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Old 06-16-2007, 08:41 PM   #22
Don
Dojo: aikido of charlotte
Location: Charlotte
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 112
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Re: Teaching Rollfalls

I agree that you should not be trying to teach someone if you yourself don't have a good grasp.....as others have said.....That all said, you are probably going to go ahead anyway so here is what I do...to teach newb's....with ample thanks to a post from Ann Marie Girl....about how her sensei got her to roll.

First I will tell you that we do not have a Swain or Zebra Mat system, but foam blocks supporting a plywood subfloor with ample foam over that and a tarp cover...sprung floor but not too mushy.

I also start newbs on a second piece of the thick foam. So they are rolling on a very forgiving surface and that allays some of their fears.

Now, forget the unbendable arm supporting you crap. No one can SUPPORT themselves in midair on their arm in an unbendable arm position. The point as I see it and having learned the hard way is that the supposed unbendable arm is a guide to keep your form circular. I will repeat . YOU CANNOT SUPPORT YOUR BODY WEIGHT with your arm. Incidental contact is one thing. Expecting support is another.

So okay....if I can't support myself, how can I possibly roll. As Ann Marie Girl's sensei (unnamed but a smart dude) said to her, (more or less - and what I tell new students) the object of a front roll is (a) not to go head over heels but diagonally across your back, and (b) making the first significant point of contact, your upper back (around the scapula region or at the upper end of the lattisimus dorsai)

Well that certainly seems a nebulous instruction... Well yeah, but when I touch the place when they are supposed to first touch down, they understand intuitively. So I start them in a crouched position, explain that the arm acts as a guide for circularity, and then tell them to visualize pushing off and twisting their body so that the first point of contact is as described above. Works EVERY TIME. I have yet to not get anyone male or female doing decent basic front rolls in any more than 20 minutes. And they are condident because they start on double foam, and understand how to move their body to have their back take the roll. Students intuitively understand that "unbendable arm" ain't and they as a result are not scared.

I then have them do front rolls slowly for a while on double foam and then have them do them on the regular mat. I also show them the difference in feeling of pushing themselves over and being given energy. I use Kaiten-Nage. Now they aren't ready for full blown technique rolls. But they can quickly learn this way and it gets them over what I think is a big fear factor, especially for older students and smaller women.

Try it. See if it works for you...
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