FOOSH Revisited

I started off this blog with an article on FOOSH injuries - Fall On OutStretched Hand injuries.

More than 85% of all injuries t the upper limb are the result of a fall onto an outstretched hand.

Ukemi waza (breakfalling techniques) are techniques designed by jujutsu and its derivative arts of judo and aikido to prevent and control injuries arising from a fall, including FOOSH injuries.

The injury to the right was the result of a fall by Sally Pearson, the Australian champion hurdler, during a race recently.

I've seen a FOOSH injury while assisting Shihan Jan de Jong OAM 9th Dan when conducting a seminar in Gottenburg, Sweden. A highly graded student put his hand down while going over his partner's hips who was executing a koshi gaeshi (hip turn) technique. The jujutsuka shattered both his radius and ulna requiring plates in both.

Another interesting, for me, issue associated with the prevalence of FOOSH injuries is that the medical literature is virtually useless in terms of understanding the injuries associated with kansetsu waza (joint techniques) as the forces are applied in different directions with FOOSH injuries and kansetsu waza.

However, I have been able to generate an anatomical explanation of many kansetsu waza and the possible injuries that may arise from their application. The ones I am lacking are the techniques applied to the wrist. If anyone can assist in this regard it would be most appreciated. It would also be a genuine and unique contribution to the general body of knowledge.

Done

There was a very odd moment last week. I finished the first draft of a chapter in my book and I sat back and thought, 'I'm done.' I've finished the first draft of my book (with the small exception of getting some physiological information on joint techniques that target the wrist). Done. No more finding and developing theory, it's now editing. It was a very odd feeling.

The book had over 170,000 words which equates to over 300 pages. The editing process over the past week has reduced that to just under 100,000 words and 265 pages with no loss of information. I expect that number to reduce even further.

The book has 17 chapters:

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Core of All Learning
Chapter 3 Kaizen: Analyse Tactics and Techniques
Chapter 4 Force
Chapter 5 Balance and Unbalance
Chapter 6 Stances and Motion
Chapter 7 Throwing and Takedown Techniques
Chapter 8 Joint-Locking Techniques
Chapter 9 Injury Science
Chapter 10 Striking and Kicking Techniques
Chapter 11 Blocking Techniques
Chapter 12 Nature's Breakfalling Techniques
Chapter 13 Martial Arts Breakfalling Techniques
Chapter 14 Strangulation Techniques
Chapter 15 Pain
Chapter 16 Survival Process Pt 1
Chapter 17 Survival Process Pt II

I have a friend who is the headmaster at a school helping me edit the book. He has no background nor interest in the subject matter. If he understands what I am writing about and his interest is retained, I must have done a good job. So far that has been achieved and he has informed me that he is excited by the content. That it is like no other book written for the martial arts and other activities associated with preparing a person to survive a violent encounter. He is right.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Chinese Proverb

Facilitating the Understanding and Study of Fighting Methods is about teaching the reader how to ‘fish’ so they can feed themselves for a lifetime. It is also about teaching the reader how to teach others to fish so that they can feed themselves for a lifetime.

I'm still working on the title of the book.

Facilitating the Understanding and Study of Fighting Methods is written for both teacher and student alike. It is written to assist teachers in understanding and teaching their methods. It is also written to assist students in understanding and learning the methods taught by their teachers. A fallacious assumption in our education system is that students inherently know how to learn. They may do to varying degrees but not necessarily efficiently or effectively. Greater efficiencies and efficacies are achieved when the student is first taught how to learn. Facilitating the Understanding and Study of Fighting Methods empowers students by enabling them to take responsibility for their own learning experience. It encourages students to become their own teachers or at least to manage their learning experience. In this way, Facilitating the Understanding and Study of Fighting Methods also challenges teachers to be better teachers.

Best of Kojutsukan Posts

Yes folks, it's time for a 'best of' post. What are the top 10 Kojutsukan posts?

Before the top 10, it is an opportune moment to reflect on the Kojutsukan mission. Yes, over the years of research a mission has evolved. That mission is to use theory to inform practice. To use theory to facilitate practice. This concept is relatively unique in the martial art world which is generally a bastion of anti-intellectualism - to its detriment. Many instructors attempt to provide theoretical support for their methods. Those same instructors should often refrain from attempting to explain the whys and stick to the hows. They have not done the work, nor have their instructors, into understanding the whys. My work is about providing the whys. Whys that have practical use; that facilitate the understanding and study of martial arts techniques and those used in violence generally in a practical way.

No. 10 Women Self Defence Courses: Effective or Not? Pt 1.

This blog was posted in December 2011 and the fact it made the top ten reflects the interest in women self defence and violence directed at women. These blogs have attracted the greatest amount of comments both on the blog site and to my personal email. Many from women thanking me for airing issues that they've experienced but did not understand or that they thought others did not understand.

No. 9 Can Martial Arts Falling Techniques Prevent Injuries?

In this blog I introduced the readers and the martial arts world to the work of Brenda Groen whose PhD thesis was on the use of martial arts falling techniques to prevent injury when landing from a fall. This technique has been included in a broader fall prevention program that has been rolled out in Holland, and which has recorded success according to various studies.

No. 8 Domestic Violence

Given statistics generally suggest that one if four women experience abuse or violence, it comes as no surprise that there is a great deal of interest in this issue.

No. 7 Jan de Jong Pt 3 - The War Years

Jan de Jong and myself would walk the streets of Rotterdam and Amsterdam when we were visiting Europe for his annual seminars. He would point to various buildings or locations and tell me this happened or that happened there during the war years. Standing in the same place he stood 50 years before made it all the more poignant.

No. 6 Women Self Defence Courses: Effective or Not? Pt 2.

