The Art of Falling

Feet on the ground should be

• Roughly shoulder width

• Side by side, not staggered

• Toes pointing forward

When landing, knees should track over the small toes

Don’t go below 90 degree knee bend for now

• Bottoming out can be really stressful on the knees, but as you become stronger and more advanced, you’ll be able to use this full range of motion

If going low enough in your landing, arms go in between the knees, palms flat, all fingers forward

• This is only used to transition into sprint or capture the last little bit of impact. Your wrists should not be taking a lot of impact

Posture similar to good squat form. Avoid rounding the back and looking down.

Take not that your hand placement on the ground will be relative to your trajectory in the air

The gymnastics roll is not safe for the real world, instead you’ll roll across the spine, starting on your upper back behind one shoulder and traveling to the opposite hip

Tuck your chin into the opposite armpit of the shoulder your going over

Don’t scoop the arm under you as there is a risk of slipping or miscalculation that can lead to striking the top of the shoulder on the ground.

Instead, use the triangle to back method to use as much muscle between your head/neck and the concrete as possible, as you bring the ground up and over your shoulder

You can enter with your feet side by side (as you would landing into the roll from a drop) or staggered (as you would in some falling scenarios), however on the way out of the roll, make sure whatever shoulder you rolled over, that same side leg is further out

When practicing landing into the roll, it’s very important to not have any pauses, instead just one fluid transition

Almost exactly the same as your forward roll, only now your hip orientation will stay 90 degrees off the line of the fall as you enter

Whichever direction you’re falling, the same side hand reaches further out

Take a step back to help guide your hip to the ground while also altering your orientation in order to set yourself up to go across the spine

Use both hands, one on either side of the knee of the hip you’re staring on, to guide yourself softly down

• However, it should be noted that in high impact falls, it is more ideal to keep your hands off the ground due to potential wrist injury risk, but these are extreme cases

As usual, across the spine

• It’s not completely wrong to roll from one hip to the same side shoulder, but your body is stronger across the spine, and it will be better for simplicity sake to train one technique for multiple scenarios

Keep your back rounded in order to avoid kinks and certain strike points of bones

Split your legs open on the line of the fall, keeping them mostly straight

• Opening your legs quickly and extended can slow the speed of your falls rotation and help you more successfully avoid going over if that’s your objective

The leg that goes over first is the same side as the exit shoulder

Both hands over the exit shoulder in that triangle position ready to be used if you accidentally go into a back roll

• You can also use your outside arm to press against the ground and help stop you from going over if you’re somewhere in between half roll and back roll

Roll back into your forward roll exit position to get back to standing

The entire entrance is exactly the same as the half roll

Now as you go over, it’s important to tuck your chin not only down, but your head out away from the exit shoulder

• This will give you maximum clearance to protect your head and neck

Your hand triangle will make its way to the ground, and you’ll push away for more clearance

For additional clearance of the knee and head, you can also snap your hips open, shooting your feet to the sky