Break Fall Techniques Applied to Sports

Aug 27, 2014
3 min read

The most glaring oversight by the contemporary sports community as a whole is the failure to teach break fall techniques to athletes. Break fall (ukeme wazas) techniques have been taught in traditional martial arts for centuries. They are taught to beginning judo students in every judo dojo worldwide. Perform an internet search for "break fall technique" and you will see that the information on how to perform break falls is readily available.

How you hit the ground when you fall matters from both a performance and injury prevention standpoint. Correct break fall technique teaches the student how to protect their head and spine during a fall. How to protect themselves when being thrown or slammed head first vertically into the mat (tatame). If maximizing the athlete's safety and minimizing their risk of injury is a priority break falls are a must. Many concussions on the playing field can be prevented using break fall techniques. A quarterback who has been hit, wrapped up and is being driven into the ground can protect his head the same way a judoka (judo student) can on the mat.

Rolling break falls allow a martial artist or athlete to fall and roll immediately back to their feet. This is critical when sparring so the martial artist can immediately defend themselves after being thrown. It also uses the kinetic energy acquired when falling to help propell the student back to their feet. All of their kinetic energy is not dissipated with ground impact so they get less "banged up" when falling frequently during training. It's critical in many sports, football and soccer for example, for athletes to regain their feet as soon as possible to resume play. Falling randomly and scrambling to your feet is not the quickest way to do this.

Thankfully it is uncommon, but occasionally an elite athlete ends their season or severely impairs their ability to perform because of a falling injury. The injury is not caused by repetitive stress, it's caused by acute trauma. This happened to Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics in 2011. He fell and straightened his arm to break his fall. When he hit the ground his elbow hyperextended. He tried to play through the injury but his performance was significantly affected. One of the first things students are taught when performing front or side break falls is to NOT hit the ground with the arms straight. The shock of impacting the ground is transferred to the bones and joints with minimal reduction through muscle contraction. Hitting the ground with the arm bent correctly with the correct amount of muscle tension allows the force of impact to be reduced by the arm flexing correctly during impact.

Sometimes the results of falling injuries can be catastrophic; not just season ending but mobility ending. We don't have a cure for spinal cord injuries. There are many activities that can result in an unexpected head first falls. Bicycliing, skiing and snowboarding, horseback riding, skateboarding all subject participants to potential head first falls.

Practicing break falls can be dangerous. My first serious injury as a martial artist occurred training in break falls. They are not for beginners to attempt on their own. You need proper mats to fall on and someone with training to correct your technique mistakes. We recommend spending a minimum of three months in traditional judo training or in any traditional martial art that teaches break falls to beginners. These techniques are easy to master. We have taught them to children successfully for years. They need to be more than just taught. They have to be practiced correctly with enough frequency for the subconscious to acquire the techniques. This takes 2-3 months.

We also include basic break fall techniques in our athlete training and our train the trainer certification programs for coaches and martial art dojos.