Still Mind Aikido — dojo

Falling Safely & Avoid Accidents

Move
Confidently

Improve strength, balance and awareness to avoid falls. Build the skills to fall safely.

Falling Safely

Safety from Falls
For Old and Young

How We Can Help

For Athletes to Children to the Elderly

Still Mind Aikido falling class
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Learning to Fall Safely

Personal Safety Plan

Individual & Group Class

We can offer special short term classes for school age children, athletes and older people. A pre-class consultation is necessary to review individual needs.

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To Fall or Not to Fall

Anyone can find themselves taking a sudden, unexpected fall. Given this reality, people of all ages can benefit from developing certain basic skills that can last a lifetime

As injury from falling has become a major public health issue, society is starting to consider how to address this problem. Book knowledge is not the best approach. One should learn safe falling from those who practice it daily. Where are efficient means of falling taught besides for stuntmen? Aikido, yoga and tai chi also add skills to facilitate fall prevention. We specialize in all three, and have synthesized them into a practical and fun program.

  • Avoid the fall with situational and body awareness.
  • When you trip, leg strength, core strength, and posture can prevent the fall.
  • If you actually fall, learn to blend with the ground by rolling or disperse impact broadly to avoid concentration resulting in injury.
Accidents and Injuries

Avoiding
Accidents/Injuries

Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment

What We Learn Through Practice

Principles
  1. Three most important principles: attention, attention and attention
  2. Best way to get injured: think you can never get injured
  3. Other best way to get injured: be terrified of getting injured
  4. Don't drink, but if you do, remember rule #2

Avoiding Auto Fatalities (NHTSA)

Applying Principles
  1. 31% Drunk Driving - see rule #4.
  2. 28% Speeding - rule #1-3. Pay attention, don't act recklessly, be calm in emergency.
  3. 12% Distracted - rule #1.
  4. 2% Drowsy - rule #1-2. Know you are drowsy.
  5. Est 14,955 lives saved by wearing belts. Rule #2
Success Stories

Real Life
Application

Falling Safely

These real incidents show how relaxation and improved reflexes from martial arts training can save people from serious injuries. These principles apply to any sort of accident.

The principles taught both in aikido and tai chi for balance and safe falling are extremely helpful as we get older.

The following describes an email from a student who trained for only one month.

“I was bicycling home up first avenue at a pretty fair clip. (Citibikes can't go *that* fast. But I was pedaling mine as hard as I could.) Abruptly a bicyclist ahead of me cut me off. Didn't signal. Didn't look. Just turned right into my path…My bike hit the divider and I went flying over the handlebars. I watched as planet earth hurdled at me and held my hands out to break my fall…

I remember looking between my hands at the rapidly approaching asphalt. And just before contact my last thought was (really) ‘this isn't going to hurt so bad.’

Contact! Hands. Right wrist. Forearm. Elbow. Upper arm. Shoulder. And back. Had I come to a stop? Yes. Ok, hands stung. But they looked ok. Anything broken? No. And nope. And no... I'm good.

I got up. A crowd had gathered. ‘Are you ok?’ one asked.

‘Fine.’ I paused. ‘How did that look?’

‘It looked pretty bad.’ I have to admit, I was quietly delighted that I could take a bad bike accident, roll into it [as learned in aikido class], and get up and walk away.”

The next story involved a parent of a child who described how he took a tumble down a hill and rolled as he learned in aikido class.

Accidents happen for both adults and children. Learning to fall in aikido can help. One learns to defray impact through circular motion, whether forwards or backwards. In addition, one can slap the ground with arms and legs to take the impact away from the trunk of the body. Care is given to expel all air from the lungs before impact. Tai chi can also improve balance and leg strength. This can prevent falls and lessen their impact if they occur, but the falling technique in aikido is particularly helpful. In any case, these sorts of accidents thankfully are not daily occurrences. But for those who are fortunate enough to avoid more serious consequences, I am sure they are grateful for the benefits of their practice.

These real incidents show how relaxation and improved reflexes from martial arts training can save people from serious injuries. These principles apply even to car accidents we can face at any time.

I recall playing racquetball in Manhattan on my company team. We were all watching from the second floor, overlooking the court. There was a seating area with an opening to clearly see the action. I was just talking to my friend as one player served the ball. While I was distracted, the ball ricocheted off the other player's racket.

There was an eerie silence, as if the entire room suddenly stopped breathing. I looked down at the court and saw the ball hurtling towards my right eye at top speed. "Oh," I thought knowing it could take my right eye out of the socket, "I guess I should move my head." So I did, about an inch or two to the left.

The ball singed the top of my right ear, and bounced off several walls behind me. I turned to try to get the ball and give it back to the players, but someone else got there first. I leaned back over the opening so I could watch the next serve.

Everyone in the room just stared at me. I didn't understand. Then someone uttered under their breath, "I guess that's what happens when you are a black belt..."

FAQ

Can Martial Arts Prevent Injury from Falls?

Actually, our experience is that falling safely in a surprise accident is quite possible even with a small amount of training in martial arts. We have seen both children, adults, even up to the elderly avoid quite serious injuries just from a few classes where they learned to fall safely. The full article explores these differences in greater depth.

Can Martial Arts Prevent Injury from Accidents?

The best way to avoid being injured in an accident is simply not to get in one. The awareness training in martial arts is precisely what we use to protect ourselves. Then once an unavoidable accident develops, we train to be relaxed under pressure and in uncomfortable circumstances. These skills enable one to make better decisions and lower the risk of injury. The full article explores these differences in greater depth.

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