1. Back And Side Falls

A student can fall anywhere, including on the stairs, being pushed in the streets, or while sparring. Falling properly is therefore important and must be instinctive. The most important things that the student must remember when learning the falling technique is always to keep the head from hitting the ground, spread the force of hitting the ground evenly throughout the body and shouting to force air from the lungs.

For the back fall, the students should begin by bringing their hands up in front of their face or their chest. The chin must be tucked into the sternum by bending the head forward. For a smooth fall, the student must curl their body and form a ball. As their upper back makes contact with the mat, they should slap the mat with open palms. The arms should also be at a 45 degree angle from the body.

Similar to the back fall is the side fall only this time, the student curls like a ball to one side and slaps the mat with the hand on that side. The other hand should come up and rest on the stomach with the chin tucked into the opposite shoulder. One thing the student should remember is to always remain calm during falls.

2. Higher Side And Back Falls

At first, students will learn how to absorb the shock of basic falls from a standing position. Once they feel that they are comfortable with the basics, they can then safely begin practicing their self-defence tactics. The students have to be able to absorb the impact of higher falls as they practice techniques that are more advanced.

In order to begin, students should begin with small hops and landing back onto their feet before doing the fall. This movement should progress until the student is able to jump into the fall directly. The timing of the slap on the mat and the angle at which the arm is to the body should be accurate enough to prevent the body from injury. These are important elements which must come naturally to the students before they are allowed to perform throws on one another in the more advanced techniques.

3. Forward rolls

Forward rolls are probably one of the moves in taekwondo that causes much apprehension among students. This is because they disorient the body and force them to take up uncomfortable inverted body positions. However, students must protect themselves since many attackers are taken into inverted aerials during throws. Smooth rolls are important because they protect the student from real life instances such as bike crashes, or trips on stair cases.

In the forward roll technique, the head must always be protected. In order to perform this technique, the student must stand with their feet as wide as their shoulders and their right foot forward. Beside the right foot, the student should place their left hand and in front of the left foot. The right hand will then be placed in between the left foot and the left hand on the mat. The head should look over the shoulder. If the head is not turned during the roll, it may impact the floor and this would defeat the whole purpose of doing the rolls in the first place.

With the left foot, the student should push forward and roll on the outside of their right arm, across the back in a diagonal manner and land on their left side. The body should be curled like a ball when rolling. At the end of the roll, the student should shout and slap the mat.

4. Front Fall

Like all the other falls, the aim should be to protect the torso and the head. In order to learn this fall and perfect it, three steps are involved: learning from the kneeling position, from the standing position and from the jumping position. Learning should take place in these three positions respectively, with each step being perfected before moving on to the next one. The defender should bring both his hands in front of the body with the fingers open. While

falling forward, the impact of the fall should be broken by the defender by using his fore arms and the palms of his hands. The elbows should be at a 45 degree angle and the hands should form a triangle like shape in front of the face. To avoid hitting the nose, the defender should turn the face to the side.

Once the defender lands on the mat, they should kick their feet out and spring to their feet. The forearms and the feet should be the only parts of the body touching the mat. This fall is very important during sparring. The defender should naturally be able to bring their hands up instinctively and turn their faces the other way in order to prevent their face from hitting the ground.

Throws

These basic throws can be included in a taekwondo curriculum once the students have mastered the art of falling and are able to sufficiently protect themselves. Throws can be executed from a range of attacks and positions such as sparring situations, punches, chokes, wrist grabs, etc. The following are some of the throws most commonly used in taekwondo:

1. Forward Body Drop/ Floating Drop

Once an attacker has thrown a punch, this throw is meant to maintain their forward momentum. The defender may wish not to use any move such as a hard block that may impeded the attacker's forward motion such as a hard block. The block and grab technique is applicable to this throw. The main work of the defender would be to avoid the attacker's strike and at the same time push him forward along the path he created.

In order to execute a floating drop, the defender must stand on the opposite side of the hand that is attacking. For instance, if it is the left hand punch, they should block and grab with the right hand and step to the left. The defender will then place their left hand on the attacker's right ear. With the arm high up and in front of them, the defender should make 180 degree turn to face the same direction as their opponent. In order to force the attacker to roll to the ground, they must at the same time twist their opponent's head down and around.

The footwork involved in the forward body drop is the primary defense. This move should be performed by the defender stopping in front of the opponent with their first move instead of stepping outside the opponent's momentum. To make the opponent trip over the defender's leg, the defender should make a 270 degree turn into a front stance. The move can be varied such that the defender grabs the opponent's arm and pulls on it. The maximum number of steps allowed in both the throws is two; more than that would not make the movements fluid.

2. Major Outer Reap

This throw is a sweeping style. Instead of sweeping in between the opponent's legs, the defender sweeps the opponent's front leg from the outside of it. This technique begins with a Judo style grab. This is whereby the opponent will hold the defender's right elbow with his left hand his left lapel with his other hand. The defender will also perform the same move. The defender will then try to push back the opponent's shoulder while pulling down his elbow. These two moves should be performed simultaneously after the defender has moved to the right side of his opponent with his left foot.

This throw is applicable in several situations. For instance, it can be applied when the opponent lashes out with a front punch. It is also an effective technique if in a fight the stance is close. Regardless of the attack, as long as it is a grab, the defender should be able to maintain their own balance when trying to throw their opponent with this technique.

PREVIOUS PAGE |  NEXT PAGE