Falling with style at the Independent Karate School

First things first: thanks again to all the Independent Karate School students, parents, and instructors who turned out this weekend with our community service teams, in support of two major charitable events.  Everything seemed to go very well, and it's always great to see our school's positive spirit in action.

As we move forward with our normal busy schedule of self-defense classes, I am reminded of something I noticed at our Fall Festival demonstration, the Saturday before last.

At the Festival, one of our senior instructors was demonstrating defense against a "haymaker" punch, the kind where the attacker would be running at you and making a big sideways swing at your head.  He made the technique he used look pretty easy, (which I assure you it isn't), blocking the punch with one hand, grabbing his attackers behind the head with the other, and tossing them to the ground with a turn of his body.

Impressive, right?  But in a way, the actions of the two young black belts who were "playing" the attackers were even more striking.  Under normal circumstances, if someone threw you to the ground by this method. . . well, most people would end up staying on the ground.  For a while.  Instead, our students rolled with the throw, slapped the ground hard with their arms, and bounced back up.  In seconds they were ready to throw the "haymaker" again, and be taken down again. 

What's going on?  It's not just that it's good to be young.  Our students took no harm from all the falling they did because they have been taught how to fall.

Learning to fall can involve a few bumps, of course.  And no form of falling practice will make you invulnerable.   But it's a pretty useful life skill, in addition to being helpful for karate training.  On at least one occasion, I am pretty sure that this training saved one of my kids from potentially serious injury, and for that I am very grateful.   

Curious about what we teach the Independent Karate School?  Feel free to visit any scheduled class!  Classes in Merrimack are held every Tuesday and Thursday night at 6 pm, at the VFW post near the Common Man.  Hope to see you there!