by Robert Wolfe
Karate or kung-fu practitioners watching their first aikijutsu or aikidō practice often exclaim, “Hey, that guy wasn’t thrown...he went with the technique.” Actually, their perception is correct. In reality, there are few throws in aikijutsu — most techniques are actually kansetsu-waza (joint dislocating techniques). In our practice, we allow a window for ukemi and execute the techniques as throws, so that we can get up and do it again. Ideally, uke (the person being thrown) strives to stay about ¼" ahead of the technique, and learning the aerial breakfall is one of the best ways to insure uke can always get himself above and over a potentially dangerous situation.
An instructor can’t blame some students for avoiding aerial breakfalls, however, when it is often the lack of a systematic means to teach the technique that proves to be the primary barrier to learning. It’s one thing for a kid who’s practically a professional skateboarder or an adult with an extensive background in gymnastics to go for an aerial breakfall just on the basis of watching and imitating, but it’s something else entirely to expect the same level of daring from the typical beginner.
Watching experienced practitioners perform the mae-ukemi, I realized they always execute a very precise and consistent series of actions to set-up and complete the breakfall. The steps can be summarized as:
| Standing in a relaxed, ready stance, raise your arms from mid-level until your lead hand reaches the level of your eyes, and, arching your back a little, turn the line of the hips and shoulders slightly, such that your torso is facing squarely to the front. Adjusting the alignment of the body at this point insures landing forces will be received on the muscle groups of the spinal erectors, and not to the outside of the torso, on the ribs. |  |
| Take a very small step forward with your lead foot, placing just the ball of the foot on the mat. The step is intended to keep a base leg directly under the center of rotation, to assist with the launch. Do not step so far that your center drifts forward, or you will add an undesirable forward motion to the ukemi. |  |
| On a one-two count, drop your hands vertically and, then, |  |
| Lean straight forward such that your upper body stops at an angle about 20-degrees above horizontal. Leaning forward establishes the base around which your body will rotate in mid-air, and allows transmission of the energy derived from dropping the arms to the legs. For optimal effect, it is absolutely imperative your back remain arched throughout steps 3 and 4. Curling the trunk forward after you drop your arms, in the manner of a crunch-type abdominals exercise, will place your head closer to the mat during the rotation phase, with potentially crippling or lethal consequences. Also avoid rolling the upper body in the direction of your lead shoulder, which will cause you to undercut the launch. |  |
| As your weight loads onto your lead foot, vigorously swing your rear leg up, toward the ceiling. The rear leg is the main source of power for an aerial breakfall. Since the strength of the upward kick is the primary factor in determining the amount of altitude you will have available as you complete your rotation, be certain to kick straight up, and not in an arc toward your head. Think of striking the ceiling with the heel of your rear foot. |  |
| Augment the power of the upward kick by “punching off” with the ball of your base foot. The direction of this push should be up and a bit toward the rear, again to maximize altitude. |  |
| As you complete your rotation, relax, look for the mat, and position to execute a proper breakfall. |  |
| Your slapping arm will impact the mat first, followed by your back, buttocks, and kicking leg/outside edge of rear foot. Make the landing phase last as long as possible, since the top priority at that point is maximum distribution of impact forces, both in terms of time and over portions of the body. One thing that can help a lot is practicing to bring the sole of the base foot into contact with the mat as early in the landing as you can manage. |  |
It occurred to me we could use the above pattern as the basis for a systematic method of learning the aerial breakfall. When new students join our aikijutsukai, they are introduced to ukemi through the teaching method described in “The Science of Ukemi,” Journal of Asian Martial Arts V8:N3. Either as a subset of the standard ukemi methodology or as additional work on just the aerial, I employ the following method over several sessions, usually during open mat periods and/or prior to regular classes.
When a student has become reasonably proficient in basic ukemi, and has demonstrated consistent ability to bring his rear leg straight over the top in forward rolls, I introduce him to the aerial breakfall by having him slowly walk through the first five steps in the sequence. The student is specifically told to gently raise the rear leg just a foot or two from the mat, rather than to kick, so that there is no chance he will actually leave the ground.
I also have the student count the steps aloud, as he performs them, so I have assurance he has memorized the pattern and can repeat it flawlessly before I move on to the next phase of training.
The next phase involves the use of spotters — assistants who are responsible for catching the student and preventing injury in the case of a botched ukemi. We always used spotters in my gymnastics days when learning new moves, so it seemed reasonable the concept was appropriate to ukemi.
We first use a spotter as a brace, to permit the student to learn a proper, powerful upward kick with he rear leg without having to worry about entering the rotation phase. The spotter stands in front of the student, in a forward-leaning stance, and places his hands securely on the student’s shoulders. The student can then kick hard enough to lift himself into the air, but still feel safe in the process.
Once the kick is working smoothly, with the requisite power, we add a second spotter to support the student during his initial attempts at a complete ukemi.
After checking to be sure the student’s obi is tied tightly, a spotter stands to either side of the student and takes a one-handed grip on the student’s belt, at the point of the student’s hip. The spotter standing on the student’s left side should grasp with his left hand, palm down, and the spotter on the right should take a similar grip with his right hand. In this way, the spotters’ forearms can supinate in the direction of the ukemi rotation.
It’s very important that spotters understand they must maintain a tight grip until the student is on the mat — I once made the mistake of trying to let go halfway through a good repetition (on the notion I could allow the student to complete the final third of the ukemi entirely on his own). As I released my grip, my left, middle-finger caught in the student’s uniform and I strained ligaments in one of the joints. Dumb.
But as long as everyone understands what they need to do, the next phase is easy.
The student takes one or two warm-up reps, counting aloud the steps in the sequence, and kicking only hard enough to lift up on the toes of his base foot. When instructed to do so, the student adds full power to the upward kick, and executes the aerial breakfall. If necessary, the spotters lift to keep the student well clear of the mat during his rotation. The spotters may also have to sink to a kneeling position to maintain their balance and secure grips.
We check the student’s obi frequently, to make sure it’s not coming untied.
As soon as the student is comfortable with the process, and the spotters can tell the student is not depending on their support to complete the ukemi, we switch the manner of spotting.
Instead of holding the obi, the spotters place the palm of their same hands on the front surface of the student’s hips. The spotters are now providing less direct support, but are still in position to save the student from a serious mistake. Just as importantly, the student feels the contact of the spotters’ hands, and is reassured.
If all continues to go well, the student will soon be placing virtually no weight on the spotters’ hands. At that point, one spotter can be dismissed, and the practice continues.
Although the spotter still establishes hand contact prior to each repetition, he gradually lowers his hand on subsequent reps so that the student, without realizing it, will actually be executing the entire ukemi without assistance. The spotter remains poised to catch the student, if necessary.
After the student has completed several repetitions (with my hand moved to my side), I inform him that he’s doing everything on his own. And then I spot the next several reps, with my hand in constant contact, to be certain the student doesn’t choke once he knows he’s flying solo.
Another sequence of progressively less spotting is usually all it takes for the student to be comfortable and confident with adding the aerial breakfall to his kata, and I have the relief of knowing another fledgling member of the aikijutsukai has added considerable assurance of safety to his practice.
Robert Wolfe is chief instructor of the Itten Dōjō, a school of kenjutsu and aikijutsu located near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He can be contacted through e-mail addressed to ittendojocho@cs.com