My interest in WSD was increased after becoming involved with a woman who has recently emerged from a long-term abusive relationship. My work over the past few years in researching for my various books and articles provided me with the tools to understand, explain, and help this survivor. I suppose another project to add to my already existing projects is a WSD book and course. This book and course would be different than most others in that it would be based on knowledge of the problem.

No. 5 FOOSH Injuries

My first blog. Fall On OutStretched Hand injuries. I introduced the martial arts world to the concept of FOOSH injuries. Over 85% of all injuries to the upper limb are produced by falling on an outstretched hand. One consequence arising out of this fact is that there is very little information available concerning the physiological explanation of injuries that may be produced when executing kansetsu waza (joint-locking techniques) because the forces are applied in the upper limb in completely different directions in each case.

No. 4 The All or Nothing Law of Strangulation

I recently obtained a copy of another study on shime waza (strangulation techniques) or the more politically correct term neck restraints. There is a bit of controversy over the actual mechanism that causes unconsciousness or death in the case of these techniques or strangles generally. Four mechanisms are often cited, even in the coroners reports I've read which include reports by forensic pathologists or medical personnel. It's often a choice of one of the four mechanisms. I need to do more work on this issue because I am tending towards a combination of two. Stay tuned.

No. 3 Jan de Jong Pt 19 - What Does a Black Belt Mean?

It is interesting there is so much interest in this blog. This might reflect a general confusion about what the black belt qualification signifies. In some striking based martial arts you can obtain a black belt in 1 1/2 to 2 years. Does that imply a lowering of standards? Not necessarily. If you only have a few blocks, kicks, and punches to learn, and if black belt simply signifies proficiency, then not necessarily. For Jan de Jong, a black belt tended toward the teaching side of things rather than proficiency. For myself, anyone who I grade black will most definitely be a world class instructor. They may not be the world's best exponent, but they will most definitely be a world class instructor.

No. 2 O Mae Ukemi aka Bridgefall

This was the first blog I included YouTube vision. The YouTube vision came from a demonstration Greg Palmer put on as part of his 2nd dan gradings. I'm fascinated this polled so well.

I recall a seminar in Stockholm where Jan de Jong was teaching a hip turn which is a technique where the partner/opponent is dragged over your hips and made to fall to the ground. In a previous seminar, a participant shattered both radius and ulna when landing on an outstretched hand. I saw in the Stockholm seminar that people did not know how to land safely from this technique. I asked some of the instructors who were hosting the seminar why they were not using o mae ukemi or bridgefall technique to land safely. They didn't know the technique. I suggested to De Jong that we teach this falling technique, to which he agreed reflecting a certain open mindedness. However, he was reluctant to spend too much time on teaching this technique as he thought the participants wouldn't think they had got value for money from the seminar. In the mid-time break I had half a dozen of the senior instructors come up to me and ask for more instruction on this falling technique, not on any of the defences we were instructing.

This is what I found throughout my national and international teaching experience. It is the fundamentals that are lacking; the fundamentals that are of greatest interest to senior students and instructors.

No 1 'Shorter People Have Certain Advantages in Fighting and Warfare'

Sadly, I suspect the number 1 spot reflects the insecurities shorter people may have rather than an interest in strategy or tactics. I would suggest that shorter people embrace their height challenged status and stand tall, but they can't.

'School judo deaths prompt protest in Japan'

'School judo deaths prompt protest in Japan' - this is the title of a disturbing article that was posted on The Age website on January 3, 2011 (http://www.theage.com.au/world/school-judo-deaths-prompt-protest-in-japan-20110102-19d03.html). The article reports 110 children have been killed in school judo practice since 1983. The article is quite thought provoking, particularly when you do a little research, and even more so when you study injury science.

The article reports that:

The [Japanese] government's bid to make the martial art compulsory in schools has alarmed parents. Research showing that an average of four children die each year during judo lessons in Japan has alarmed some parents as the country prepares to introduce martial arts as a compulsory school sport. Yoshihiro Murakawa, one of those concerned about the government's plan, is convinced his 12-year-old nephew died in a reckless judo practice.

The article refers to a website that is dedicated to this problem (http://judojiko.net/eng/). This website, Japan Judo Accident Victim's Association, reports that:

Over the 27-year period 1983 to 2009, 108 students died as a result of judo accidents in Japanese junior and senior high schools (age range ca 12 to 18years), 60% of them from brain injury. The mean of four deaths per year is significantly higher than in any other school sport. ... Note that these figures do not include deaths from accidents outside school such as in private judo clubs, so the total number of deaths in young people is higher still. There have also been a large number of serious injuries, many of which have resulted in chronic higher brain dysfunction or persistent disturbance of consciousness.

The website also contains an analysis of the 'cause' of the deaths which is quite interesting (http://judojiko.net/eng/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/en_judo_data110110.pdf).

The Age article reports: '"Many factors are involved here," Mr Murakawa said of his nephew Koji's death during judo club training. "First of all, many judo instructors at Japanese schools are too ignorant about what to do when a serious incident occurs," he said.'

Firstly, an understanding of injury based on an injury science perspective will confirm there are many factors involved in an injury. As I am attempting to explain in my obviously tentatively titled book, Injury Science and Pain [something] for the Martial Arts, injury can be analysed according to three factors interacting over three phases. Secondly, Mr Murakawa refers to the ignorance of judo instructors. This is an issue which my work is attempting to rectify.

This article has sparked some spirited discussion on the Internet. Here I refer you to a forum page dedicated to this article on the Aikido Journal website (http://www.aikidojournal.com/blog/2011/01/28/school-judo-deaths-prompt-protest-in-japan-from-theagecomau/). Apart from the uninformed, dismissive posts, Patrick Auge posts the following:

Accidents will happen. However teachers can reduce risks by emphasizing safety and by being there. In my past experience, Japanese judo club coaches were too often absent and senpai did not have enough maturity to control the intensity of training.

