Postfalls: A New, Systematic Back Feather Fall Method

[@JohnSing]

Guy Hagen Sensei, thank you for these extensive set of KZbin videos that you are creating. This particular video is a big help in giving ideas and sharing your years of experience for all of out here. I am responsible for the Ukemi class in our dojo, and it's clear there is so much more to be learned and shared safely with all of us Aikidoka. Thank you for sharing these and I hope I will be able to meet you in the future. John Sing, Traditional Aikido of Sarasota (FL)

[@AikidoChuseikan]

John, you are just around the corner, so please feel welcome at our dojo! I was a friend to Sensei Barry, who will be missed. Keep exploring and be safe!

[@s.b.9059]

master your work on the ground is awesome !!!!!!! i watch your videos many Hours and Hours please please Master more

[@AikidoChuseikan]

laughing, as I find time, I will do more. Thanks for the encouragement!

[@SilentAdventurer]

This is AWESOME!!! I can't wait to put this into practice. Thank you so much Guy Sensei. :)

[@michaelw7867]

Wow, very impressive! Thanks.

[@drutgat2]

Many thanks for this. I am just started judo again (as an older guy), and am having problems even doing mae mawari ukemi properly, so this is inspiring, and I will look at your other videos about ukemi.

[@AikidoChuseikan]

As I continue to explore ukemi for my own growth and those of my older students, I am increasingly impressed with the utility of the "primal" (animal) movement community in ukemi. I am trying to work toward a system of ukemi that does not involve falling, but emphasizes opening up hips/back/knees so one has maximum ability to move vertically (e.g. squat very low without compromising spinal structure), and horizontally (flowing before Nage has the ability to apply power, and positioning for maximum tactical utility). This study has helped me see how uke and nage core principle are the same. Good luck!

[@padrigkiv1069]

Wow trop interréssant . Thank you

[@DrXGnOop]

Wonderful! Thank you for sharing! Domo.

[@DrXGnOop]

It would be really nice if you could later add a video showing an application of this fall in an actual throw. Thanks again.

[@AikidoChuseikan]

I'll keep my eye open for clips, I know there is footage where I've used this numerous times taking falls for shihan

[@luciandulgheru7783]

Extrem de interesant și util

[@PeterM8987]

A well packaged teaching video. One concern I have is the extreme twisting of uke's front leg's knee. Surely this is putting a great deal of strain on the meniscus, ligaments, etc.

[@AikidoChuseikan]

That's a good question, and from the video, it probably does look that way. In practice, it comes out more like the "scissor roll" position with the leg, and more of the twist happening on the ball of the foot. Also, with momentum provided by a partner throw (irimi), the "back" foot keeps swinging forward so it's much less of a twist overall. I just had major knee surgery last summer involving both tendon and both meniscii (from a 1988 injury from another martial art), and honestly forward rolls bother me MUCH more than these post falls. That said, everyone's body / injuries are different, so if during exploration your body gives "warning signs", I'd definitely recommend listening to your body and adjusting things for your personal safety. There is nothing that I've shown here that is set in stone; more than anything, my message with ukemi is "learn all the ukemi", then "break all the ukemi", then "challenge and discover what your ukemi could not do", and then "invent some new ukemi". If there are patterns of ukemi you are provided, it's probably reinforced with patterns of nage technique you have gotten comfortable with. I started down this road because a long time ago, somebody told me, "well, you are a big guy, of course you will never be able to fall softly" - and I took that as a personal challenge to all my assumptions about what I could and couldn't do with ukemi. And it turned out, most opinions about ukemi are held about movement that people cannot themselves perform! Fascinating! Good luck and train with wisdom and curiosity my friend

[@grearte]

This is excellent! Thank you very much for sharing.

[@jochenschepers6066]

Thanks for the video. The fall you developed looks really nice. I had really liked to see you do it with a partner. (I suppose the fall uke does in 5:07 is the reason to develop this new fall?)

[@AikidoChuseikan]

I'll post something one of these days. Tight/fast Irimi nage is generally the situation I use this.

[@freyrdu35]

Hi can you explain which situation leads you to this fall please ?

[@AikidoChuseikan]

I developed this primarily as an alternate response to a fast irimi nage. There are some nice feather backfall exercises out there that take the roll across the shoulder, but I found they were hard for many people to learn because they seemed to require a level of back flexibility many didn't have, and made an assumption about whether nage was going to control uke's neck or not. I wanted something that I could turn inside OR outside, and choose to either roll or backfall at the last possible instant. Thanks for asking