The Art of Falling Down

Winter is coming!  With that magical winter wonderland scenery comes some very icy and slippery surfaces, which can be very dangerous and result in serious injury.  While I will discuss the philosophical "Falling Down" in a future blog, today I am going to talk about the physical act of falling down!
   One of the first items that are taught in my Karate Dojo is a set of techniques known as Breakfalls.  Simply put, they teach the student how to fall forward, backward, and to the side as safely as possible, and while a live demonstration is the easiest way to show it, here I will explain the what and the why of our most basic breakfall, the double breakfall.  This is for when you fall backwards and you are about to land on your back.  The student crosses their arms in front of their chest, tucks their chin so they don't bang their head on the ground, and slaps the ground on either side as their back hits simultaneously.  While it does sound painful for the hands (it is) in reality what the student is doing is spreading out the force of the impact over a wider area, thus reducing the chance of injury, as opposed to doing no breakfall and having 100% of the force go directly into their back (not fun.)
   So, this winter, stay safe, keep your eyes open for black ice (instead of staring at your phone while you're walking) and learn how to breakfall!  Come on into my Dojo, for the sake of keeping you safe, I'll teach anyone how to breakfall for free.