Jiu Jitsu Básico Lesson 2: Self Defense, The Breakfall

[MadSiss Productions]

Jiu Jitsu Básico with Professor Ricardo Tubbs is a series designed for the jiu jitsu beginner. Follow Ricardo as he teaches you the basics of jiu jitsu and the foundation for every jiu jitsu player.

In Lesson The Break Fall, Professor Ricardo shows you how to break the fall for self defense, one of the most important but overlooked aspects of self defense. Join us at Da Firma Training Center

 

[shunyata]

Proper Ukemi is the best self defense against gravity.

 

[EGDM]

I HATE OP's method of falling. It's better than nothing if you have absolutely no choice other than to go straight back on your head, but you're MUCH better off turning your hips to allow yourself to rotate through the fall. Any momentum you can cycle through and retain at the end of the sequence is energy that didn't get absorbed into your body as impact.

People make fun of Aikido for a lot of justified reasons, but they've developed the technical side of falling leaps and bounds beyond other arts. Rotating with proper limb placement (in line with your fall - putting them out to the side accomplishes almost nothing) means that neither your spine nor head is at risk of hitting the ground, you're using four limbs instead of two to dissipate energy, you can slow your rotation by expanding your structure, and what energy does get absorbed over your body is spread over most of a second instead of a single impact. This is an objectively better outcome for your body.

Judo people regularly cringe at BJJ ukemi. After 12 years of Aikido I cringe at most Judo ukemi. There's a lot to learn.



(Instructor starts crouching, but the same thing can be done falling backwards with 2, 1, or no feet on the ground.)

 

[CFGroup]

Breakfall?

That's not a brakfall son!

Silly Jujitsu wabbits!

This is a breakfall!

On pavement at the end.

 

[Thrawn33]

Ukemi has a higher chance of saving you from bad shit than any other technique in BJJ, Judo or Wrestling.

 

[Necromantic]

Proper Ukemi is the best self defense against gravity.

Would you stop drop and roll during a volcano? Let's not forget the lava in da streetz.

 

[BJJ Coffee Drinker]

Breakfall?

That's not a brakfall son!

Silly Jujitsu wabbits!

This is a breakfall!

On pavement at the end.

Oh My Goodness. that was straight up boss level

 

[Thrawn33]

Oh My Goodness. that was straight up boss level

I remember an early morning practice where after sprints outside Coach asked who was hardcore....he then did all his ukemi on the concrete in the parking lot...we were insane

 

[Thrawn33]

Judo people regularly cringe at BJJ ukemi. After 12 years of Aikido I cringe at most Judo ukemi. There's a lot to learn

Not to be a dick, but you keep cringing. I've taken enough falls in randori and competition to know what works...

 

[RJ Green]

Aikido is completely devoid of the 'martial' aspect of martial arts. It's basically a cross between a tea ceremony and revisionist-history LARPing for fat dudes in ponytails who can't Judo good.

 

[EGDM]

Not to be a dick, but you keep cringing. I've taken enough falls in randori and competition to know what works...

Without exaggeration I've taken over a hundred thousand breakfalls, including in randori and competition, on surfaces ranging from mats to hardwood to asphalt. I can't judge your ukemi without seeing it, but most of what I've seen from Judo (yes, I've formally trained in Judo as well) stops at the point of "you didn't get injured; you're good to go!" There's a lot of room for refinement beyond that.

 

[CFGroup]

Without exaggeration, I've taken over a hundred thousand breakfalls, including in randori and competition, on surfaces ranging from mats to hardwood to asphalt. I can't judge your ukemi without seeing it, but most of what I've seen from Judo (yes, I've formally trained in Judo as well) stops at the point of "you didn't get injured; you're good to go!" There's a lot of room for refinement beyond that.

Those Kanai Sensei( Judo and Aikido)NEA students take wicked good Ukemi. There's a guy back at Tohoku Judo club who's duel Shodan and super slick with his technique both throwing and getting thrown. I Always use to seek him out back east and beat the piss out of each other cause it was hard to really get my hooks into him. Wicked good Ukemi!

 

[EGDM]

Those Kanai Sensei( Judo and Aikido)NEA students take wicked good Ukemi.

Heh. I'm a Kanai lineage sandan and trained at NEA for several years during grad school. I probably know your friend.

Aikido is completely devoid of the 'martial' aspect of martial arts. It's basically a cross between a tea ceremony and revisionist-history LARPing for fat dudes in ponytails who can't Judo good.

I don't deny any of this, which is why I've long since quit in favor of BJJ (currently brown belt). Ukemi, though, is one of the few aspects where real technical development has been made.

 

[RJ Green]

good ukemi is necessary to train competitive Judo. you have to throw to git gud, which means you have to fall.

i'll admit that the goofy shit from Hapkido got me good at falling out of anything, but Judo is what got me good at being able to fall hard

aikido/hapkido throws tend to go across the mat, most judo/rasslin/sambo throws are into (or through) the mat

 

[shunyata]

Would you stop drop and roll during a volcano? Let's not forget the lava in da streetz.

I've actually successfully performed Tobikomi Yoko Ukemi on concrete while holding a toddler (my son, ~ 20 months at the time) in shorts and a tshirt.

My wife later told me that if I had landed on him and hadn't stuck the fall she would have divorced me.

He was super interested in my long board back then but couldn't stay on it unless I held him and he loved just cruising. Then we hit a rock and went airborne. He never touched the ground.

I no longer let children under the age of 8 use my longboard but the point of this story is that proper ukemi can save your life, the lives of others, and maybe even your marriage.