The mantra of injury control professions is 'injuries are not accidents'. I have the utmost respect for Auge. However, when you're exposed to the work of the injury field you gain a different perspective of injuries. You most definitely gain an appreciation of what can be done to analyse the potential for injuries, and what can be done to prevent injury and control the severity of an injury should it occur. Injuries ARE NOT accidents. Or at least most of them are not.

Without disclosing the detail of the work I'm spending every day on, I have to agree with Murakawa and Auge regarding the quality of instruction with regards to safety in the martial arts. For instance, within the Jan de Jong Self Defence School, the assistant instructor and instructor gradings, 1st kyu (black and white belt) and 1st dan (black belt), include teaching gradings and the requirement to obtain a first aid certificate. Having said that, I was asked to teach my own branch within two years of training while I was just an orange belt (3rd kyu). Through my obsessive training I was exceptional in my abilities and as it turned out I possessed very good teaching and student relationship abilities. However, I had no teaching experience, I had not assisted any instructor as is the norm for the school, and I had no training in trauma management of any sort. I now see this posting as irresponsible (though we cannot judge with hindsight. Different times.). I had to deal with a student who was going into a epileptic episode, and I just winged it. One student injured her back while being thrown. Are these accidents? Or, as injury science would suggest, are these injury events which could have been anticipated and measures put in place to prevent them or reduce the severity of these injuries?

We don't teach how to hit a ball, catch a ball, throw a ball, roll a ball, or any such innocuous skill in the martial arts. We teach techniques which are designed to potentially injure, non-fatally or fatally, a person. We throw ourselves around in martial arts such as jujutsu and its derivative arts (aikido, judo, and hapkido) using ukemi waza (breakfalling techniques). Many of the deaths on the abovementioned website have followed throwing techniques or breakfalling techniques. Journeyman is currently blogging (http://japanesejiujitsu.blogspot.com/) a series dedicated to ukemi waza. The Japanese judo experience should instill a sense of respect for these techniques.

You have to ask, what do the instructors know about injury, injury prevention, and injury control? What qualifications do they have if an injury occurs. All the other instructors and assistant instructors within the Jan de Jong Self Defence School had completed a first aid course. At least that is something.

We need to ask questions. But we can only ask questions if we understand the subject matter. Most people still refer to 'accidents' when the injury field have taken steps to remove the concept. Accidents imply unforseeability and randomness. Put an inexperienced person in charge of a class as Auge described, how much unforeseeabilty and randomness is there in any resultant injury?

Yasuhiko and Keiko Kobayashi, whose son suffered a brain injury when he was 15, questioned whether the government was fully prepared, saying there hadn't been a thorough investigation into the causes of serious judo incidents. 'With so many children dying, there was no single case taken to a court for a criminal charge,' the father said.

Why hasn't there been litigation. I'm not a fan of litigation, but why hasn't there been litigation in this age of litigation. Might I suggest that the martial arts are by and large not taken seriously. They lack credibility. Why else would you allow people to instruct people in techniques designed to non-fatally or fatally injure a person without demanding some sort of safety study. If we want the martial arts to be a serious subject of study other than on the fringes of society for 'fringe-dwellers', we need to take the martial arts seriously ourselves. What better place to get an understanding of injury than in a discipline dedicated to the study of injury with a view to the prevention and control of injury.

Injury and Pain - Book Update

I've completed 95% of the first draft of my tentatively titled: Throwing Techniques and Takedown Techniques of ALL Martial Arts. While the two terms are used within the martial arts, there is no understanding of what the difference is between the two types of techniques. In answer to the sceptics, if the difference doesn't matter, why are the two terms used? A definitive distinction based on biomechanics is presented for the first time in the English-language literature. In addition, the common conceptions and misconceptions are also reviewed. There is also a chapter on unbalancing (kuzushi) which also covers the misconception that is 'mental unbalancing'.

I was going to include a chapter on martial arts breakfalling techniques and injury science which can be used to understand and study breakfalling techniques, however, I found these chapters did not do justice to the subject. So, another book was born which I am currently working on. It is very tentatively titled: Injury Science and Pain Applied to the Martial Arts.

The introduction to the book asks, 'what is at the very heart of the tactics and techniques of the martial arts?'

Dolf Zillmann defines human aggressive behaviour in Hostility and Aggression as ‘any and every activity by which a person seeks to inflict bodily damage or physical pain upon a person who is motivated to avoid such infliction’ (1979: 33). He then subdivides human aggression into two basic subclasses:

1. Aggression is offensive when a person seeks to inflict injury upon a person who is not attempting or has not been attempting to inflict injury upon him or her.
2. Aggression is defensive when a person seeks to inflict injury upon a person who is attempting or has been attempting to inflict injury upon him or her. (1979: 39)

Somewhere between the definition of aggression on page 33 and the subdivision of aggression on page 39, Zillmann lost the specific reference to pain when describing offensive and defensive aggression. This could be explained in that the reference to injury in the subclass definitions includes both bodily damage and physical pain, or, it’s simply an oversight. In any event, Zillmann’s conceptualisation of offensive and defensive aggression will be taken to include both injury/bodily damage and physical pain.

