martialarts.myfreeforum.org

Paul · Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 3

OK, here's one to pick all of your brains on. How do I improve my ukemi? I used to be able to roll better than I can now but after I crunched my shoulder once I now bottle out. This is particularly stupid when the point at which I bottle out is as I'm heading towards the mat. It hurts. So, useful tips anyone?

admin · Site Admin Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 18

We had one student who struggled for years with ukemi, bottling out halfway through. We got him rolling around the large ball as we do with the kids, worked wonders!
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Admin
United Dojos
The Martial Arts Professionals
Teaching Martial Arts in Somerset for 20 years
www.uniteddojos.co.uk

superhybridfighter · Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 9 Location: Taunton

another safe way 2 roll is to start from a kneeling position, this is how i begin to teach students in ninjutsu, when they build confidence they can practice from a standing position, best advice when practicing is to relax and begin slowy to build technique and confidence then you can increase speed, when relaxed the body will naturally roll, if ur tence you become rigid and this is where problems and injury will occur, if you have previously injured your self you become fearfull of falling thus causing tension and rigidness, by starting from kneeling you wont fall and this should help you feel more comfortable and improve technique, once you have re-built confidence then try again from standing, hope this helps, feel free to contact me at dojo for any assistance.

david (ninja dave)
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Sarah · Joined: 15 Dec 2007 Posts: 1

Rolling, falling over, it's really not natural for grown-ups. When I first started training I had no trouble falling over, probably due to all the beer I drank, it's something I did alot! But after a few really nasty bangs it became a great deal harder. The first thing I need to say is this....matrial arts is not about falling over, it's about staying on your feet for as long as possible and making the other person fall over - hard.

Now, that said, we need to fall over because it makes us safe and it can be fun. It also looks good, but is visual impact important when we are training? Should we not train to within our body's and our mind's capabilities? After all, this is what we have to work with in the street. Obviously we need to push ourselves but if we push ourselves to far to fast and become hooked on one aspect, do we not lose sight of the goal? If we gain more confidence in other area's of our art, will the rest not fall into place with time? I feel we may concentrate too much on just one aspect of our training, especially if it doesn't come naturally, and therefore loose hope of acheiving our goal because we are defeated by one thing. If you cannot ford a river at the same place as everyone else, would you not walk a different path to find a way across in your own time and in your own way?

As to practical advice? I believe in breathing. It forces me to relax before I go. I carry this into every action I take in martial arts. The breath comes first the rest follows.

Gaining confidence takes time and patience! Hope this helps.

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Sarah Luddington

United Dojos
The Martial Arts Professionals
Teaching Martial Arts in Somerset for 20 years
www.uniteddojos.co.uk