"Before learning how to stand,

you must learn how to fall"

General Alexander Ivanovich Retuinskih

The importance of engaging the ground cannot be underestimated in anything we do in life. Whether walking down the stairs, climbing a tree in the back yard, or practicing Russian Martial Art, the potential for falling is always there. As a practitioner of Russian Martial Art, I am frequently reminded of this necessity; therefore, I practice engaging the ground regularly. Throughout much of Russian Martial Art's basic biomechanical exercises, safely engaging the ground is emphasized. I like to say that we are "engaging the ground" as opposed to "falling" because it is much more specific. Being aware of your fall, without willfully knowing it, is engaging the ground and will save anyone a great deal of pain and possible injury. Falling, on the other hand, is just falling. There is rarely any awareness of the environment in falling.

In Russian Martial Art, engaging the ground is done from all directions; front, back, and sides. It is also done from varying heights and on diverse terrain. This allows the participant to be more prepared to engage the ground in anyway, from anywhere. It is important to remember that engaging the ground is not merely "catching yourself" before or even during a fall. Actually, catching yourself is not the most efficient way of engaging the ground. Conversely, engaging the ground should be an extension of every person's natural biomechanics. In other words, let your body engage the ground in a way that it already instinctively knows. Every person instinctively knows how to engage the ground. We have been doing it since we were born. If you watch children closely, you will easily see how they take falls without injuries by allowing their bodies to most efficiently engage the ground. Unfortunately, as we grow older, we forget how to engage the ground and, from fear, tighten ourselves up when we see that we are going down. By tightening ourselves up, we are certainly not using our natural biomechanics to help us to engage the ground. Russian Martial Art allows its participants to "remember" those biomechanics that we all thought we lost.

By continually expanding ranges of motion and natural biomechanics, the practice of Russian Martial Art allows people to let go of their preconceived notions of how the body should act and allows the body to just act on its own. Each day that goes by, I realize new ranges of motion in my own body and experiment with my own biomechanics. I purposefully (and sometimes not so purposefully) engage the ground in as many ways as possible to expand the use of my entire body. In doing this, I feel as though I've given a greater degree of sensitivity to my body, allowing it to return to how it naturally functions, and not confused it with thoughts of what should be. And it has helped.

Not long ago, I was practicing at the local gymnastics school. For months, I had been perfecting my round-off, back-handspring and was finally becoming comfortable with the mechanics. I had been working on it for about two hours and was becoming tired, but I wanted to try a few more passes to make sure that what I was performing was actually what I wanted. I stepped up on the gymnastics floor and began running to setup for the round-off. As far as I could tell, the round-off was smooth. However, as I threw my hands up over my head to setup for the back-handspring, I realized that something was very wrong. I was completely out of control and flying through the air backwards. I remember a few thoughts running through my mind like, "I'm going to die," strewn with a few other choice words. My mind had already decided my fate, but my body wasn't about to give up that easily. I remember standing up out of some type of roll on the gymnastics floor and several people approaching me asking if I was injured. I thought I was. Actually, there was nothing wrong with me that I could tell. I was told that I came down on my head, which twisted over my neck and then I rolled out of it. The thought is not a pleasant one, and I'm glad that I did not realize what was actually happening at the time.

I still practice gymnastics and have had no after-affects from the fall. I am certain that by allowing my body to explore its own natural ranges of motion through Russian Martial Art and by permitting it to take over instead of my mind, I saved myself from a bad accident or possibly worse. I have certainly learned the importance of practicing to engage the ground.