At their most basic level, what are the tactics and techniques of the martial arts designed to do? They are designed to deal with a person who is seeking to inflict injury or pain upon a person who is motivated to avoid such infliction. That is, they are designed to deal with an offensive aggressor. How are the tactics and techniques of the martial arts designed to achieve that objective? They are often designed to achieve that objective by inflicting injury or pain upon the offensive aggressor, that is, through defensive aggressive activities. Zillmann provides the following expansion on his definition of defensive aggression which reflects this analysis of the purpose of martial arts tactics and techniques and the means by which they achieve their objective:

In general, defensive activities are aimed at warding off an attack; that is, their goal is to prevent the infliction of injury or harm. In pursuit of this objective, they can, however, develop into full-fledged counterattacks. The possibility that the offensive aggressor may suffer more injury than the defensive aggressor is not in conflict with these definitions. (1979: 39)

Aggression is often a judgement laden term. Many martial arts will suggest they are teaching methods to deal with aggressive actions but they will be reluctant to suggest they are teaching aggressive behaviour. Zillmann deals with aggression in a non-judgemental way and conceptualises both offensive and defensive aggression in descriptive terms only. This conceptualisation assists us in studying the whole of the aggression experience.

What is at the very heart of the tactics and techniques of the martial arts? Based on Zillmann’s conceptualisation of offensive and defensive aggression – injury and pain. The avoidance and infliction thereof. The martial arts teach ways to avoid the infliction of injury and pain on oneself by an offensive aggressor and ways to inflict injury or pain on another in the role of the defensive aggressor. Even those tactics and techniques which are not designed to inflict injury or pain on an offensive aggressor are at the very least attempting to prevent the offensive aggressor from inflicting injury or pain on oneself. Injury and pain are at the very heart of the tactics and techniques of the martial arts, and to the best of my knowledge they have never been explicitly studied within the martial arts literature. Not until now that is.

Included in this book are chapters looking at a relatively new science which specifically studies injuries - injury science. The concepts and theories are then used to undestand and study nature's and martial arts breakfalling techniques. Nature's breakfalling techniques are evolved strategies we use to reduce the risk of serious injury in a fall. We look at the clinical studies associated with my so-called nature's breakfalling techniques before we look at the martial arts attempts at improving on nature with their breakfalling techniques. A unique study in the Netherlands looked to the martial arts for techniques to reduce the risk or severity of injury from falls. These studies have been referred to in previous blogs and are looked at in these chapters. The breakfalls taught by Jan de Jong jujutsu are included, which includes the relatively unique sideways roll. A model developed from injury science is then used to understand and study ALL percussion techniques, unarmed and armed. I'm then planning to include a chapter which uses the work from injury science to assist us in our duty of care when it comes to training the tactics and techniques of the martial arts. Finally, the subject of pain, including pain tolerance, is covered. An expert in the field of pain suggests we have learnt more about pain in the past 10 years then we have in the past 1,000. For the first time, this knowledge will be used to shine a light on a discipline which has pain at its very core - the martial arts.

All of this knowledge is developed and presented to facilitate the understanding and study of the tactics and techniques of the martial arts as per Attillio Sacripanti's previously referred to dictum.

'Can martial arts falling techniques prevent injuries?'

I'm currently working on chapter 10 in my tentatively titled Throwing Techniques and Takedown Techniques of ALL Martial Arts. This chapter concerns breakfalling techniques (ukemi waza). A GREAT deal of research has gone into this chapter. I thought I'd share just a little at this stage to hopefully garner further interest in my work and some comments.

The World Health Organisation has this to say on falls:

Globally, falls are a major public health problem. An estimated 424,000 fatal falls occur each year, making it the second leading cause of unintentional injury death, after road traffic injuries. … Though not fatal, approximately 37.3 million falls are severe enough to require medical attention occur each year. Such falls are responsible for over 17 million DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) lost. … In addition, those individuals who fall and suffer a disability, particularly older people, are at a major risk for subsequent long-term care and institutionalization. The financial costs from fall-related injuries are substantial.

Human movement specialist, Arthur A. Chapman, is a big fan of teaching techniques for landing safely from a fall to the wider community. In Biomechanical Analysis of Fundamental Human he describes the two basic landing strategies taught by the martial arts and suggests 'all good school physical education classes should teach [these techniques]' (2008: 88). In their chapter entitled 'Biomechanics of Combatives' in Biomechanics of Human Movement, Marlene J. Adrian and John M. Cooper likewise recommend the benefits of teaching breakfalling techniques to the wider community: 'Falling and landing effectively with a minimum of injury are also necessary skills to attain longevity in sports, industry, and daily living' (1995: 279).

Injury Science published a research letter submitted by Dr. Frank J. Leavitt (Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel) titled 'Can martial arts falling techniques prevent injuries?' (2003: 284). I'd like to take this opportunity to inform the reader that there is some professionally researched works related, or which can be related, to the martial arts which unfortunately are hidden away in academic journals and would never see the light of day in the normal course of events. Secondly, I'd like to use this article to inform the reader of some of the work they can expect in this chapter.

Leavitt explains that 'although falling techniques are taught to martial artists, athletes and paratroopers, a BMJ search of Highwire listed journals has discovered no mention of "falling correctly", "safe falling", etc.'. My research has revealed there is very little research published on fall-arrest techniques (falling techniques are pretty simple but landing safely is the tricky bit) - but there is some. I start out my chapter with a paper investigating the natural (evolved) way humans try to land safely from falls to the front, rear, and side. I refer to these as 'nature's breakfalling techniques'. Part of nature's breakfalling techniques is the use of landing on outstretched hands which often results in a FOOSH (Fall On OutStretched Hand) injuries (see a previous blog). I then intend to write about the studies that have investigated proposed improved methods of falling safely from falls to the front, rear, and side.

'Although correct falling is neglected in the medical literature, there is much semi-scientific literature by martial arts masters.' Fall-arrest strategies are virtually, not totally, ignored in the medical literature as the abovementioned published papers demonstrate. I would take issue with the suggestion there is much semi-scientific literature by martial arts masters. There is a veritable dearth of such work within the martial arts. One notable exception is Attilio Sacripanti's Advances in Judo Biomechanics. This veritable dearth in semi-scientific or scientific literature in the martial arts is one of the driving forces behind my work.

