Perfect fallbreak when being pushed down the stairs

[giant-killer]

I was walking down a flight of stairs the other day and I suddenly imagined what I would do if someone decided to kill me by giving me a big push from behind, making me fly forward. How would I break my fall in that case, on such an uneven surface? Seems like a roll would make the most sense, but would there be a chance that I’d break my hands, trying to place them on the ground in front of me (I may not be able to hit an even surface, such as one of the steps. Maybe I’d hit the side of one of the steps, or one hand hits one step, the other the one below it). If I could, should I rather try to roll without putting my hands onto the ground? Or wouldn’t there be much danger of breaking anything, if I fell with a lot of velocity? Of course, not using my hands might make my head crash into the steps.

After the initial roll, I might still have some speed. Would I do a regular fallbreak then? So roll, followed by a fallbreak? But spreading out my arms while slapping the ground might make my arms crash into the railing or a wall if the stairwell is very narrow. So, would it be better to just tuck my chin and fall without spreading out my arms? Also, hitting the side of the stairs like that might hurt my back/spine pretty badly, especially if those are concrete steps. So, should I rather continue to roll after the initial roll, in a sort of controlled tumble?

What about facing away from the stairs and then being pushed back? Backwards roll followed by a fallbreak? Or several rolls in a row? Or regular fallbreak, then a roll?

I’m thinking especially of a strong shove kind of thing, but it could apply to a stumbling kind of fall as well.

Any suggestions?

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Giantkiller

[jjk]

Re: Perfect fallbreak when being pushed down the stairs

Just do what you would normally do on a flat surface. The only thing different is that the downward angle adds speed, and the stairs will just make it all suck no matter what. All the same rules and principals apply.

So you would probably roll, until you could stop yourself. Contact with your spine should be minimal, just like in a normal roll. If the ground contacts your spine in more than one place, then you are rolling incorrectly. You might have to bring your arms in a little bit because the stairwell is narrower as well.

Hell, you might even be able to roll, stand up, and skip down the stairs.

[guerriere]

Re: Perfect fallbreak when being pushed down the stairs

According to all the old Westerns I watched as a kid, the proper way to go down the stairs is to roll up into a ball and roll down sideways.

[kmcat]

Re: Perfect fallbreak when being pushed down the stairs

I’ve actually done this numerous times. Except it wasn’t stairs, it was rocks and the “push” comes from my mountain bike. When you ride a mountain bike, it is a given that you are going to crash at some point. It is “part of the game” as the saying goes.

A typical spill scenario on a mountain bike involves going down a steep section (not unlike stairs) when your front wheel gets stopped or caught. This can happen for several reasons, sand will “grab” and slow the wheel’s rotation dramatically, it can catch on a rock or a stick or branch. The careful rider will watch for obstacles like that but sometimes it can’t or won’t be avoided.

The cross pollination with Krav Maga comes in with how you deal with the resulting fall. As the front wheel is stopped the rider’s momentum will continue to push forward. If the rider is not prepared to lower his/her center of gravity the bike will lever up and over the stopped front wheel. The rider experiences an “endo” (end over end).

The absolute wrong way to break the fall is to put your arms out forward with elbows locked. This will usually result in a broken collar bone. As an arm hits the ground and the force of the body comes down on the locked elbow and forearm the force is transfered directly into the relatively delicate collar bone doing a fine job of snapping it.

The right way is to have your arms extended in front of you, but with the elbows flexed. As your hands touch the ground (or steps in this case) allow your arms to bend bringing your head closer to the ground, tuck your chin down to your chest, and as you continue forward bend your back & body in to a semi-fetal position letting the rolling motion continue as you continue forward use your arms and legs kind of like roll bars keeping them at 90 degree angles.

I’ve come though with only elbow and knee scrapes using this technique in spills I’ve experienced.

I think this technique would transfer directly to the stair push attach described. The circumstances and terrain is similar to a spill on a rocky slope.

[bradm]

Re: Perfect fallbreak when being pushed down the stairs

My first question is why would someone try to kill you by pushing you down the stairs? Too make it look like an accident maybe! I think awareness is the key. Be aware of who is behind you. I think if I were going downstairs, I would know if someone is behind me and how close they were. If the person behind was not a friend or someone I knew, and a gut feeling made me feel uneasy (maybe threatened), I would try to be prepared. When I go down stairs, I usually use the hand rail. If someone pushed me, I would do my best to grab the hand rail tightly and use it as support. Hopefully allowing me to turn and face the attacker and defend myself from there. Personally, I think if you get shoved down a steep set of stairs, you’re gonna get hurt no matter how good you are at breakfalls. Just my 2 cents.

[giant-killer]

Re: Perfect fallbreak when being pushed down the stairs

Reminds me of that story that Amir used to tell, about kicking a guy down the stairs who was about to attack him. I think that guy didn’t do so well… OhMy

So, I guess it’s definitely the roll then. Usually, when we do the roll, we do one and then get back up into a fighting stance. That probably wouldn’t work here. If my momentum continues after the first roll, I guess I’ll just have to keep rolling until I come to a stop. The hard edges of the stairs would probably bruise me up, but at least I wouldn’t break anything.

What if I’m facing away from the stairs and fall backwards. Just backward rolls?

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Giantkiller

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