Ukemi Waza - Science of Falling

Ukemi is falling without getting hurt

Nobody likes to fall to the ground, we fall to the ground most of the time not by our choice but due to accidents, pushed or violence when attacked.

Ukemi is one of the important skill an individual can acquire in the process of studying ju jitsu.

When proficient, it is a “science of falling” without getting hurt. Learning how to roll and fall safely is an important part of learning ju jitsu

Without knowing how to fall safely, an individual will never be able to grasp the true understanding of Ju or Aiki – Pliability (softness) and Harmony.

Ukemi have been tested not only in physical confrontations, but also in many accidents, including slipping on ice, tripping on something, slipping in the bathroom, bicycle crashes and many other sporting accidents.

Physically Ukemi means to learn how to fall without tensing up - by relaxing, by ‘going with the flow’. Tensing up leads to injuries, while relaxing helps to avoid injury. Mentally it means to be not afraid to relax and adapt.

We teach rolling and falling first by showing a student how to roll without getting hurt. When learning to roll, the individual learns certain body postures that will eventually become the foundation of his or her ability to take safe falls. A student must practice much of the rolls and falls to become expert in them. This is the only way he/her can entirely lose his/her fear of falling and, therefore, become relaxed enough to prevent the opponent from determining our next move from our tenseness.

Obviously, the main reason why in ju jitsu we spend so much time on learning how to fall without getting hurt, is that throws are such an integral part of the system. To be able to learn throws the student has to learn how to fall, so his/hers partner can also learn how to do the throws.

Interestingly, once you learn how to take good falls you will realize that falls are an excellent way to strengthen and tone the body. And once you become addicted to those endorphins that help mobilize your body’s protective and self-healing abilities, you may get to a point where you can’t imagine not taking falls.

There are 3 basic types of Ukemi:

+ Mai Ukemi - Forward Breakfall
+ Ushiro Ukemi - Backward Breakfall
+ Yoko Ukemi - Side ways Breakfall

Ukemi training should be done left and right in a progression;

+ from sitting
+ from kneeling
+ from standing
+ from a controlled height