'The ease with which martial artists take even very hard falls suggests the hypothesis that falling practice while relatively young can prevent injury from falls incurred later in life.' Here's hoping this is true given I'm entering the later in life period of my life.

'A Japanese study of 11 deaths and serious injuries in aikido from 1972-75 listed eight due to falling. Most of the victims were relative beginners, suggesting that those who practice over long periods are more protected.' Since commencing training in 1983, oh so long ago, I've seen relatively few injuries due to falling. The most severe was in a seminar conducted in Sweden in the 90s. We (Jan de Jong and myself) were teaching a throwing technique (definitely not a takedown technique)and one of the seminar participants, a yudansha (black belt holder), used an outstretched hand to arrest his fall. Both the radius and ulna were shattered requiting plates on both bones.

'Martial arts tend to have rather specialised falling techniques. Aikido falls may not protect you in cases where judo falls will be effective.' Too true. The types of ukemi waza taught reflect the types of techniques taught. Aikido tends to 'project' (a term that is often used in aikido to refer to throws) so rolling ukemi waza tend to dominate. Judo tends to throw down so 'flat falls' tend to dominate. Interestingly enough, virtually nobody teaches a sideways roll. They teach a forwards, backwards, and sideways flat fall, and a forward and backwards roll, but not a sideways roll. Again, this tends to reflect the types of falls initiated by the throws and takedowns taught within these schools. Jan de Jong jujutsu is relatively unique in teaching a sideways roll. Very useful when practicing ukemi waza by leaping from a scooter as Jan de Jong demonstrated in one of my past blogs. The ukemi waza of Jan de Jong jujutsu will also be included in this chapter.

'There is plenty of anecdotal evidence of martial artists coming out safely from quite dangerous falls.' A previous blog of mine added to the anecdotal evidence when I described Greg Palmer's use of ukemi waza to survive a motor cycle accident and Hans de Jong's use when falling from a tree while tree lopping.

'It remains to be seen whether safe and enjoyable methods might be developed to teach selected falling techniques to the general population.' They have been developed. Only Brenda Groen and her Dutch colleagues have studied martial arts techniques to reduce the severity of falls. Her PhD thesis which she finished this year and which she kindly sent me a copy, is entitled 'Martial arts techniques to reduce fall severity'. The technique she studies is included in an expansive fall prevention program currently being taught to the elderly in Holland. There have also been studies published which have investigated the efficacy of this technique within this program and participants. I'm intending to include discussion of these studies within this chapter as well.

Any and all comments are appreciated. My work can only improve with these comments. Thank you.

Update on Throwing Techniques and Takedown Techniques of ALL Martial Arts

You may or may not recall I'm in the process of writing a book tentively entitled Throwing Techniques and Takedown Techniques of ALL Martial Arts. Here is an update on my work and progress.

I am now 70% of the way through the first draft.

Today I completed the first draft of chapter eight 'Judo Classifications.' Jigoro Kano proposed a classification system for judo techniques including judo throwing techniques. This classification continues to be used more than 100 years later by the Kodokan and most judo organisations and has been adopted by many other martial arts which include throwing techniques in their curriculum. I was unaware that there have been many other classifications proposed over the years until I researched this book. This chapter looks at a number of these classifications. 'Why?', I hear the doubters of my work ask.

The answer to the question raised by my doubters lies within chapter two which I have completed the first draft. The identification of similarities and differences have been referred to as 'basic to human thought' and the 'core of all learning'. Cognitive science researchers have identified four main 'forms' of identifying similarities and differences which have proved highly effective: comparision, classification, creating metaphors, and creating analogies.

The different classifications which have been proposed are based on what the authors of the classification consider important shared and distinctive characteristics of these techniques. By looking at their classifications we get to see what these authoritative teachers thought to be the important characteristics of these techniques. By comparing the different classifications we get to learn more about these techniques then if we looked at them individually or looked at them through just one classification.

The draft of chapter three has also been completed. This chapter looks at how many organisations, authors, and different martial arts have distinguished between throwing techniques and takedown techniques. MOST DON'T, even though they use both terms when describing the types of techniques they teach.

Chapter four has also been drafted. This chapter looks at how to analyse a sport skill, in this case martial arts techniques including throwing techniques and takedown techniques, in order to teach and correct them. As Gerry Carr explains in Sport Mechanics for Coaches: 'If you don't have a well-planned approach, you're likely to be overwhelmed by the complexity and speed of the skill you are trying to analyse.' I'm sure we've all experienced this, and this experience can be minimised by applying the principles contained in this chapter.

Chapter five has been drafted as well and is the raison detre for the book. It definitvely distinguishes between throwing technique and takedown techniques based on biomechanical principles, and, for the first time ever, proposes a classification of takedown techniques.

Chapter seven has been drafted. It looks at unbalancing kuzushi) and specifically addresses the nebulous issue of mental unbalancing. Only one other author has attempted this to the best of my knowledge and that is George Kirby. My work builds on his which hopefully means that, as Issac Newton said, I can see further because I am standing on the shoulders of giants.

I'm now starting work on chapter ten which looks at unbalancing. I've mostly completed this chapter based on my work for my originally conceived book on the science behind the martial arts. I hope to complete this in a week. Among other things, it'll include research done on martial arts falling techniques by researchers in Holland and to which I've referred in previous blogs. It'll also contain the breakfalling techniques taught by Jan de Jong jujutsu, including the relatively rare sideways rolling technique.

