Advocacy & Safety - Taking A Fall.

Can anyone share their knowledge, or perhaps an article, on how to properly take a fall?

Unless youre a stuntman in a movie, its impossible.
An impromptu fall like the kind we take are impossible
to control or manipulate the outcome of despite what
the "had to lay it down" types might say :)

If this were controlable, why would anyone fall ? ;)

Tuck in your head, take it on a shoulder or hip or some such and roll with it.
A fall is a lot of energy. If you focus it in space and time by putting something rigidly in front of it, that part of the body will break. If you twist yourself so that you disperse the force in time by presenting a 'soft' rolling surface that contacts in different places as the impact happens, the energy is not focused in a damaging manner. Furthermore, rolling redirects the force to be more parallel to rather than perpendicular to the surface. Don't try to stop yourself from rolling, in fact try to roll a bit further than you think you have to.

Easier said than done.

You have a far better chance of minimizing injury by reducing the risks of falling than looking for a recovery plan.

I spent a decade + studying traditional martial arts and, after that, various modern mixed martial arts.

A big part of the training is learning to take falls since, if you don't, you'll end up the dojo equivalent of road kill.

I once flew over the bars after plowing into an unseen object after a night on the town. I managed to tuck into a standard forward roll and escape injury even though I hit pavement and was not wearing a helmet.

That said, good falling skills will be difficult, if not impossible, to learn from a book or whatever. I would likely have been better off ensuring I had a helmet and light rather than testing my ukemi. Oh, and not drinking and riding!

I used to ride motorcycles on the road and track and I never once entertained any fantasy that my relatively advanced falling skills would protect me in any "off." I certainly was curious what might happen, but not to the point that I intended to do anything about it.

Twice in motorcycle accidents, I avoided what could have been serious injury by jumping over the car at the last second when collision became inevitable. Didn't quite clear it either time, but the impacts were glancing. Not falling as such, but...

Twice in motorcycle accidents, I avoided what could have been serious injury by jumping over the car at the last second when collision became inevitable. Didn't quite clear it either time, but the impacts were glancing. Not falling as such, but...

I couldn't help but picture you bunny hopping completely over a car on your motorcycle... :innocent:

best way to take a fall is not to tense up, if you try and catch yourself you'll end up doing more harm.

This works for me.

Most falls are going to be going around a corner. In that case, try to fall BACK, slide on your back and butt. Most important, don't put your arms out to break the fall as this can easily lead to a broken wrist, collarbone. Track racers say, don't let go of the bars, that way you can't put your arm out to break your fall.

Now the other type of crash, which is thankfully less prevalent, is hitting something straight on (pothole, downed biker, dog, big debris) which is very dangerous. This will usually cause an endo. In that situation, the only thing to do is tuck and roll, hopefully landing on your shoulder or back instead of doing a face plant.

And as difficult as it is to do, RELAX. Limp body parts don't break, its when you tense up that you usually break something.

I spent a decade + studying traditional martial arts and, after that, various modern mixed martial arts.

A big part of the training is learning to take falls since, if you don't, you'll end up the dojo equivalent of road kill.

I once flew over the bars after plowing into an unseen object after a night on the town. I managed to tuck into a standard forward roll and escape injury even though I hit pavement and was not wearing a helmet.

Heh. I did the same thing once, except it was a plainly visible stopped car :em:. I only did judo training for a year or two when I was in primary school too. Funny how some things stick, and instinct takes over.



That said, good falling skills will be difficult, if not impossible, to learn from a book or whatever. I would likely have been better off ensuring I had a helmet and light rather than testing my ukemi. Oh, and not drinking and riding!

I think practicing standard martial arts falls and tumbles in the backyard on a mat would certainly help.


I used to ride motorcycles on the road and track and I never once entertained any fantasy that my relatively advanced falling skills would protect me in any "off." I certainly was curious what might happen, but not to the point that I intended to do anything about it.

Yeah, judo falls are only useful up to a point, but worth learning nonetheless.

As for biking pratfalls:

1 - Keep your arms and chin in.
2 - Take sideways falls on the shoulder/hip
3 - For over the bar falls, try to roll.
4 - For high speed crashes, relax, and pray.

Correct
http://www.breaktaker.com/albums/pictures/oops/BikeCrash.jpg

Incorrect
http://www.tonyrogers.com/humor/images/chinese_bicyclist_01.jpg

My 80-year-old neighbor just survived a fall down a flight of steep stairs with a minor bruise. His secret? Just be relaxed as possible. It's the same way drunk drivers get less injured in a crash.

Don't foosh (fall on outstretched hand). It leads to broken bones.

Tuck and roll, baby. Tuck and roll.

wow, thanks for all the responses. good looking out.

yeah I took fall today, albeit on the trail and did a nice tuck and roll. I managed to come out of a pretty high speed endo with a minor scrape. It was actually kind of invigorating

[QUOTE=JayTee705;7292029]I spent a decade + studying traditional martial arts and, after that, various modern mixed martial arts.

A big part of the training is learning to take falls since, if you don't, you'll end up the dojo equivalent of road kill.

QUOTE]

There it is. I've had a lot of martial arts training, as well. Tuck & roll is what it's all about. I've gone over the bars 3 times in 5 years & managed to tuck & roll every time. Never trashed a helmet and wound up with road rash on the same spot on the back of my right shoulder. One time I managed to crack, but not break my collar bone. Heck, even managed to catch the bike on the low speed dump!

This works for me.

Most falls are going to be going around a corner. In that case, try to fall BACK, slide on your back and butt. Most important, don't put your arms out to break the fall as this can easily lead to a broken wrist, collarbone. Track racers say, don't let go of the bars, that way you can't put your arm out to break your fall.

Now the other type of crash, which is thankfully less prevalent, is hitting something straight on (pothole, downed biker, dog, big debris) which is very dangerous. This will usually cause an endo. In that situation, the only thing to do is tuck and roll, hopefully landing on your shoulder or back instead of doing a face plant.

And as difficult as it is to do, RELAX. Limp body parts don't break, its when you tense up that you usually break something.

I agree with this post. 2 weeks ago I hit a large dog while I was going about 25mph. The dog came out of nowhere. I flipped over the bars and tucked, and landed on my shoulder. Broke my collarbone in two places. I now have a plate in there and I'm getting my staples out Wednesday. Luckily I did not hit my head or break my hands/wrists.
At other times, especially on ice, I've done the butt slide. I try to land on the bike and let it take the brunt of the fall. I have done this and come away unscathed. The bike usually takes some fixing afterwards.

Tuck and Roll is almost instinctual. Remember all those times you badly landed off a fence and fell? What did you do? Tuck and roll is what you did!

Hell, even when people commit suicide they tend to naturally position themselves into a tuck and roll.

I'm just getting back on my bike after a nasty wipe out july 12. i absolutely had no time to "plan" my arrival with the pavement. my hands were still on the bars when i hit, breaking collarbone and several ribs. i had road rash and bruising on my entire left side, and broke my helmet with an impact point about an inch behind my left ear. i was going about 17mph.

i've crashed on my mtn bike before, and definitely felt it coming. i would agree that tumbling like a ball worked in that situation. plus, falling down a hill seems to hurt less (like skiing) than falling on flat pavement.