Falling forward (向前倒下)

As seniors, our recovery rate tends to slow down, and our bones are more fragile than they were in our younger days. Healing from a broken bone takes longer, and unfortunately, it may never feel 100% again. For some seniors, breaking a hip bone can be life-changing.

隨著年齡增長，康復速度會減慢，骨骼也比年輕時脆弱。骨折的癒合時間變長，可能永遠無法回到百分之百。對一些長者，髖骨骨折可能會改變他們一生。

Nobody can completely prevent falls. However, taking necessary precautions reduce the chance of preventable falls. Learning how to land safely reduces the extent of the injuries.

沒有人能完全防止跌倒。然而，採取必要的預防措施可以減少跌倒的機會。學習如何安全著地能降低受傷的程度。

Things break when you exceed its “impact threshold”. Every person’s bone density is different and therefore its “impact threshold”. If the impact is less than your personal threshold, then you may suffer just a bruise or sprain. However, if the impact exceeds a bone’s threshold, the bone will break. We train to reduce the impact under the bone’s threshold so that nothing will break.

當撞擊力超過其“衝擊承受極限”時，物體就會損壞。每個人的骨密度不同，因此“衝擊承受極限”也不同。如果衝擊小於你的個人極限，那麼你可能只會受到瘀傷或扭傷。然而，如果衝擊超過了骨頭的極限，骨頭就會斷裂。如果我們能減少跌倒時的衝擊力，就可能避免骨折。

This article is specifically about how to regain balance / reduce the speed of falling when you lose balance in the frontal direction, resulting in a frontal fall. The imbalance can be caused by a physical push/pull or a sudden stop.

失衡可能是由於身體的被推撞或突然停下所引起的。這篇文章討論當你向前方失去平衡，導致向前跌倒時，如何重新獲得平衡或減緩跌倒的速度。

Reduce the height by pushing the butt backwards

When babies learn how to walk, they fell and try again countless times. What changed is that we grew taller and heavier and we don’t play on the ground anymore. As a result, the impact is less forgiving and when we freak out, we do not respond in the best possible way.

當嬰兒學習走路時，他們會跌倒無數次。不同的是，成人長得高、體重比之前增加了好幾倍。結果，跌倒的撞擊力相應的添加。

Distance of a fall do make a difference. Lets take an example, if a crystal glass is dropped from six feet up versus dropping it inches from the ground, the likelihood of the glass breaking is dramatically reduced.

舉個例子，如果一個水晶杯從六尺高的地方掉下來，與從靠近地面的地方掉下來相比，靠近地面的水晶杯破碎的可能性會大幅減少。

(The diagram below illustrates how to reduce a person’s height while attempting to rebalance themselves while falling forward.)

下面的圖表說明了向前跌倒時，如何降低自身的高度。

Reduce the weight in front by pushing your butt backwards 將臀部向後移，可以減少前方的重量

The force of impact is proportional to your body weight. Kids can fall without breaking any bones because they are light comparatively.

衝擊力與你的體重成正比。孩子們摔倒時通常不會骨折，因為他們的體重較輕。

If you eat healthy, remain active and maintain a healthy body weight, you are reducing the impact if you do fall. Our goal, with whatever body weight, is to reduce the impact. If you shift your body weight backwards, there is less weight in the front and therefore the hit is reduced.

如果你飲食健康、保持活動力並維持健康的體重，那麼在跌倒時可以減少衝擊。我們的目標是無論體重如何，都要減少衝擊。將體重向後移會減少前方的重量，從而減輕撞擊力。

(The diagram below illustrates how shifting backwards help reduce “force-towards-front”. The biggest mistake is to stiffen up which amplifies the effect of the “force-towards-front”. The diagram shows the netting effect if you fold your upper body and shift backwards.)

下方的圖表說明了如何向後移動來減少“向前的力量”。最大的錯誤是身體僵硬，這會放大“向前的力量”的效果。圖表展示了如果你折疊上半身並向後移動時的減震效果。

Net-out effect

Absorb part of the “force-towards-front” decreases that force, you buy yourself to react while reducing the speed of the fall. Slower means less impact.

