Two more hints on falling out 'da way

A couple of people have emailed me talking about what a weird concept falling out of the way is.  Here are a couple of more hints on how to get the feel of the thing:

• Fall all the way down - Get a crash pad or a mattress or something to that effect.  Stand in shizentai with the crash pad beside you and practice collapsing the leg and just falling on your side on the crash pad.  This is the first part of the falling evasion I was talking about in the previous post.  Once you become comfortable with the falling part you can start catching yourself before you fall all the way and you'll be falling out of the way.
• March like a robot - When you get the feel of falling and start using that collapsed leg to catch you, try a few repetitions of picking the leg straight up and putting it straight back down under you like a piston.  When you are ready to fall, instead of collapsing the leg and dragging the floor with it, snap the foot upward off the floor, then when you want to put it back down, snap it back down.  After you get the feel for this falling evasion you can tone it down so that you are not walking like a robot, but try it a few times to get used to it.

I've got another great hint on this evasion business coming up that will likely solve some of your problems with this falling evasion.  Stay tuned for a post on what I call, "Walking over the hill."

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