The Nature of Ukemi

Learning any new skill can be challenging. The martial arts is no exception. There is the exercise which, even if you are young and strong, can be daunting. Because you are using muscles in a way they have never been used before there is an initial period of soreness that has to be overcome and strength that has to be developed. There is a certain level of physical endurance and stamina that is required and this takes a certain amount of time to acquire. There are no quick and easy ways to put your body in this type of condition and so the beginning student must be willing to endure for as long as it takes to bring their physical condition up to an appropriate level.

Then, of course, for many there is the fear of falling, of being thrown, and the initial shock it gives the body and the soreness that occurs as the body and muscles adapt to this new experience. For some, this is truly a daunting challenge and they never fully rid them selves of the fear of falling, of taking ukemi, as it is called. Yet, this ability to take ukemi, fall and hit the ground or in this case the mat, is at the very center of their ability to learn a martial art. As an introduction into the martial arts, it conditions the body and keeps the practitioner (uke) free from injury. This is important on several levels not withstanding the obvious. The martial arts require a great deal of time to learn. To become reasonably proficient takes years of practice. There is a direct proportion between ukemi and injury, in that the more ukemi you take and the more comfortable your body and mind are at taking ukemi, the less chance of injury you have. The less injury a student incurs the more time they can spend practicing. The less time they are away from the practice area or mat, the better and faster their body and their mind will internalize what they have learned and are learning. The more they practice their ukemi, the more comfortable their bodies feel when taking ukemi, the less time they will spend thinking about “the fall” or ukemi and the more time their mind and bodies will spend thinking about the specific movement or technique they are practicing and learning.

Over time it should be the goal of every martial artist to work with people of different sexes, heights, weights, ages and experience levels. It is only in this way that a student will “feel” the many differences that occur when them same technique is applied to or received from the widest variety of potential opponents. Being confident in your ukemi, free from the fear of injury and having your internal gyroscope know where you are in space as you are falling, will allow the practitioner (uke) total freedom in experiencing the technique and expand the number and quality of the techniques which they are capable of practicing and learning.

There are, of course, many things happening at the same time during any one movement or technique. All martial arts movement is essentially learned through a prearranged form, kata, where both the uki and tori understand what is required of them. As such, and as each role is interchanged it is important that both uke and tori “trust” each others movements and protect each other from injury, while allowing each to find their own movement and position within the technique. This is possible only through focus and concentration, a single-mindedness while applying or receiving the technique. It is only after developing good ukemi that both the mind and the body will relax enough to allow this to happen.