Why would I want to learn how to fall?
Learn to fall and roll in ways that save your body and help prevent or minimize injuries from falls that can happen in our every-day lives. Major injuries from falls are broken or dislocated wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips. Torn, damaged bruised tissues and tendons are also common injuries from falls.
Let me share a couple of real examples from situations that happened to a couple of our students.
Nate is a father of three and had been training in the adult martial arts class with us for a couple of years. He and his family were active in the outdoors in Northern Nevada. On this occasion he was at the ice skating rink with his kids. Nate used to play ice hockey and was also an accomplished ice skater. He was holding his toddler while skating around the edges. A fast moving kid came by and swiped Nate’s legs out from under him. Nate learned to to fall correctly by training in martial arts. He told us that his practice and experience falling was what helped him survive this fall without his child contacting the ice and without letting his head whip and knocking himself unconscious.
Joseph is in his late 50s. He started training in our adults martial art class a few years before he retired. Joseph wanted a way to stay fit and learn self defense. Part of his training in every class was practicing rolls and falls. One day Joseph came in to let us know that all his training had just paid off. He had slipped on the ice in his driveway and fell. Joseph used the skills he had been practicing. He didn’t break any bones or knock his head. The training he had been doing to prepare for saving his body during a throw had just saved him in the real world.
Taihenjutsu is an important part of the traditional Japanese martial art that we teach. Taihenjutsu means: the art of saving oneself from falls, trips or throws by rolling and break-falling (a way of falling to maximize body mechanics that minimize injury). Perhaps the most important of the various arts encompassed by Ninpo, Taihenjutsu. Components of this discipline are also incorporated in advanced ground fighting techniques.
