5 common ushiro ukemi errors

Common mistake 1

One-sided roll. Rolling backwards from shoulder to same side hip. Uneasy, unstable roll which comes from the fact that projection of the centre of gravity to the mat is not where the body touches the mat (in other words, you may throw yourself off balance to one side, instead of rolling forward.

Common mistake 2

Head stays in the middle, not tilted when rolling over the shoulder. The result of this is that the head stops or slows down the roll when bumping into the mat. The neck muscles can easily be pulled and injured when the roll is dynamic. Not tilting the head may also result in a roll that is alongside the spine: it will be a standard (not aikido) back roll.

Common mistake 3

In the starting position, the legs are not placed properly. If they are not in the position they are supposed to be at the beginning, it will not be easy to determine the line of the roll (i.e. the diagonal line, see our ushiro ukemi instructions) as the starting position is not straightforward to find out from which shoulder to which hip to roll. Improper leg positions often result in standard back rolls and not tilted head, or one sided rolls.

Common mistake 4

After positioning the head correctly at the beginning, beginners often bring their head back to a straight position when starting the roll. Also, the head sometimes comes back and it is tilted to the opposite side. The result of this is a roll on the head, one-sided roll, and if the head is tilted back at the wrong time, pulling the neck muscles is almost guaranteed.

Common mistake 5

When starting the roll, students sometimes try to look back. With this, instead of your back taking on a convex shape it will be concave or simply straight. It is not painful if the roll is done slowly on tatami but it is reasonably unpleasant if the roll is a dynamic one.  Joke aside, it is not possible to roll smoothly with a straight or concave spine. Without rolling smoothly it won’t be possible to us the energy of the roll to stand up and get back to a stable position, as you will need to use your own energy this way in order to finish the roll in a proper position.

It should be noted (and remembered) that combinations of the above mistakes also appear. Obviously, there are other kinds of common mistakes as well. If you happen to have produced similar mistakes, possibly have a video about them, and you are not too shy to share these with us, please send us the comment or video (or its link)

In case you want to see a positive and step-by-step approach to learning ushiro ukemi, please visit our Instructional videos section.