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Ukemi is the art of landing safely on the ground after falling or having been thrown by one's opponent. It can be useful when walking own an icy street as it can be in combat- for sport, or for real. The study of Ukemi has two goals. The first is that uki (the person taking the fall) should be able to land safely, without injury, or in extreme cases, with the minimum amount of injury as possible.
An example will make this clear. I know personally of a young man who, at the age of 8, had the unfortunate experience of falling out of a third story window onto concrete surface of a driveway. He was a student of Ju Jitsu, and as he told later, decided that he had nothing to lose by trying a front breakfall technique. He ended up with two broken arms...but those were his only injuries. His breakfall almost certainly saved
him from crippling injuries or death.§
The second goal of Ukemi is that uke should be able to react after the fall. A person who falls in the middle of a busy street should be able to roll out of the way of oncoming traffic. A person who is thrown to the mat (or the ground) by an opponent should be able to both protect him/herself and counter attack from there. A Martial Artist who is able to successfully counterattack after being thrown will also make a better,
more realistic training partner for tori (the thrower) who will have to improve his or her technique in order to circumvent such counterattacks. §
Types of Falls
SAMAS divides ukemi in several different ways. One broad distinction may be mad between rolls and falls (or beakfalls). In rolls, uke's momentum will generally carry him or her away from the spot at which initial contact with the mat is made. Uke will generally continue beyond the prone position to a kneeling or standing position. During a fall, on the other hand, uke's body will generally stay
at the point of the impact with the mat, with uke maintaining a defensive position. Another distinction is between minor and major falls. During minor falls, some part of the uke's body will remain more or less in contact with, or close to, the ground; major falls involve actually jumping up in the air before landing on the ground. However, this distinction is not so strong, because uke will stay in touch with the ground during training forms of the major falls;
and an experience uke will practice advanced forms of many of the minor falls by jumping off the ground into the basic technique. §
Select one of the following to see technique:
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Back Fall-(from article by Professor Stewart in the Martial Arts' Insider Magazine)
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