat all at the same time, body and slap together. However you don't want to be stiff but rolling through the fall too. This takes time and it can take up to a year of practicing before you correct all your mistakes.
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Bullshit... Even a properly executed breakfall hurts like hell with enough impact.
I asked one of the oldtimers why I never see him doing ukemi. He said that he doesn't plan on being thrown... it's the other guy that needs to practice ukemi.
dr.feelgood
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I don't take judo, but what I've been taught to do for MMA is instead of slapping my hands on the mat I hold on to them tight so I don't accidentally post and so I have posture control when I'm on the ground. I slap my feet on the ground instead to absorb some of the shock and then bring them up quickly to pull guard. This I found works really well when thrown into side control, cause since you're slapping your feet to the ground right when you touch it you're already trying to regain guard right away instead of giving them a chance to base.
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What a silly oldtimer. What if he slips and falls while outside? Or trips? Ukemi is one of the skills that I use the most off the mat.
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meh... I'm sure he wouldn't admit to ever having tripped. He's one of the originals. He used to say how weak Kodokan Judo is and professed his preferred style of Budokan Judo.
Seriously though... ukemi probably saved my dad's life when he went up and over the handle bars to his motorcycle (one of the worst ways to go down especially without a helmet). He said he did about a half dozen judo rolls and then walked away with little more than road rash.
Seriously though... ukemi probably saved my dad's life when he went up and over the handle bars to his motorcycle (one of the worst ways to go down especially without a helmet). He said he did about a half dozen judo rolls and then walked away with little more than road rash.
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i call bullshit on your bullshit. your hand might go numb, but you should be fine otherwise.
as for your oldtimer, he's probably done enough falling to know the drill. that's not to say he shouldn't practice. everyone should practice ukemi every practice. plain and simple.
same goes for you TS: ask someone before/after practice to help you out with falling, and do it until you do it perfectly every single time. relax, tuck your head, and slap as hard as you can.
Agree. Though if you really get thrown (say with a really wound maki komi or osoto gari, or a really high uranage, you'll feel it even with great ukemi, especially if you're a heavyweight (that old strength/weight ratio thing again).
