Your first judo class involves none of that whatsoever. Instead, you spend the overwhelming majority of your time falling down. You fall on your back and your side. You roll into a fall. You get reprimanded for sticking your arm out or not keeping your chin tucked. You are learning ukemi, the art of breakfalling. It is the foundational skillset that has allowed me, as a 41-year-old, to show up to the dojo multiple times a week and get thrown onto my back with full force by friends and strangers, and head home after to toss my kids around, carry the groceries, and do plenty of other things I'd struggle to do if I'd hurt myself.
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Civil society in Japan is often considered small and powerless. But even as a small group, what seems impossible is not necessarily impossible.
TED
I know that these things sound quite basic, like climbing a rooftop or hanging out with friends or staying up late. These are not like some big, crazy things. But to me, it felt like I was climbing a mountain, that this was something huge that I was doing in my life because I was making my own choices and I felt that nobody was watching me.
Malala Yousafzai — Fresh Air
I didn't really have that why me thing. Maybe it's because I'm Jewish. I'm just sort of always waiting for the other shoe to drop. So in this case, it was three shoes.
Amanda Peet — Fresh Air