# Owie! Throwing and Falling Practice Yesterday



## Stac3y (Jul 13, 2009)

For my club's black belt test, we have to do a bunch of "extracurricular" self-defense routines (we have to come up with them, using techniques we've been taught.) I've agreed to be the SD partner for one of our BB candidates this Fall, and yesterday was our first practice.

We spent 3 hours doing throws and breakfalls. I am really sore, but I learned a lot. I think doing this is going to really help me prepare for my own test, and will be a great experience. I just hope my body adjusts to hitting the ground over and over so I don't have to feel this sore all the time for the next few months. My breakfalls are improving, but I'm not very good at them yet. At least I'm on the way to breaking the habit of slapping with the back of my hand instead of the palm.

Most of these throws were new to me, so I had a little trouble getting the hang of them. My partner is way shorter than me, so I really have to bend my knees to get under her center and lift her; that's hard because my knees are not the strongest--once I bend them to a certain point, they bend the rest of the way by themselves. Fast. That being said, I much prefer *being* thrown by my partner than by her son, who is 6'3". Going over his shoulder the first time was *scary!* Especially since he is fairly new to this stuff, too.


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## Grenadier (Jul 13, 2009)

Congrats on the learning experience!  

I am a bit surprised, though, that they would let someone relatively new to such activities, be thrown via shoulder throw.  Most Karate schools reserve the shoulder throw for the more experienced folks, and restrict the highest pivot point at the hip level, for those who haven't had much experience.  

Just remember...  Tuck in your chin...


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## Stac3y (Jul 13, 2009)

Grenadier said:


> Congrats on the learning experience!
> 
> I am a bit surprised, though, that they would let someone relatively new to such activities, be thrown via shoulder throw. Most Karate schools reserve the shoulder throw for the more experienced folks, and restrict the highest pivot point at the hip level, for those who haven't had much experience.
> 
> Just remember... Tuck in your chin...


 
I'm a brown belt, so I've been thrown some. Just not enough, I guess. I've always hated hitting the ground, but I'm getting over it, finally. And we try to drop people easy, rather than flinging them across the room, too.


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## terryl965 (Jul 13, 2009)

Stacey being thrown gets alot of taking use to it. In the end you will be a better Martial Artist for knowing how to fall when you get tossed.


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## Daniel Sullivan (Jul 13, 2009)

Ah, the fun of ukemi.  But a very needed experience in any martial art.

Daniel


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## morph4me (Jul 13, 2009)

Ukemi is the most important thing I've learned. I haven't been attacked since I started training, but I have fallen. If you have a chance to do a roll instead of a breakfall, do it, rolling takes a lot less of a toll on your body.


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## Never_A_Reflection (Jul 13, 2009)

Fun stuff!  Don't worry, after a couple thousand more falls you won't even notice .  As far as throwing a shorter opponent, I suggest you look into foot sweeps and techniques that utilize your legs and hips to your advantage--granted, if you don't have someone properly trained in those types of throws to teach you, you should probably just stick with what you know and strengthen your legs.  Keep working on your ukemi, and have fun!

~Noah


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## Stac3y (Jul 13, 2009)

Never_A_Reflection said:


> As far as throwing a shorter opponent, I suggest you look into foot sweeps and techniques that utilize your legs and hips to your advantage--granted, if you don't have someone properly trained in those types of throws to teach you, you should probably just stick with what you know and strengthen your legs. Keep working on your ukemi, and have fun!
> 
> ~Noah


 
For now, we'll just be doing whatever my partner wants to do, since it's for her test. I think once I get the right feel for balancing the other person's weight, I should be okay. If not, I'll probably start wearing my knee braces again, just in case. And I will be the attacker, not the defender, so I'll mainly be getting thrown instead of throwing. I'm familiar with several kinds of sweeps, and I would probably be more likely to use them than the throws, depending on the circumstances. I'm excited about learning all of them, though. Now for a few thousand more reps...


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## Tensei85 (Jul 14, 2009)

Wow! Congrats, that they chose you as a partner.

I remember back in the day we used to practice Judo classes on wooden floors, talk about pain! But after wooden floors most everything else was a cake walk. We used to have to do break falls and rolls from a small platform that was around 4 feet give or take a few in height from the wooden floor. Talk about injuries, eventually they invested in mat floors. (nice investment, kept the injury toll down as well) But it was good conditioning just not very intelligent. 

Enjoy the experience.


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## Chris Parker (Jul 14, 2009)

When I was much younger, and far stupider, I used to practice rolling and other forms of ukemi wherever I could... unfortunately, the only real space I had to train these were a section of uneven bricks in my backyard. You learn real quick that way, but it still came with a cost.

I got a case of bronchitis at one point (I'm only about 16 here, remember), and got taken off to the doctor. He asked me to lift my shirt so he could listen to my breathing, and stopped. He came around in front of me, and asked with a serious look in his eyes if everything was alright at home. Parents treat me alright? I said yes, fine, why?, and he told me I had a large X of bruises across my back. So at least I was doing the rolls properly, from shoulder to hip rather than across my spine, but the doctor still kept a very wary eye on my folks when we left...


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## girlbug2 (Jul 14, 2009)

Jeez I hope you were practicing on a good quality mat! 

I always thought throws were fun, but then, the padding's very good at our dojo.


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## girlbug2 (Jul 14, 2009)

morph4me said:


> Ukemi is the most important thing I've learned. I haven't been attacked since I started training, but I have fallen. If you have a chance to do a roll instead of a breakfall, do it, rolling takes a lot less of a toll on your body.


 
That's interesting, I'll have to ask my instructor how to practice transitioning from a fall to a roll. That does make a lot of sense.


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## morph4me (Jul 14, 2009)

girlbug2 said:


> That's interesting, I'll have to ask my instructor how to practice transitioning from a fall to a roll. That does make a lot of sense.


 
There are some throws that you won't be able to transition to a roll, you just have to take the fall.  There are others that you can roll out of if you realize what's happening early enough, and still other that you can almost always roll out of. It's a matter of getting comfortable with the rolls and falls, and then letting your body decide which it should do.


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## Stac3y (Jul 14, 2009)

girlbug2 said:


> Jeez I hope you were practicing on a good quality mat!
> 
> I always thought throws were fun, but then, the padding's very good at our dojo.



Er, not really. It was on a concrete garage floor with those interlocking half inch kiddie play mats covering it. That's okay, though; there will not be any mats at all at the black belt test, so I need to toughen up.


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## Stac3y (Jul 14, 2009)

girlbug2 said:


> That's interesting, I'll have to ask my instructor how to practice transitioning from a fall to a roll. That does make a lot of sense.



I think it really is important to learn to be a good uke. We have learned some rolls, too, and they really help prevent injury. I tend to fall down at least once per sparring session (I'm a clutz, and I'll go further than I should to get a point), and learning to roll and do breakfalls has kept me from killing myself. Though I did go down on my elbow last week. Urgh.


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## Ironcrane (Aug 11, 2009)

I still remember one of the first times I was being thrown in Judo. Suddenly couldn't feel the ground anymore as I was pulled up, wave of whirling vertigo as I was going over, and lots, and lots of pain as I hit the mat. Had the wind knocked completely out of me, and I almost had to throw up.
After that, and a few more similar experiences I didn't like working with anyone who wasn't a black belt.


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