Overcoming fear

Have you ever tried something new to get over something you are afraid of? I use to do a lot of rock climbing. Sounds like fun right? Well, not if you are terrified of heights. The first time I went, my friends put me in a climbing harness, hooked me up with ropes and off I went. I actually did pretty good, because I was terrified of falling. Once I was about 50 feet in the air I found a ledge I could stand on and I was stuck! I was so afraid of falling all I could do was hang on and wonder what on earth I was going to do. My friends had to talk me down and it took some time. After that first climb, I learned that I had to climb up a few feet and then let go. This allowed me to gain the confidence that the ropes would hold if I slipped, and I could continue my climb.

So, what does this have to do with martial arts? Well, for me, the same holds true with ukemi. When you watch someone being thrown it looks painful! But, if you know ukemi it really doesn't. However, I have somewhat of a mental block on throwing myself on the ground. It takes me being thrown a couple of times for my brain to remember that I can do it and it really isn't bad. We were practicing a wrist lock into a throw the other night and the first time I had to be thrown I was really wondering if I was going to be able to do the roll correctly. After I had done it one time and realized I really can do this, I was fine. But, it took doing the first one for my brain to register, "hey, you can do this".


I write this to encourage you, if you are learning ukemi and it seems a little imtidating keep working on it. It gets easier the more that you do it and when you do land from a fall or throw you will find it really isn't as bad as it looks!


Keep practicing!

Lisa