Learning How to Fall Safely With Help From Martial Arts --- Judo-focused classes can teach techniques for falling backward, sideways and forward.

"In any tug of war between Barbro Finndin Stal and her large poodle, Sally, the dog usually wins.

The 72-year-old walks her dog daily, and a few squirrel sightings that excited the dog have left her on the ground. She has been shaken, though never seriously injured. When she saw classes training people how to fall advertised in her local newspaper in Gothenburg, Sweden, she immediately signed up.

Most fall interventions focus on staying on your feet by training strength and balance. Judo federations in Europe and Japan are experimenting with programs like the one Finndin Stal is enrolled in that teach seniors what to do -- and not do -- when a slip happens.

We are going to take a tumble at some point in our lives, no matter our fitness level. These classes show the right ways to fall to avoid life-changing injuries that can lead to a cascade of other problems that worsen as we age.

Globally, one-third of people 65 and older fall at least once a year, with 5% of these falls resulting in a fracture, according to the World Health Organization. Falls are the leading cause of injury and injury-related death among Americans 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those who fall once are two to three times more likely to fall again, the CDC says. The fear of falling can significantly affect quality of life, says Dr. Lyndon Joseph, an exercise physiologist with the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md.

"People become scared to leave their home," he says. "That spirals into people being less active. They become sedentary and lose muscle power. They're less social and become isolated and depressed."

In judo, your opponent tries to throw you to the mat, so it is crucial to know how to avoid injury when you go down. One of the first skills taught in the martial art is ukemi, or fall-breaking. It involves spreading the impact of a fall over the widest area possible and trying to keep the body relaxed.

In 2015, the Dutch Judo Federation launched a fall-prevention program for seniors called ZekerBewegen, which loosely translates as feeling safe in movement. The six-session program costs $75 and is taught by around 150 instructors at local judo clubs and in assisted-living homes and senior communities throughout the Netherlands.

"The main goal is to make people feel safe and confident so they can maintain an independent quality of life," says Benny van den Broek, the federation's coordinator of sport for all.

At a club outside Gothenburg, Finndin Stal enrolled in Judo4Balance, a low-cost, preventive training program for falls created by the Swedish Judo Association. The 10- to 16-week program made its debut in 2018. All of the experts are black-belt judo instructors.

Students learn techniques for falling backward, sideways and forward. They also do leg- and core-strength exercises, balance training and drills where participants get up and down from the floor lying on their stomach and their back.

Kristiina Pekkola, president of the Swedish Judo Foundation, says the program has around 250 licensed instructors, many aged 70 or older, who teach at approximately 40 judo clubs in Sweden.

"Our older instructors have the time to volunteer, and it's nice for participants to have a role model of the same age," she says.

Judo4Balance instructor Anders Krus, 75, teaches 20 participants, including Finndin Stal. He starts with basics, like sitting on the floor and falling backward. They move to more challenging exercises, such as standing up and holding hands with a partner, sitting down slowly, then releasing hands to fall backward. Classes take place on cushioned mats.

Important tips include resisting the urge to extend your hands to break a fall. "That's how you injure a wrist," Krus says. He also notes it is crucial to protect the head by tucking your chin to your chest and trying to roll to your side in a ball on the ground.

"The first time Anders told us to fall, I was terrified," Finndin Stal says. The practice has paid off. She says the last time her dog pulled her forward and down, she stayed calm and remembered to protect her head.

Class member Ingrid Milvedan Parker, 74, suffered a broken wrist from a fall a few years ago. She still gets nervous when asked to do a forward somersault in class, but says overcoming her fears in a safe environment has boosted her confidence.

"I can now look both ways when I cross the street and not feel thrown off-balance," she says. Sessions end with coffee, adding a social component.

Joseph, from the National Institute on Aging, says he isn't aware of any official judo-based fall-prevention programs in the U.S. The National Institute on Aging is sponsoring a study by University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., that uses techniques from judo for fall prevention in older adults.

Seniors aren't the only ones who can benefit from fall training. Research shows our balance begins to decline starting around age 50. And falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries for all children in the U.S. ages 0 to 19, according to the CDC. Judo4Balance has developed similar programs targeted at working-age adults and children.

"We teach all kids to swim to avoid drowning, so why not teach people how to fall from a young age?" Krus says." [1]

1. Learning How to Fall Safely With Help From Martial Arts --- Judo-focused classes can teach techniques for falling backward, sideways and forward. Murphy, Jen.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Nov 2023: A.12