Then only two more chapters to draft. Ernest Hemmingway suggests that 'the first draft of anything is shit', so, it would appear my writing work begins in earnest ( :) ) once the first draft is completed.

Martial Arts Techniques to Reduce Fall Serverity

I've added a new book to the 'books of interest' on my blog. It is a printed copy of Brenda Groen's PhD thesis entitled 'Martial arts techniques to reduce fall severity.'

I came across Brenda's work while researching the science being martial arts breakfalling techniques. Quite surprisingly, given the relativly large impact of falls without our society, virtually nobody has looked to the martial arts even simply to investigate the possibility that the techniques taught within the martial arts might have something to offer the wider community at large. This, to me, is symbolic of the relative lack of credibility the martial arts holds within our society. Tennis, golf, any game involving chasing a ball of any size or shape appears to have more credibility than the martial arts in our society. Part of what I hope to achieve is to lead the initial wave in amending this credibility deficit.

Brenda is, not relativly, absolutely unique in looking to the marital arts to look for solutions to problems experienced in the wider community.

I contacted Brenda after researching all the studies I could lay my hands on with respect to 'landing strategies'. The martial arts refers to 'breakfalls', as in breaking a fall, but some misguided individuals refer to these as falling techniques. As the saying goes, it's not fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the end. The marital arts techniques are pragmatic enough to be concerned with the sudden stop at the end, as is Brenda.

I'm referring to Brenda by her christian name as we've developed a (platonic) relationship based on our correspondence. She is very kind and generous to share her time and work with me. She sent me a copy of her competed and printed thesis before it has been accepted by the powers that be. It includes the results of six diffent studies that she and her colleagues conducted in Holland concerning various aspects of martial arts fall techniques - OK. Sorry Brenda - she also refers to the inappropriately named 'fall' techniques.

I ensured Brenda would not be wasting her time as I did extensive research and contemplation before I deinged to contact her. I always advise anyone to do the work before contacting any academic or 'professional'. I've found many to be very generous and very supportive, but, I'd always done the work before hand. I must have done something right as she informed me the questioned I'd raised over certain other studies were the same ones she herself had raised. This confirmed to me that I was heading in the right direction and at a level I was aiming at.

Brenda's work will be referenced in my proposed Throwing Techniques and Takedown Techniques of ALL Martial Arts book. I'll be maintaining contact with Brenda and will hopefully visit her laboratory, which she has gaciously invited me to do so, next year. I'd love to see if there is anything else the martial arts can contribute to the wider community in addition to dealing with personal violence.

Good luck Brenda and thank you very much.

'Falling off a scooter is as easy as "falling off a log"'

The above photograph sequence was printed in 1960 in the now defunct Weekend Mail, a Western Australian newspaper. The narration accompanying this photograph sequence was:

A motor scooter pillion passenger can fall off a scooter travelling at 30 mph and not hurt himself - if he knows how. One of the most unusual lessons in road safety was given to the members of the WA Lambretta Club last Sunday. Jujutsu teachers Jan de Jong ..., Margaret Kellond [(later Margaret de Jong)] ... (the rider) and Ali Scappelli ... demonstrated to members of the club ... that falling off a scooter was as easy as 'falling off a log.' 'The secret is to fall on the back of your shoulders and execute a monkey roll' explained club president Albert Vansteeg. 'The person must keep his head tucked well down and the knees must be drawn under the chin.' Falling off scooters is not a sport.

'Falling off scooters is not a sport' - an understatement if ever there was one. At least the newspaper had attended to their duty of care. De Jong would never encourage this sort of exercise, however, it is interesting to see how the training or testing of breakfalling techniques (ukemi-waza) was conducted by the 'old school.' While stressing that this was not the smartest thing to do, De Jong would, with a sly grin, tell me how he used to jump out of moving cars and trucks to perform ukemi-waza, specifically rolling techniques of course.

I've already described my youthful foolishness in performing bridgefalls (o-mae-ukemi) over wooden and metal card tables in a previous blog. Landing on the cobblestone streets of Europe was one of the more unpleasant breakfalling experiences. But somersaulting in the execution of breakfalling techniques on the sixth floor of an office block in the Jakarta CBD and seeing kite fighting going on outside the window has to be one of the more surreal breakfalling experiences.

Of course my moment of triumph came when I was undertaking rollerblading lessons. I was able to take to the lessons with some ease given my athletic ability honed by my heavy training schedule. We were being taught how to perform grass-stops where you roll off the hard surface onto the grass and come to a halt without a face-plant. The instructors, two lovely female competitive ice-skaters, often assigned me different exercises than the class because (a) I'd mastered the set exercise, and (b) I'm sure to humiliate me when I fell in order to bring me down to earth. After explaining and demonstrating the grass-stop they asked me to go first. As I rolled off the pavement the front wheels of my rollerblades dug in and I proceeded to be propelled face first into the grass, much to the amusement of said lovely instructors. Instinct took over and I performed a forwards roll (mae-kaiten-ukemi), and not only did I roll to my feet, I rolled to my feet facing the direction from whence I'd come and proceeded to skate backwards. The lovely instructors went from amusement to bemusement in the blink of an eye, much to my amusement.

Until next time.

John Coles
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O Mae Ukemi aka Bridgefall

The grading system of the jujutsu taught by Jan de Jong is one of the most comprehensive I have ever seen (and which will be the subject of a future blog). One of the second dan gradings requires the candidate to put on a demonstration with their students being the participants. The demonstration is in two parts. The first part, 20 minutes long, is an explanation of the jujutsu taught by Jan de Jong, and the second part is 10 minutes fast action. The above Youtube posting is a small part of Greg Palmer's second dan demonstration presented in 1985. It is planned that future postings will include other excerpts of this demo.

