For those of us that are not familiar with judo or any other of the martial arts

[Roscoe]

Have you seen the Ministry of Health ad on TV? The young girl throws the man to the floor. Nothing extraordinary about that. In judo you learn how to throw someone bigger than yourself, but what is wrong with that ad is that the man falls on his bum and then gets up smiling.

What a load of rubbish! Landing on your bum like that would hurt. And in any case, that is not the correct way to fall. You will probably hurt yourself.

For those of us amongst us who have learnt judo or other similar marshal arts, you will know that you are taught to land on your side and slap your hand down hard on the mat to break your fall. You can injure yourself falling any other way.

That is meant to be a health ad, but it is certainly not very healthy.

[piroska]

True.
You'd hurt your tailbone...ouch

I did Judo briefly when I was young and not bad looking.
All the young males wouldn't participate properly.... Grab the front of your partners jacket...and they'd stand there blushing.

Sigh.

I did learn the falls and a few basic throws, it was fun but being left without a partner frequently wasn't helpful so I quit.

[1101]

OK, heres the advert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaREk9n4a5I

he doesnt land on his 'bum', he rolls across his arm . It does seem a bit sloppy .
He does slap his other arm down (sloppily) . Dont forget the sound would have been edited
He would get up smiling , why wouldnt he after that throw ?

Its a young kid trying to learn throws (I assume)
it was on soft mats
there wasnt height or power in the throw
it may not have been judo
it was showing someone LEARNING , so throw & landing may not have been perfect, to signify 'learning it'

landing like that would not hurt , its on soft mats .
Its not in any way meant to show perfect technique, its meant to show someone learning

How does a slap after landing absorb the blow ? Putting out your arm to spread the load would help .
I guess its develop better technique when learning ?

[zqwerty]

"How does a slap after landing absorb the blow"

As in wrestling, sound effects add to the observers experience and possibly the participants feel more involved.

[Roscoe]

"How does a slap after landing absorb the blow"

As in wrestling, sound effects add to the observers experience and possibly the participants feel more involved.

It's not "a slap after landing", it is a slap on landing which is that which helps break the fall. So it is not a sound effect as you say, but an integral part of the fall.

[Bryan]

It's not a slap as such. You use the lower arm from elbow to finger tips as a sharp blow. It is timed to hit just as, or fractionally before, your body hits. The arm works much like a shock absorber. If falling backwards, both arms are employed at the same time. Timing is important for the breakfall to work properly. It is no good if you fall, or get thrown and do not breakfall as you hit, you will get hurt!

[piroska]

It's a way of spreading out your weight rather than just hitting say on your bum or such, not just fall down and slap mat, fall in a certain way and arms in a certain way.

[kenj]

I don't have any need to spread my weight, it's pretty well spread anyway

Ken