View Single Post
Old 11-28-2006, 10:47 AM   #41
Cady Goldfield
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,035
United_States
Offline
Re: To Slap the Ground or Not

Quote:
Jun Akiyama wrote:
PS: On topic, Ushiro sensei advocates not slapping with the hand when taking ukemi as that may lead to injury of the hand and arm. Rather, he has shown how to take ukemi by tucking the arms in close to the body (kind of like a boxing guard) and "stomping" on the ground with the foot/leg further from the ground. So, when falling on the right side, the left foot crosses over in front of the right knee/thigh and the sole of the left foot absorbs the falling impact.

-- Jun
Thank you for that, Jun (who babysits the play behavior on AikiWeb with the patience of a daycare worker!). I believe that over time, aikidoka, judoka and others come to realize that adding force to a breakfall is counterproductive. Odd how common sense ain't so common (tip of the hat to Mark Twain).
  Reply With Quote