Jan de Jong acknowledged that Greg's demo was the best of all those who had attempted the grading. I was fortunate to be asked by Greg to participate in his demo. We trained two to three times a week for six months. In the demonstration, Greg is explaining the progression of training o-mae-ukemi, literally major forwards breakfall or more popularly 'bridgefall.' I am the jujutsuka (jujutsu participant) at the end of the video who performs the 'no hands' bridgefall over a 'horse.'

I remember teaching a seminar with Jan de Jong in Stolkhom, Sweden. We were teaching a hip turn (goshi gaeshi) technique where the opponent is taken across the hips and falls to the ground. When demonstrating the technique I would always land in a bridgefall as per the video. I noticed that none of the seminar participants were using the same breakfalling technique and approached one of the participants who was also one of the people responsible for us being there and discovered they did not know this technique. I advised De Jong and suggested we teach this breakfalling technique, which, being open minded, he agreed to do. During the half-time break, the technique I was approached to teach the interested senior students and instructors was this breakfalling technique and not any of the other 'defensive' techniques taught during the seminar.

Hans de Jong, the son of Jan de Jong, has spoken of using this technique when falling from a height of the roof of a house while tree lopping. Falling into a bridgefall and only suffering some scuffs and bruises. Another of De Jong's former instructors, Mike Simpson, started some demonstrations for the public by running and jumping over the heads of spectators and landing in a bridgefall. I remember hearing of Mike's exploits in somersaulting over a card table and landing in a bridgefall. So, with a youthful bravado attitude of 'anything you can do I can do better,' I attempted to replicate this feat although the card table was a much sturdier metal structure which was about 1.5 metres long. I recall having no qualms until half-way through the somersault and seeing the card table while upside down in the air. I landed the technique ... and never attempted it again.

The bridgefall and the other breakfalling techniques are described and illustrated in my book. One rather unique breakfalling technique taught by Jan de Jong jujutsu is the sideways roll. Most jujutsu follow judo's breakfalling methods which include a forwards, backwards, and sideways breakfall (flat fall), and a forwards and backwards roll - no sideways rolls. I have seen some attempt to teach a sideways roll such as in Pat Harrington's The Principles of Ju Jutsu and Marc Tedeschi's Hapkido. In these cases the sideways roll is a barrel-type of roll, rolling from one side of the body to the other. The sideways roll taught by Jan de Jong jujutsu is a little more sophisticated than this.

In addition to describing and illustrating the breakfalling methods taught by Jan de Jong, the chapter will also apply injury science to facilitate the understanding and study these techniques. Injury science is a relatively new science which, as the name suggests, studies injury. This science is the subject of its own chapter in my book and is specifically applied to facilitate the understanding and study of breakfalling techniques and percussion techniques. Injury science will be the subject of a future blog.

Until next time.

John Coles

FOOSH Injuries

What is a FOOSH injury? FOOSH is an acronym for Fall On OutStretched Hand and a FOOSH injury is an injury caused by falling on an outstretched hand.

In an article in the Journal of Biomechanics, James Chiu and Stephen N Robinovitch (1) explain that falls on outstretched hands are a significant cause of upper extremity injury, including approximately 90% of fractures at the distal radius, humeral neck, and supracondylar region of the elbow. They suggest that among these, fractures at the distal radius is especially significant, as it represents the most common type of fracture for the under-75 population. This mechanism of injury is so common that the medical fraternity use the FOOSH acronym to describe all such these injuries.

In another study, Robinovitch teamed up with ET Hsiao (2) to investigate the natural response when falling unexpectedly from standing height. They found, as expected, that the predominant balance recovery technique was stepping with only one of their trials involving stabilisation of posture through sway. However, the effectiveness of stepping in preventing a fall was highly directional dependent. Falls were avoided in 78% of the cases where stability was disturbed to the front and 72% of the cases where stability was disturbed laterally, but only 37% of the cases where stability was disturbed to the rear. Subjects were more than twice as likely to fall when balance was lost to the rear than when lost to the front or side. Hsiao and Robinovitch suggest the observed directional nature of stability may be related to an inability to visualise the environment behind the body, or achieve large step sized during rearward stepping.

The direction of balance disturbance also effected the type of fall. Hsiao and Robinovitch used the terms 'partial fall' to refer to a fall which involves contact with hands and/or knees but no trunk and/or pelvis contact, and 'complete fall' to refer to a fall which involves contact to the trunk and/or pelvis. Complete falls run the risk of injury to the pelvis whereas partial falls do not. They found that 92% of the falls to the rear were complete falls, 23% of falls to the side were complete falls, and no complete falls were observed in falls to the front.

Wrist contact was observed in ALL complete and partial falls. Braking the fall with the outstretched hand allowed for complete avoidance of upper body impact in falls to the front and reduced the incidence of upper body impact by over fourfold in falls to the side. In falls to the rear, subjects were just as likely to first impact their pelvis as they were their wrists. Hsiao and Robinovitch suggest the time difference between impacts is of greater significance than the order of impact. Previous studies have shown that 50 ms is required to reach peak force after contact with either the hip or wrist during a fall. Hsiao and Robinovitch observed the time difference in their falls to the rear trials was less than 50ms in over 75% of the cases. This suggests the near simultaneous impact between wrist and pelvis is chosen to allow sharing of impact energy between the upper extremity and pelvis.

Robinovitch had concerns over the findings of the falls to the side in the above study. He teamed up with Fabio Feldman (3) to investigate the protective response that allow young adults to avoid hip impact during a sideways fall. In their study they found that only 5% of participants were able to avoid falling altogether and another 5% fell but did not impact the pelvis. The remaining 90% fell and impacted the pelvis. However, they also found that the hand impacted before the hip in the vast majority of the falls, and the knee impacted before the hip in most falls.

