When I was a single guy in college, I was invited to go on a hiking trip. By chance, it ended up being me and 6 girls. Of course, I was pretty happy about that! It was a fairly easy hike but it goes up into a somewhat narrow canyon in the red sandstone of Southern Utah so there are a few places that require some scrambling and balance. I was pretty confident in my scrambling abilities and I was able to climb up and down the steep areas with ease. I wouldn’t say I was showing off, exactly, but I was secretly hoping that I would impress the ladies. (C’mon, I was a single college guy, of course I was showing off!) I probably did make an impression because, although I managed the more difficult areas of the hike with ease, on a particularly easy section of trail, I was not being mindful and tripped over a rock! It was the only rock in the trail and it was big enough that I should have noticed it. We were moving quickly so I had some good momentum to make the fall even more humiliating. I popped up off the ground and continued walking like nothing had happened despite the fact that everyone around me was laughing. It turned out, however, that they were not laughing at me for falling, but at the unexpected way that I did it. My momentum sent me into a superman style dive and when my instinct took over I ended up doing some kind of tuck-and-roll move which put me right back on my feet. I had dirt all over my clothes and hair, my face turned red, and there was nothing else to do but to laugh along with my friends and feel grateful that it wasn’t worse.
Now that the funny story is over, I have a confession. This isn’t an isolated story. I could tell you a hundred stories just like this with different situations and people but always ending in me taking a spill when it’s least expected. For a guy who is teaching natural movement and parkour, I’m actually a bit clumsy. I am 6’2″, 165 lbs, and my arms and legs are quite long. My feet are also quite long. Sometimes this makes it easy for me to trip and while I’ve gotten better at managing my lengthy limbs, I still trip up every now and then. However, as illustrated in the story above, this fact has also taught me something very important. It has taught me how to fall.
In the day and age of helicopter parenting, we tend to see falling as one of the worst things that can happen to a kid. However, falling is a skill that can be learned. The goal is not always to take away all risk of falling. Let’s face it, that isn’t possible. There is always a way to fall down and get hurt as you can see from my story. It happens to the best of us! The trick is to learn how to fall. If you can learn some basic falling skills and practice it in a real world situation then it becomes part of your muscle memory. Of course, you have to be realistic and make sure you kid doesn’t fall off a cliff or something but kids will take risk. It is part of our learning experience as we grow. In my youth, my brothers and I enjoyed many extreme sports including mountain biking, mountain unicycling, snowboarding, etc. Once a neighbor asked my mother, in a somewhat accusatory tone, “how can you let your kids do these dangerous things?” My mom’s response surprised me and has stuck with me over the years. She said, “I’ve learned that no matter what you do, boys will get hurt. They always find a way. So I might as well let them enjoy themselves. In fact, they actually get hurt less doing these things than they do when they’re bored.” Regardless of who was right and wrong in that conversation, the fact of the matter is that taking some physical risks at a young age will teach you how to fall better than anything else! (I feel the need to clarify that although we enjoyed extreme sports, we were actually pretty cautious about it. We always wore protective gear, our risks were always calculated, and we ALWAYS had a contingency plan in case things went wrong.)
This isn’t just important for kids. According the CDC, falling is the number one cause of injury and death for older Americans! As we get older, we tend to intentionally avoid situations where our balance is necessary. Why? The answer I hear is, “what if I fall?” Now, this isn’t coming from elderly people, this is coming from people in their 30’s and 40’s. They are afraid of falling so they avoid any situation where there is any chance of falling. Remember how well the body adapts? If you do this, your body is going to loose the ability to maintain a good balance and you pretty much guarantee that you will fall! The bottom line is that at some point, you’re going to fall. You might as well do it in a controlled environment so that you can learn how. If you avoid it at all costs, it is only going to make the fall worse when it comes.
Now that we’ve discussed why it is so important to learn about falling, let’s go into a few basic falling skills that can help.
Be Mindful
First, you need to be mindful enough to know the tipping point. At what point do you realize that you are actually going down? Some people don’t really know it until it’s too late. Those are the people that get hurt because they are unprepared. Simply moving more is the best way to practice mind/body awareness.
Accept the Fall
The second step is acceptance. Once you realize that you’re going to fall. You need to accept that fact and stop resisting. If you continue to resist the fall even when it is imminent, your’e wasting your effort. When the fall begins, commit to it and follow through!
Get Low
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall!” It is true, and I’m not just referring to weight. The further you are from the ground, the more momentum you have and the harder you hit the ground. This is one reason why kids tend to recover so well after a fall. If it is at all possible, bend your knees and help your body come down lower to the ground.
Spot your Landing
This is a trick I learned in snowboarding. If you come off the ground for any reason, you must learn how to fix your eyes on the very spot that you need to land. If you’re out of control this is difficult and it doesn’t always work out but if you can learn how to spot the place where you’re going to land, your whole body responds to that vision inside your head and your instincts react in ways that your conscious mind doesn’t have time to do. It’s actually pretty amazing how this happens! It’s like magic!
Soften your Joints
Obviously, I’m not going to tell you to relax, but if you’re body is too stiff then it’s going to hurt worse. If I hit a stiff board with a baseball bat, it’s more likely to break than if I hit a sheet of rubber that flexes and bends. Allow your knees, hips, elbows, etc. to bend. You’re less likely to break your arm if it bends a little bit! This will allow your muscles to absorb more of the fall energy.
Control your Arms
This is a tricky one, and it takes a lot of practice to gain control of your hands and arms while falling. It is a natural response to use your hands to help control your body when you hit the ground. However, a common occurrence is that people stick their arms out like their hands can magically stop them, or they reach out for something to catch them. Then with their arms outstretched, they are poised for a broken bone. Again, you’ve got to allow your joints to bend. It’s OK to use your hands when you fall but they won’t take the force of your fall so keep them close to your body and remember that it’s usually best to just keep them out of the way.
90° Rule
If you only remember one thing from this lesson, this is it! If you are falling forward or backward, turning your body just 90 degrees can save you! This is especially true if you fall backwards and you can’t spot your landing. Bend your knees, turn slightly and roll down to the side of your rear end. You don’t want to land on your tailbone. Keep turning as you fall and if your joints are soft it will be easier to roll. This one also takes practice. Remember your butt is round and soft, it might get bruised but it’s better than breaking a bone!
Tuck and Roll
If you can figure out how to roll as you land on the ground, it will distribute the force throughout your body and it will re-direct the energy into forward or backward momentum rather than downward momentum. You don’t want to go straight over your head into a summersault! If you do, you’ll smash your head into the ground and that is very dangerous! You want to roll over one shoulder, across your back and hips then back to your feet if you can. If you fall backwards, it is the same process but you go from your butt, across the back then over one shoulder.
Protect your Mellon
For the most part, falls tend to break bones which cause a lack of movement and then goes into a downward spiral from there. However, if you hit your head, you’re going to be in trouble. No matter what happens, you want to protect your head. This is usually a very natural instinct but if you can consciously protect your head then it will keep you safer. This is usually more of a risk when falling backwards. This is why the 90° rule is so important!
I highly suggest doing a few practice falls every now and then. If you’re older and out of practice go ahead and use padding! Get low and go slow! Give it a try and let me know in the comments how it goes!