Hi, I have recently started aikido training. In our class we learn this kind of forward roll but you sort of roll on your curved arm. Im sure this is a basic move taught in a number of classes and was hoping someone could write step by step instructions for this move or links to a video clip so I can practice this. Thanks, Alex
I'll try - From the right - bend at the torso placing your leading hand, fingers facing your foot, on the floor just in front of your leading foot(your elbow now faces out & your arm is somewhat curved. Tuck your head in to your body as far as you can, tipping your weight forward. Now kick/push up with your feet letting your weight run along the out curved arm & then onto the shoulder & continued across your back which you curve too, keeping your head tucked in all the time finally finishing on your butt or even to a standing position should you get enough forward motion going. The same thing can be done from a kneeling position to make it easier to start with. PLEASE NOTE - I am not a teacher of this move, but i can do it. Anyone else got any tips or think i've got it wrong or different to the way they do it?
Your better off getting help from your aikido sensei. We could describe it, but is still dam hard to picture it with word. Inorder not to develop bad habit, you should have professional guilding you while you practice this. I started fliping on my own, I mean I could flip, but self practice develop many bad habit beyound your imgaination. Now I need a lot more time fixing those bad habit at a local circus school rather than learning it the right way. Trust me is a longer route.
just remember to keep your head low before you do a roll...meaning get your head closer to the ground first!!! and get into the habit of exhaling in every fall you do, including rolls. It will prevent you from getting dizzy and knocking the wind out of you if you take a bad fall.
Thanks for the replies. I will hopefully have more success at tonights lesson (and less bruises tomorrow!)
ALEXMAC, Don't expect good results too soon. It may take a few months before you can do servicable breakfalls and maybe a year or so before they look really good. Your first objective should be to do the breakfall with no pain. After that you can start to put a bit of projection/jump into the fall. If you have any problems the best thing to do is speak with your teacher.
I find forward rolls on ones arm, aren't as useful as a normal gymnastics roll. Sorry It's Late.. lol
Hey Morphus - that was a great explanation! I was able to picture it easily and do it in my head. Very good! I've done about 10 000 rolls I think, since I started and for the life of me, I can't do a back ukemi very well on my left side. Do you people have bad sides too or does that develop with practice and perseverance like anything else? Weee I just answered my own question! Hey Alexmac - get one of the senior students (or a sensei) to spend 10 min showing you how to do it. Having now done them so many times, I can't even remember what the issue was that made me take 2 weeks to learn to roll. Do you people remember your issues if any??
Biggest issue -- fear of breaking my neck! I'm still not very good at ukemi, but getting a little better. We learn that whatever body part is facing the ground is the part that will hit the ground, so don't look down at the mat while you're rolling! Hence the advice to tuck your head in as far as you can. Question for all of you -- in learning this type of roll, how long did it take you not to crash-land on your shoulder? "Side" question -- I'm much less comfortable doing shoulder rolls over my left shoulder than my right.
As with ALL techniques, we have a good side & a not so good side. The important thing is to practise BOTH sides & maybe that little bit more on the weaker side. Yes, i am not so good on the left. It takes a little while to stop crashing down onto your head/neck but land heavily once & you won't make the same mistake againa AGAIN start off in the kneeling position, you shouldn't hurt yourself then. One thing - someone CAN show you but they need to guide you more than anything.
It actually has a few neat applications in grappling, you'd be suprised. If someone has got you from behind you can reach down and grab a leg then shoulder roll, your other foot comes around and hits em in the but and knocks em over. It's a fun move to practice.
Hello Alexmac; In the style that I do, we also train to hold our head a little out to the side as well as down. This allows us to roll down our arm, across our shoulders and across our spine where it is most protected. Tucking your head down & close to your arm can get you rolling across the length of you back, which is okay on mats but hurts really bad on bare ground if you clip your lower spine on pebbles, sticks, etc. Also, the roll your learning now might not be the roll that you will do later on. Some schools teach a modified barrel roll first. So, do what your Sensei says.
Although I am right handed I prefer to lead into a breakfall with my left hand even after a good few years of practice. The style I do teaches that you roll from the shoulder to the opposite hip. That is of course after you have used your slightly curved arm at the start of the breakfall. One thing worth mentioning is that the way of teaching beginners how to breakfall from a kneeling or standing start is from a strong safety point of view. It gives the student the time to get their head tucked in and the speed of the fall is not too great as to cause damage if the fall is not done that well. In fact this is a rather difficult way to do a breakfall as you have to generate your own momentum and from a static start too. After a short while you can do the breakfall from an upright start and step forward onto say the left foot just before you breakfall over your left arm. This makes the breakfall easier to do as you have gathered up some forward motion before launching into the fall. When you get to this stage the breakfall feels and looks a lot smoother. However you should never rush through the early stages of learning as the basics are very important. You and your teacher are the ones who should decide when you go from one stage to another. Practice on your own even if you are fairly senior is not a good idea as even the most experienced person can make a mistake. There should always be someone else present to help out if things go wrong.
The problem I have is that when using the "beginner" positions (like kneeling), I just don't have enough momentum (especially true for backward rolls), but I'm not good enough to do these from a standing start. Trying to strike a balance there. This is really only a problem for forward rolls; the backward ones don't give me much trouble, except I don't always get over all the way (my center of gravity just isn't in the right place now; that should change with time).
A good push off with your feet is the answer to your problem(keep your legs bent) - then keep the momentum going, don't try to do it a bit at a time, once you've started your movement, it should get faster as you go, not slow up with you ending up in heap - my students do the same thing, they're afraid they'll look daft, but thats not important.
How about summersaults? Can you explain the propper way to execute those? I know I could do it when I was 4, but my C of G was much lower back then. I'm 6'4 now, and drop like a rock!!!
Thanks for the replies. Getting better alot of it I guess is going for it and having enough momentum to do the whole movement. We do practice on mats but they are not the softest things so sounds silly but found practicing on my much softer double bed helped a bit to get the initial movement as it didnt hurt so much when wrong! Thanks for the video clip link KickChick. Alex
