But I still think I need to learn how to fall properly.

It's never too early to start. Just fling yourself at the ground a lot. Like right now.

The early days may bring a lot of expensive bills, but the payoff in training will be well worth it.

That's as annoying (well, I'm less gracious than I am graceful, for sure) as a friend of mine with lightning reflexes.

This would be your friend Wally?

We actually had a unit on falling in high school theatre. Trust exercises, where you fall straight back and trust the person/s to catch you, "fainting," or crumpling gracefully to the floor, pratfalls. It was a lot of help, on top of the childhood ballet, in being aware that I was falling enough to relax and roll with it.

I also took ballet in college. Our ballet instructor was a past premier danseur himself, and also taught in the school of dance. He came into class one Monday morning with a walking cast on his foot.

"I'm remodeling. I *knew* the paint cans were there, therefore I had no need to look where I was going. *sigh* Dancers are the clumsiest people on earth."

I did a trust exercise in high school once. They dropped me. Cured me of *that* impulse.

They replace our office carpet last week and glued down carpet tiles instead.

Through a miscommunication, instead of leaving the building open to outside air all weekend, they shut the air OFF all weekend. Fume city. Need I say that there are no user-operable controls?

This would be your friend Wally?

Or a close relative thereof. With better fighting skills.

Bastard.

My improv troupes would do those trust exercises. Sadly, they told the truth.

When I was in high school, a friend and I were over at my girlfriend's house. For some reason I let myself fall backwards. My friend (for some even stranger reason) put his foot behind mine, preventing me from putting my foot behind me to catch myself. I reached behind me to break my fall, and my hand caught the end of a pan of roast beef, flipping it into the air and all over the kitchen floor. My GF was really mad at both of us, so my friend stormed off and started walking home. I drove out and picked him up and drove him home.

That's all there is to the story. I think I needed one or two more odd things to happen to make the story a classic... or interesting, for that matter.

I could have possibly used the opportunity MM's gaping astonishment to beat the ever lovin' snot out of him, had I not been stunned into gaping astonishment myself.

Heh. I've had moments like that. In fact one involving sparring with shinai, actually. I was getting driven back and tripped over a divot in the yard. Without thinking I did a complete backwards roll and smoothly came back to my feet with the shinai at the ready. Both I and the friend I was sparring with just stood there staring at each other going "I can't believe I/you just did that."

you drove home the friend who basically tripped you? I would have possibly chased him down in the car.

One of our funnest drills at krav (when my back is good) is the diving roll for weapon -- either gun or knife. It's a lot easier to throw your head at the floor when prezzies are involved.

But it's a real roll and a fake knife. Hardly seems fair.