I survived because mom made me take judo at like a rather early age, I think I was like around six or seven. But practicing falling down safely. Ukemi.
Ukemi (受け身) refers to the art of safe falling and breakfalls in Japanese martial arts, such as judo and aikido, literally translating to “receiving body”. It is a critical skill for absorbing the impact of throws or takedowns, protecting the head and body, and ensuring training safety.
Like I didn’t even know I had that skill, but since these electric scooters and bikes and whatnot have come super popular and I’ve owned a few myself, I’ve been in way more falls and crashes than I was as a kid. Even somewhat serious ones.
But I never hit my head, and just found myself on the ground slightly winded.
In one I apparently made it sone 3m into the air, I remember seeing a car drive in front of me and then ground-sky-ground-sky-ground-sky. Luckily the dude wanted to call the cops (as he was blaming me for his wannabe tuned bmw got a bit smashed). Cops came and noted how it wasn’t my fault. The other dude had to pay a few hundred euros to me for ribs and whatnot.
Anyway how I’ve survived, literally, is intuitively shielding my head and falling the right way. Without even knowing it. I just realised after like a half a dozen crashes that it can’t be luck.
Ukemi (受け身) refers to the art of safe falling and breakfalls in Japanese martial arts
Just as advice, you don’t even need to go to martial arts class to get this; various activities have tutorials on falling “correctly”, even theater! Even if you (the reader) don’t get a formal lesson, let me share the basics :
Be aware of your surroundings
Bend your knees when you fall, absorbing the impact
Roll to transfer the vertical momentum to horizontal momentum
Curve your back to assist on point 2 (NB : do not do funky things on your back if you are about to smack your back INTO something)
Better yet, have a spotter (someone who is there to make sure you don’t fall off whatever thing you are on).
I learnt the last one from trampolining and indoor climbing.
Oh sure, I’m not saying it’s just judo or martial arts or anything.
My point is that I’m thankful my mom made my 7-year old ass listen to someone who taught falling safely, as I fell quite frequently. And for some 20 years I did not realise just how strong the effect of the conditioning had been. Which was very good.
I’m sure you’d agree that someone just reading the instructions even if they’re perfect, would have a hard time achieving doing them on the first time. That those kind of things, tucking your chin and exhaling on impact, really only become familiar once you’ve drilled them again and again and again and again. I don’t exactly like repetition, and that judo course as a kid is one of the only things I’ve ever repeated before I was like 27. (Nowadays I do rewatch a lot of shows, I didn’t used to do that)
I survived because mom made me take judo at like a rather early age, I think I was like around six or seven. But practicing falling down safely. Ukemi.
Like I didn’t even know I had that skill, but since these electric scooters and bikes and whatnot have come super popular and I’ve owned a few myself, I’ve been in way more falls and crashes than I was as a kid. Even somewhat serious ones.
But I never hit my head, and just found myself on the ground slightly winded.
In one I apparently made it sone 3m into the air, I remember seeing a car drive in front of me and then ground-sky-ground-sky-ground-sky. Luckily the dude wanted to call the cops (as he was blaming me for his wannabe tuned bmw got a bit smashed). Cops came and noted how it wasn’t my fault. The other dude had to pay a few hundred euros to me for ribs and whatnot.
Anyway how I’ve survived, literally, is intuitively shielding my head and falling the right way. Without even knowing it. I just realised after like a half a dozen crashes that it can’t be luck.
I should really start wearing a helmet.
Just as advice, you don’t even need to go to martial arts class to get this; various activities have tutorials on falling “correctly”, even theater! Even if you (the reader) don’t get a formal lesson, let me share the basics :
Better yet, have a spotter (someone who is there to make sure you don’t fall off whatever thing you are on).
I learnt the last one from trampolining and indoor climbing.
Oh sure, I’m not saying it’s just judo or martial arts or anything.
My point is that I’m thankful my mom made my 7-year old ass listen to someone who taught falling safely, as I fell quite frequently. And for some 20 years I did not realise just how strong the effect of the conditioning had been. Which was very good.
I’m sure you’d agree that someone just reading the instructions even if they’re perfect, would have a hard time achieving doing them on the first time. That those kind of things, tucking your chin and exhaling on impact, really only become familiar once you’ve drilled them again and again and again and again. I don’t exactly like repetition, and that judo course as a kid is one of the only things I’ve ever repeated before I was like 27. (Nowadays I do rewatch a lot of shows, I didn’t used to do that)
yep, the reply isn’t so much for you, just reminding people that various activities can offer this, and it’s more accessible than one may think.