I have fallen twice since surgery. Once up the stairs. Thankfully it was not down the stairs! I had no time to think how I should fall. Every thing was just reaction.
I have fallen twice since surgery. Once up the stairs. Thankfully it was not down the stairs! I had no time to think how I should fall. Every thing was just reaction.
It's absolutely likely that people who have grappling experience will land better than those who don't. I've experienced this, as have the others who've spent time getting tossed around. The thing is that this was a product of lots of hours on the mats doing things other than learning how to fall. I don't think that just teaching someone fall breaks and maybe even practicing them would be very helpful. It's not the fact that someone taught us how to fall break at some point, it's that we've spent time moving, being pushed/pulled, being yanked off balance, falling and recovering over and over again in a state of fatigue.
So the idea of teaching someone how to fall doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But the idea that a reflexive reaction can't be ingrained through training/repetition isn't right either since it forms the basis of any effective performance at the edge of any person's ability. It's just that what's required to make that useable for an 80 year old person would be stupid. Using a barbell to get that person stronger provides for much better returns and much lower risk.
“There are three types of falls...There are a few other types of falls...”
Do you think a “front fall” is better for an 80 year old woman (keeping with the original parameters of this thread) than a “rolling fall?”
Dude, give it up. Neither is gonna work for this use case. Best to really try not to fall.
If you’re 80 and you do, best of luck.
Or said another way, "Oh well, it's just fate." Let's not bother. They'll die soon enough anyway. See how taking the extreme case and spinning it works?
I've said this already and it bears repeating. In the interest keeping the conversation polite, my original post in this thread didn't mention the elderly.
No, you don't know when you are going to get thrown on the mat - if you did you would do something different so you wouldn't get thrown. I can tell you outside of the mat, I took a fall at home on concrete steps on stairs because I slipped. I had no idea I was going to fall. I can recount many stories from Judo and BJJ people who will tell you that learning how to fall did help them in falling on and off the mat.
Again, as I said before, you can learn how to fall, it is muscle memory, and it can and does work both on and off the mat - this was the point I was refuting as the idea was this could not be learned and would not apply to situations on and off the mat. This idea is simply wrong.
And, once again, as I said, for an old person who is untrained in anything, I think getting stronger would be better than learning how to fall just simply for the very basic activities of daily living, i.e., getting out of a chair which I see old people struggle with sometimes.
Finally, Bruce Lee is non-sense and so is every other martial art except a few - BJJ, Judo, Wrestling (i know not a martial art), sambo, etc.
You're not getting my point. It doesn't matter if your original post mentioned elderly. The thread turned to that context and you continued to participate.
It IS fate that a front fall for an elderly person will result in teeth meeting concrete. It is fate that a front roll for an elderly person will result in some unwanted breaking bones. Do miracles happen, yes.
I am suggesting that time is far better spent helping them get stronger, helping them to (hopefully) prevent falling, as well as mitigating the risks of falling, period. Front falls and forward rolls ain't the way to do it.
I disagree that falls=broken bones for the elderly. The damage can be mitigated or prevented. The teeth and nose can be saved by simply turning the head, the way I learned in Judo and Jujitsu, and the way I teach it. If you read the link to my original post where I detailed how to fall, you will see that I didn't teach anything but the backfall. What's more, I specifically said that the rolling front fall is not useful for the general population.
You appear to be reading selectively. I have repeatedly said in this thread and the linked thread that strength building is primary and the FIRST thing to pursue. And, once again, YOU are the only one talking about forward rolls.
Heh. What, no love for the atemi's?