Breakfalls

Does your school teach breakfalls?

  • YES, and we use them in other aspects of our art!

  • YES! we practice them, but don't really use them in the rest of class

  • yeah, I think we went over it once

  • no, we've talked about it but haven't done much with it.

  • no, they're not necessary.

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I learned to breakfall in my sensei's concrete-covered basement! So, I learned it well.
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Thats the way many of us older Martial Art peolpe learned. It was learn it correctly or get hurt falling. The street has no mats, was metioned more than a few times.
I like to take my students out in the park or to a friends house and practice in the back yard. The grass stains the uniform (sometimes) but the ground gives a little.

To many people seem afraid to learn unless they are 1000 % assured they can not get hurt doing so. Thusly the mats in all the schools , now (plus they look GOOD). The only problem is , one can learn incorrectly on mats and still not get injured, but go out in the parking lot and do the same tech. and see what happens. If you have never fell on concreat or in a parking lot getting thrown, tripped, shoved to the ground in such situation may be a shock to your system
 
Well as I have been very lucky to train in a co-op for my carear, and the co-op has some really nice judo matts and training floor they are built into.

As to larning on concrete, yes, this makes a big difference, and also makes a difference when the instructor asks you this when on a gym floor. You know that you can execute your technique then ;)
 
We have mats but they're not cushy or anything. I'm glad they had them though, learning, as I started this in my 30's and probably would have chickened out in learning those. However, our mats are thin and the way some of those boys toss you, whew, doesn't feel like a mat is there.

Now though, higher ranks, doesn't matter, mat or floor, we just do it. I remember back when I was scared of the front breakfall from my knees on the mat, now I'm flying and landing on the floor matless. Go Figure!

Lorrie
 
My 9 yr old daughter came in from school recently very excited about having tripped going down the hill in front of our house on the way to the school bus. She was excited because she automatically did a front breakfall on the pavement and didn't get injured. Breakfalls work well when they are properly taught.
 
My first exposure to training was in Judo, so I learned to breakfall right away.

However, in my Karate days little time was spent on rolling and falling. It was sort of learned through doing the techniques rather than seperately. In Kempo we did learn to breakfall and learned to do this on concrete (linoleum floor).

Currently I study a traditional Japanese art which has a big emphasis on breakfalls as well, as it permeates many aspects of our art (including rolling and taking falls with weapons). It is the first thing taught (and we initially spend a long time on learning them). We use the vinyl tatami mats for practice.

In another dojo where I studied jujutsu, the techniques (i.e. falls) were done on a concrete floor covered with newspaper and sawdust, then covered by a vinyl tarp.

FWIW, I think learning to roll/breakfall should be a pre-requisite for learning almost any art, as it is a useful skill.

KG
 
We constantly train in Brake-falls in our techniques. That's self defense.

Yes I intentionally spelled it that way because to me Breaking ones fall does not necessarily mean Stopping it in a good way and tends to have a negative connotation. You can Break a bone but you cannot Brake a bone. Also we do it very differently in this art than what I did in Judo and Aikido. We do not extend the lower leg because on concrete or even hard ground the force of the impact can shatter the ankle.

Also I think the worst medium for practicing falls is sand. Especially the sand at the beach. It tends to wrap around the body which stings like crazy no matter what you do.
 
Originally posted by karatekid1975
My instructor makes the black belts fall on the concrete floor that is covered by a thin rug.
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...sounds like what we had to do before we aquired mats. ;) ...'cept all of us aren't BB's.
 
Originally posted by Chronuss
...sounds like what we had to do before we aquired mats. ;) ...'cept all of us aren't BB's.
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I think that by the time a student is a green belt, I should be able to count on them knowing how to fall. In an ideal setting, I start teaching them at yellow belt so that by the time they are green, it is ingrained into them. With the new mats I have acquired, I can do this. Without them, I was reluctant to make it required UNTIL they were blue belt.
 
and I keenly recall being pushed to learn how to fall properly...why shouldn't he get the same attention...? ;)
 
My first MA was jujutsu so we started to learn falls, rolls, sweeps and throws right away and we did them every class. I was about half the size of anyone else in the class so they all loved throwing me because I was lighter then the rest. I got really good at break falls pretty quickly.

Unfortunately in the art I train in now we rarely do them. I really miss them and try to practice on my own but it's not the same as actually being thrown. It does get covered on occasion but not often enough to be automatic. Then every once in a while we'll do a technique with a throw buy half the people in the class don't know how to land. It's pretty frusterating because you can't do the technique properly or they'll get hurt.

I'm also annoyed because I'm not nearly as good as I used to be.

One question. On a back fall in my old art we basically dropped and you wanted to slap just a fraction of a second before your back made contact so your arms took the force. In the new one when we do it, they tell us to kind of roll back into it. Which to you teach/learn? It seems to me that you can't always roll because of how some techniques are done but maybe I'm just not used to it.

Thoughts?
 
I start break falls at white belt. and work on them at w.,y.,o. Then i start them on sweep's at orange. then throw's,take down's, etc, starting at green. Mithios
 
In my style we are taught chest falls, back falls, rolls, side falls, etc....... They are integral as we have alot of takedowns and sweeps.
 
We practice them and I am very glad for it. I don't enjoy it the way I do the other aspects of class, but it is one of the reasons that I signed up for martial arts; to learn to defend myself. And learning to protect yourself in a fall is vital to that.

Daniel
 
One of the first things I learned was breakfalls, front back and sides. We still spend a portion of every class working on entries, exits and just getting them right. I am very relaxed getting thrown with height into a side breakfall. They have just become automatic ( unlike the back breakfalls). I can concentrate on the technique and not worry about the landing.
Lori
 
I start breakfalls at yellow, because then they have a little more control over their bodies, and we have a carpet-over-concrete setup. Our philosophy is there are no mats in the real world, so train like you'll fight. Breakfalls save lives, and not just when you fight someone. That is the main reason that everyone, even if they don't take martial arts, should learn how to fall.
 
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