A martial arts breakfalling technique is a technique designed to reduce the risk of injury during a fall. Nature's breakfalling technique then, based on these studies, is to fall on outstretched hands. Falling on knees and buttocks is also used in attempting to land safely but the predominant technique of nature's breakfalling techniques if falling on outstretched hands.

But falling on outstretched hands runs the risk of incurring a FOOSH injury.It is an evolutionary trade-off. This reflexive protective response in stretching out our hands to allow for a safe landing from a fall has been selected for in nature. Nature, or evolution, is prepared to sacrifice the upper extremity in order to protect the head, neck, and torso. Trauma to these regions poses the greatest danger to our physical well-being. Injuries to the upper extremities result in disability but rarely with fatal consequences. Injuries to the head, neck, or trunk, in contrast, have real and immediate potential to be fatal. (4)

Nature's, or evolution's, breakfalling technique is effective. It allows Mr and/or Ms Caveman to live to fight another day after falling, albeit with a damaged wing.

Nature's breakfalling technique and FOOSH injuries has implications for the martial arts. Firstly, the martial arts breakfalling techniques is an attempt at improving on nature. Martial arts breakfalling techniques are designed to reduce the risk of injury to the head, neck, and torso and the upper extremities in a fall. Arthur A Chapman, in Biomechanical Analysis of Fundamental Human Movement, suggests that all good physical education classes should teach basic martial arts landing strategies. Marlene J Adrian and John M Cooper likewise recommend the benefits of martial arts breakfalling techniques to the wider community in Biomechanics of Human Movement: 'Falling and landing effectively with a minimum of injury are necessary skills to attain longevity in sports, injury, and daily living' (p. 279).

Injuries and fatalities from falls is a major health issue around the world. Interestingly, only two groups of researchers have studied martial arts breakfalling techniques in an attempt to develop techniques to reduce the risk of injury during a fall for the general population. In 1999, MB Sabick (5) and her American colleagues used seven young adult male and two young female aikidoka (aikido practitioner) to investigate impact forces at the hip and shoulder in falls to the side. More prolific studies have been conducted by a team of Dutch researchers led by Brenda Groen and Vivian Weerdesteyn. They have developed a method of falling based on judo breakfalling techniques which has been included in the Nijmegen Falls Prevention Program (NFPP) which is being taught in Holland. Various studies conducted by Groen and Weerdesteyn investigating the efficacy of the breakfalling technique taught within the NFPP have found that elderly participants could learn to the basics of this technique in falls to the front, side, and rear in five weekly sessions of 45 minutes duration. An interest result coming from one of these studies (6) is that the fear of falling was significantly reduced after the martial arts fall training. The authors of the study suggest that since the fear of falling has been shown to be an independent predictor of falling, the reduction in fear of falling might have an additional effect on hip fracture prevention.

These and other studies are discussed in chapter two 'Breakfalling Techniques' of my book on the science behind the tactics and techniques of the martial arts. Chapter eleven, 'Injury Science', is also applied in chapter two to facilitate the understanding and study of breakfalling techniques. Along with the basic breakfalling techniques is a unique technique taught by Jan de Jong - a sideways roll. Most martial arts follow judo's lead and teach forward and backward rolls, Jan de Jong jujutsu is unique in teaching a sideways roll.

Secondly, since the majority of injuries to the upper extremities are FOOSH injuries, there is very little information available on the types of injuries which may be inflicted when applying a joint-locking technique (kansetsu waza). The forces applied to the upper extremity in both instances are entirely different. For instance, when an arm breaking (ude kujiki) technique is applied, the forces are applied to the opponent's elbow in a lateral direction whereas in a FOOSH scenario, the forces are applied at the hand up the arm. The different forces result in entirely different injuries. Also, FOOSH injuries occur when the hand is usually hyperextended, however, the wrist joint-locking techniques (e.g. wrist twist, or tekubi hineri or kote hineri) are nearly always applied with flexed wrists. The prevelance of FOOSH injuries may account for the fact that there are NO descriptions of the physiological effects of joint-locking techniques in the English-language literature to date - until my book of course. It has not been easy attempting to discern the physiological effects of joint-locking techniques, but it has been worth the effort in that it provides a unique contribution to the general body of knowledge, and the martial arts body of knowledge in particular.

Before I finish this lengthy (again) blog, I must thank Brenda Groen for her generous support. Having an interest in her work, I contacted her and she generously corresponded with me and assisted me in coming to grips with some of the studies that have been conducted on falls. She has also been kind enough to provide some positive feedback concerning my grasp and interpretation of these studies. In my journey in researching this book, I have found that many academics have been particularly generous in their support.

Until next time.

John Coles

(1) J Chiu & SN Robinovitch 1998, 'Prediction of upper extremity impact forces during falls on the outstretched hand', Journal of Biomechanics, 31, 1169-1176.

(2) ET Hsiao & SN Robinovitch 1998, 'Common protective movements govern unexpected falls from standing height', Journal of Biomechanics, 31, 1-9.

(3) F Felman & SN Robinovitch 2007, 'Reducing hip fracture risk during sideways falls: Evidence in young adults of the protective effect of impact to the hands and stepping', Journal of Biomechanics, 40, 2612-2618.

(4) WC Whiting & RF Zernicke 1998, Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Injury.

(5) MB Sabick, JG Hay, VK Goel, & SA Banks 1999, 'Active responses decrease impact forces at the hip and shoulder in falls to the side', Journal of Biomechanics, 32, 993-998.

(6) BE Groen, E Smulders, D de Kam, & V Weerdesteyn 2010, 'Martial arts fall training to prevent hip fractures in the elderly', Osteoporosis International, 21, 215-221.