The Importance Of Ukemi In The Martial Arts

Ukemi.

The ability to land on the ground and not get hurt, break falls, drops, forward, side and back rolling. One of the fundamental martial arts skills found in every school, style, and movement.

Ukemi is important in the martial arts for three reasons:

The first is so you can practice back and forth with a training partner and practice your martial arts techniques without suffering injury. Building on this is the practical use of ukemi, with the ability to safely land on the ground if one slips, or loses balance.

The third reasons approaches ukemi as the essence of the martial arts, the ability to feel what a martial arts technique does to the body, how it takes distance, timing, rhythm, and balance. The ability to receive the transmission of the martial arts, to be open to it, through not being occupied with thinking, or calculating on how to land on the ground.