吸收部分“向前的力量”可以減少該力量，讓你有時間反應，同時減緩跌倒的速度。速度越慢，衝擊就越小

(The diagram helps illustrate how folding the body “takes away the surface” for the “force-to-front”, rendering it less effective. If you stand straight and stiff, therefore a perpendicular surface for the “force-to-front”, 100% of the delivered force will be delivered against your body).

Soften the landing

Our technique for landing softly involves a specific sequence: “finger-tip, fingers, palm, and a slight bend in the elbow.” The following animation attempts to illustrate this specific sequence of the hand.

著地的技術涉及一個特定的順序：從“指尖、手指、掌心，然後手肘微彎”。以下的動畫試圖展示這一特定的手部動作順序。

Some seniors have very still fingers and/or wrists. It is very important to start stretching them so there is some “give” in the hands since that is the primary landing gear if one do fall. You do not need to be ultra flexible, all you need is some “give” just like the protective cover on your cell phone.

一些長者的手指或手腕非常僵硬, 著地很容易折斷。拉伸鍛鍊是非常重要的，這樣手部就有一些“彈性”，手腕是跌倒時的主要著地部位。有一些“彈性”，就像手機的保護殼一樣的作用, 。

How do I know that this works? If you observe professional basketball players, they wear well-cushioned shoes to support their jumps and landings. They also control their landing: starting with the ball of the feet, lowering the heels, and bending at the knees and hips. Professionals never land with straight legs or flat feet. If it works for the pros with their number of jumps and landing, it works for us too!

我怎麼知道這有效呢？職業籃球運動員有緩衝效果的鞋子, 來支撐他們的跳躍和著地。他們還控制著地動作：從前腳掌開始，然後放低腳跟，並彎曲膝蓋和臀部。職業運動員從不會用筆直的雙腿或平腳著地。我們應用相同的道理, 用在手臂著地法上, 同樣有效！

If you happen to fall forward, your hands act as your default landing gears. Comparing this to landing with the legs, the sequence should mirror each other: “reach out with your finger-tips, land on all the fingers or the ball of the hands, land on your palm, and then bend your elbow to absorb.” This method, inspired by professional players, helps absorb most of the impact, with the remaining force mitigated by other skills.

如果你不幸向前跌倒，雙手會著地。你應該：“伸出指尖，落在手指，然後落在手掌，彎著手肘以吸收衝擊” 。這方法受職業運動員啟發，能夠吸收大部分衝擊。

If you freeze or push out while falling, or if you are so weak that your arms cannot hold your body weight, you will hurt yourself badly. Softening a landing isn’t instinctive for adults, so we need to reprogram our brains through simulations. By practicing and experiencing simulated falls, we can train ourselves to land correctly without panicking.

如果在跌倒時僵硬，或手臂無力，無法支撐體重，你會受到嚴重的傷害。對於成年人來說，柔和著地並非本能反應，因此我們需要重新訓練大腦。通過練習並體驗倣真跌倒，我們可以訓練自己在不驚慌的情況下安全著地。

One additional aspect to consider to softening the landing is to avoid landing using any sharp parts of your body. For example, the tip of your elbow, the heel of your palm, your shoulder joint, your tailbone and your knees. By paying attention to these details, you can reduce the damage drastically.

柔和著地的另一個關鍵點是避免使用身體的尖銳部位著地。例如，肘尖、掌跟、肩關節、尾骨和膝蓋。注意這些細節，可以大幅減少損傷。

Share /spread the impact 分散衝擊力

A full-size extra-large pizza is overwhelming for a single person, but when shared among many, each person only gets a small slice. This principle extends to the concept of impact. If the force of an impact is distributed over a larger surface area, each part of the body absorbs only a fraction of the force. Conversely, if a specific body part has to endure the entire impact, it becomes too much.

一個超大號的蛋糕對於一個人來說可能太多，但當多人分享時，每個人只會分到一小塊, 不會吃到肚子痛。這個原理同樣適用於衝擊的概念。如果衝擊力分佈在較大的表面積上，身體的每個部位只會吸收一小部分力量。反之，如果一個特定部位承受全部衝擊，就會容易受傷。

Rolls are yet another technique that spread the impact to reduce injuries. Since it’s a more advanced technique, we’ll delve into it further in future videos and/or in-person classes.

翻滾是另一種分散衝擊以減少傷害的技巧, 我們會在未來的課程進一步探討。