Ukemi are judo's breakfalls: the techniques for landing safely when you get thrown. There are four basic ones: the back fall, the side fall, the front fall and the forward roll. Every judo club teaches them from the first class, before any throw. A judoka who knows how to fall can train for decades.
Why judo starts with breakfalls
No ukemi, no judo. Every judo throw assumes a partner who will hit the mat again and again. If they're scared of falling, they stiffen up and post a straight arm to catch themselves. That's how injuries happen.
Good falling also changes how you fight. A judoka who isn't afraid of landing attacks more freely and defends more calmly. Coaches see it with adult beginners: those who put real time into breakfalls in the first months make faster progress in randori than those who wanted to throw from day one.
Ushiro-ukemi: the back breakfall
This one comes first. Start in a squat, arms reaching forward. Sit down as close to your heels as you can and roll onto your back with your chin tucked. Both arms slap the mat at about 45 degrees from the body, palms flat.
Chin tucked is rule number one. Without it, the back of your head hits the floor. A common trick with kids is to have them hold a belt between chin and chest during the first sessions. If the belt drops, the head went back.
Yoko-ukemi: the side breakfall
This is the fall you'll use most in randori, since most throws land uke on their side. You land on your flank with one leg slightly bent, and the arm on the falling side slaps the mat.
The classic mistake is crossing the legs on landing. The ankles knock together and the top knee twists. Keep the legs apart, top leg in front of the other.
Mae-ukemi: the front breakfall
You fall forward and take the impact on your forearms and palms, which form a triangle in front of your face. The body stays braced and the head turns to one side. It protects you from failed throws and from forward falls in competition.
Adults often struggle with this one. The reflex to stick the arms out straight runs deep. Start on your knees and only move to standing once both forearms reach the mat together.
Mae-mawari-ukemi: the rolling breakfall
Also called zempo-kaiten, it's a diagonal roll across the shoulder, never over the head. The front arm forms a circle, the head tucks to the opposite side, and you roll from shoulder to the opposite hip. Finish with an arm slap or come straight back to your feet.
This is the fall that helps most off the mat: a slip on a bike or a tumble down the stairs. It also prepares you for forward throws like seoi-nage or uchi-mata.
A drill progression
A standard order for beginners, kids and adults alike:
- Lying on your back: slap the mat with both arms, chin tucked. Twenty reps.
- Sitting: roll back and slap. Then from a squat. Then from standing.
- Side fall from a squat, swinging one leg across in front of you.
- Front fall from the knees, then from standing.
- Rolls from the knees, then walking, then over a partner on all fours.
- Falls from a simple throw, with a partner who holds the sleeve. O-goshi, the major hip throw, is ideal for this.
Steps 1 to 4 happen in the first month. Steps 5 and 6 follow at each person's pace. Kids go faster because they're not afraid of the floor. The guides on judo for kids and judo for adult beginners cover the first sessions in more detail.
Breakfalls never stop
Black belts still do breakfalls in every warm-up. They are the best protection against judo injuries, especially to shoulders and collarbones when someone catches themselves on a straight arm. Pain after a bad fall should be checked by a doctor.
Falls also need training under fatigue, through nage-komi: sets of full throws onto a thick crash mat. Our advice: in every session, take five minutes for twenty falls before randori, and alternate sides. Most judoka fall well on one side and badly on the other, and it's always the bad side that ends up injured.
Once your falls are solid, move on to the best judo techniques for beginners and the gokyo syllabus.