learning to fall
and getting back up
“If one hates to be thrown, one cannot expect to become a master of the art. By taking throws time after time, one must learn how to take falls and overcome the fear of being thrown. Then one will become unafraid of being attacked and be able to take the initiative in attack.”
- Jigoro Kano
In martial arts, getting thrown and taking hits are unavoidable. You have to fall and get back up repeatedly. This is fundamental to training.
To prevent injuries and ensure safe, repeated practice, the breakfall is the first and most important technique taught in Japanese martial arts like Judo, Aikido, and Shorinji Kempo. The breakfall prepares you to be thrown, tripped, and unbalanced, allowing you to fall safely and get back up to continue practice.
Besides preventing injuries, the breakfall improves your understanding of body mechanics and balance. You learn how and why a throw works, such as how exactly the technique shifts center of gravity. This enables better execution when it’s your turn to practice the technique.
The breakfall also trains your psychology. Learning to fall safely reduces the fear of falling. It also builds confidence, by knowing you can get back up after being thrown. This trust in your ability to protect yourself and to then be able to get up is crucial in martial arts.
“If one enters a contest with the sole idea of not being defeated, automatically the body becomes stiff and defensive – an unsuitable state for effective sharp action."
- Jigoro Kano
In practice, you can tell the experienced practitioners apart from the novices by their reactions to being attacked and thrown.
Experienced practitioners are relaxed and willingly let themselves be thrown. They have built confidence from being thrown countless times, knowing it's fine to take a fall when it’s unavoidable, trusting their ability to break that fall and get back up.
In contrast, novices tend to be stiff and react aggressively when about to be thrown. Which leads to injuries for both partners. I can say this from experience. I tried a take down on a beginner (who was much younger and much bigger). He fought back hard. We both tripped. I broke my fall, but in the tussle, he fell on me. Injuring my shoulder.
Desperate to stop the attack and prevent being thrown, the novice fights back aggressively, using raw physical power. This “burst of strength” actually comes from a fear of falling.
This is because they have not done enough breakfalls to develop their skill and true confidence. They do not have the confidence because they have not built that trust in their ability to get back up after being thrown.
"It is sometimes a mistake to climb. It is always a mistake never to make the attempt."
- Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
Off the mats and in real life, people often react badly to impending loss or failure. Department heads get mad when KPIs or budgets aren’t met. Management scrambles when they have to book a loss for the quarter. At work, my team were scolded by clients who react aggressively when faced with financial discrepancies. This overreaction is rooted in anxiety and a fear of losing. This fear arises because they have never faced true risks or failures.
To be charitable, admitting defeat is hard, especially when your job and livelihood are on the line. I get it. It feels like discarding a part of your identity. It’s like having to kill a part of yourself. But what is the alternative? To live comfortably without ever knowing what could have been?
Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.
- Batman Begins (2005)
True confidence comes not from winning all the time but from risking the fall and knowing you'll be okay to start again.
We learn to get back up only after facing failure. Embracing failure builds resilience.
So get your reps in: embrace the fall. Learn to fall skillfully. Accept failure with grace, and get back up to do it all over again.
"七転び八起き (Fall down seven, get up eight)."
- Japanese Proverb