This is a good video from someone who has trained and competed at a high level in both judo and Brazilian jiujitsu. He underscores why it’s so important to practice ukemi: if you are afraid of falling, you won’t be able to throw correctly. Going in for a throw necessarily involves some risk – there is always the chance that you could be thrown. This is why we always do at least 20-30 minutes of ukemi at every single practice. We learn to fall forwards, backwards, sideways, from high and low and all different angles. When you know that you won’t get hurt being thrown, the door is open to learning judo.

Try doing your ukemi on different surfaces – start on some soft grass and maybe work your way up to hard packed dirt.

Related articles