I would like to express my sincere gratitude
to Mr. Antonis Pantazopoulos for giving his kind permission to Aikicosmos to
republish his article.
Mr. Antonis Pantazopoulos directs together
with Mr. Makis Kosmidis the Aikido Center in Athens, Greece. He has graduated
from the National Technical University (NTUA). He started training in Shotokan
Karate under Tetsuo Otake Sensei in 1983 and in 1989 he was awarded Shodan by Keinosuke
Enoeda Sensei. In 2000 he began training in Aikido at the ZanshinDoKan Dojo
under the instruction of Kostas Giannas sensei. Today he is training under the
supervision of Vassilis Nykteris sensei, Pascal Guillemin Sensei and Shihan Christian Tissier.
Aikido: Breakfalls - Overcoming our fears!
by Antonis Pantazopoulos
Introduction
A breakfall fall (depreciation of energy) is
an element which we encounter in aikido (as in other martial arts) most of the
times does not apply in practice. But, it is part of techniques' kinesiology
and perhaps one of the most difficult elements in the art of aikido.
And this is why the Aikidoka is called to cope
with a difficult situation in which he violently loses his balance or is in
danger, sometimes to injure a part of his body. So he avoids this violent
situation by performing a fall (ukemi) with the characteristics of the
depreciation of energy (breakfall).
Additionally, the Aikidoka making the art of
breakfall his own, he acquires a sense of freedom on each technique.
This freedom is what ultimately helps him move closer to the ideal realization
of the technical implementation, meaning, under conditions of dynamic
relaxation. Even in cases the technique is made with excessive speed.
Technical
and Quality Characteristics
What are the technical and qualitative
characteristics that should a breakfall have so that it would be as close as
possible to reality. One would wonder, what is reality? Closer to reality means
that the kinesiology of the fall, is the exact result of the cause according
to the laws of nature and physics.
Also following the rules of Aikido as the one
of harmony, the general philosophy of the art, which is caring for the
integrity of the opponent and the spirit of the training, meaning, being fun
without the trainees feeling discomfort regardless to the speed of the
technique.
In writer's opinion it should have the
following characteristics:
1) follow the rules and laws of physics,
2) fully utilize the physical characteristics
of the human body (weight and body mass, limbs)
3) utilize the dynamic of uke's attack (speed,
direction)
4) the fall being the same regardless the
speed of the technique,
5) it should give us the opportunity to be
able to return quickly to normal conditions which the human body must be
(straight, upright), and
6) be made with a pleasant and safe way
Note
Obviously
we should not overlook that in some cases after a breakfall the uke is driven
to fixation therefore number 5) under certain circumstances, in the art of
Aikido, does not apply.
Rules
To enable the trainee to understand the
kinesiology where the uke's body must follow, during the execution of
breakfall, one must realize and apply the following rules.
1) Throughout the duration of a technique the
two bodies of the involved should be in contact, with the features we have
already analyzed. The same applies during a nage's attempt of a throw. So the
uke should follow the kinesiology of nage, leaning on his contact point.
2) As we have mentioned the body functions as
a balance. The time an action is exerted by which the uke is led to a fall, his
body follows the throwing motion rotating around his center of gravity. There
is also a parallel shift of the gravity center downwards, due to the energy of
nage's gravity center.
3) During the fall, uke's one leg is lifted in
the air anti diametrically with his body that descends while the other leg
remains in instant contact with the tatami (Figure B)
4) the common course of two bodies is
completed at that point where the body of the uke has developed a dynamic (in
terms of physics kinetic energy).
The technique that is shown in the next figure
(Katate Dori Sumi Otoshi) the uke follows nage's movement up to a point forward
and slightly above the nage's front knee (Figure B, point 1). Until that point
the two bodies move as one.
We remind that the uke's body wants to return
to the equilibrium position, a state in which it would normally be. Also the
body due to inactivity (due to its high mass) has a lag in movement. So these
two factors create the right conditions to keep up (check point 2) firmly
between the two bodies to the point mentioned above.
In uke's substantially there are performed 3
forces a) the power that comes from nage, b) the power that comes from the
contact with the tatami (eg friction) and c) the force generated due to
rotation (because of angular momentum) . The model of forces is simplified,
obviously the forces that are exerted by the weights of body parts should not
be excluded but for the ease of understanding the model is simplified.
Therefore, throughout the duration of the
movement, uke has momentarily stable equilibrium in relation with nage ,in
combination with the motion of throwing. Therefore based on the figure above
uke is driven from state A to state B by passing essentially equilibrium
points.
From that point uke's body, because of the
momentum gained, it revolves around the point (Figure B, Section 2). The free
hand slaps powerfully on the tatami (breakfall) while the same time the second
leg unsticks of the tatami.
Noticing the next figure (technique Katate
Dori Tenchi Nage), we confirm the point 2) of the Rules, that the nage's
kinesiology consists of two distinct movements that are activated from
his center of gravity.
The first move has to do with the rotation of
uke's body (yellow points) around the center of gravity while the second has to
do with the moving of nage's gravity center (orange spots). Basically the
entire body moves slightly forward as shown by the movement of the front knee
(blue points). Therefore, the combination of a circular and a rectilinear
motion give the necessary energy to uke's body to perform his fall safely.
The nage's hand and uke's head are in contact
until the point in front and above the front knee. This should not surprise us
since it regards the educational process.
Later, when the techniques will be done with
major energy from both roles, the contact will be virtual so the uke's movement
will be driven without the contact of arm/head. In this case, the uke has the
same feeling as when there was a physical contact.
The
education and the path to freedom!
Obviously for the practitioner to reach at
this level there should be preceded a long period of systematic training on the
ukemis and later on breakfalls. The time depends on the practitioners
perception, the frequency of workouts and training methodology.
There are many methods of teaching ukemis and
breakfall ukemis. Depending on the experience of the instructor, the ability to
analyze and simplify together with his communicability, the learning process
can be a pleasant experience but also it may end up being a painful process.
The latter would obviously be needed to avoid because the practitioner's body
creates negative memories of the hasty and unsuccessful cases which makes the
learning process difficult.
The whole process takes time, without any
violent change of the difficulty degree of the exercises. The practitioner
should have the feeling of doing something completely normal every time and
this will have as a result body and mind to be able to accept and adopt
immediately any new situation.
Based on the following educational process
this is achieved to a great extent. So the route is reflected in the following
sequence of photographs showing the evolution of ukemis.
All these stages require each and individual
their own time of training and familiarization. Like any other educational
process when, for whatever reason, we are in a stage facing a difficulty, the
practitioner returns to the previous stage which has already made his property.
Meaning to come back to a place of physical and mental balance.
The training is experiential and therefore
requires time and no manual, book or DVD, can offer this experience. The
practitioner should be put in process of organization and familiarity of his
body and mind to the idea of rolling on the tatami and also the idea of
approaching his head to the tatami with speed. The second is a difficult task
especially for tall students.
Some
Cases - Case Studies
In the following snapshots it is shown
different finishing techniques to the point where the two roles act as one. As
you will see whatever technique been applied, all breakfall falls end at the
same point.
[Source: The official website of Aikido Center]
