latelatebloomer glad that you and the your bike are ok

"I will see if George is willing to help me get a "tuck" instinct rather than a "brace" instinct."

I sure he can, just takes practice, practice, practice, practice. And it's fun.

BTW, what dojo does George teach at? I train with Pat Hendricks at San Leandro Aikido.

found a pretty good example of a basic Aikido style roll

http://www.aikido-world.com/highligh...mi-forward.htm

Discloser: do not attempt this at home or without an instructor. There's an easy way to get to this point, and from here to breakfalls. But trying to learn from a video....not good.

Aikido falls are not summersaults. Summeraults the impact goes over the head, down the back to the base of the spine, then there's a gap till *boink* impact on the knees. So the impact is on the vulnerable spinal column.

Aikido falls can begin at any point in the circle although the basic training is from the feet back up again. But the roll follows the outside of the arm, across the shoulders, *across* the spine-not down it, follows the hip and then you could either stay down, or go back up to your feet.

Don't forget to breath! I'm convinced a lot of fall injuries are because we hold our breath.

Have fun learing with George.