Mae Ukemi · 前受身
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Ukemi (breakfalls)

The forward breakfall: stopping a straight fall onto your face with your forearms, without rolling. It is what saves you when there is no room to roll, and the one breakfall where the arms take the impact deliberately.

Key points
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- Forearms and palms land together, elbows bent and springy
- Turn your head to one side; your face never approaches the mat
- Hips stay off the mat: only forearms and toes touch

Step by step
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1. Kneel up tall with both arms raised in front of you, elbows bent, palms forward.
2. Turn your head to one side and keep it turned for the whole fall.
3. Let your body fall straight forward, keeping it in one rigid line from knees to head.
4. Meet the mat with both forearms and palms at the same moment, elbows bent so they absorb rather than lock.
5. Keep your hips lifted and your stomach off the mat: only your forearms and your knees or toes are down.
6. Push back up to kneeling. Practise from kneeling until it is automatic before trying it from standing.

VI judo notes
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A solo skill, and a safe one to drill alone once the shape is learned. The position is easiest to find by lying face down first and feeling exactly where the forearms sit, then reproducing that shape on the way down.

From Waza Book: https://wazabook.com/skills/mae-ukemi/