It's Thursday. Last Monday, I took a big fall. I had a pull-up bar installed in a doorway at home. Paid about $40 for it. It was an expansion rod, but also set on top of two pegs that screwed into the door frame. I'd been using it for a couple of weeks.
On this particular day, however, I was up at the top of a pull-up, with my feet held out in front of me (I'm tall, and that's the only way to get full arm extension at the bottom of the movement). You guessed it -- the bar broke loose.
Specifically, the left side gave way. In an instant, I fell from about six feet to the floor, which is tile on concrete slab. I landed on my upper back -- almost flat, with a little cheat to the left. I landed with a great thud. There was no time to "slap out" even if I had not had a pull-up bar in my hands. This was NOT a feather fall.
I sat up, stunned, taking inventory. I really thought I had broken something in my upper back. Also, my left elbow was bleeding pretty badly, apparently from contacting the metal strip in the doorway. And my left butt cheek was sore, too -- clearly must've come down a little harder on that side.
Here's the thing. I did NOT slam my head onto the tile. My head did not touch. Again -- tile on concrete slab. There was nobody home that could help me. I could have died in a pool of blood.
Did my Aikido training help? I have to believe it did. There was NO time plan this fall -- I could do the math, but I won't. My body reacted instinctively, resulting in two things: 1) I my head off the floor, and 2) I relaxed juuust enough to keep me from serious injury.
Coulda been dumb luck, too. Probably a little of both.
It's now about 19 days later. My hip is still a little bruised, my elbow is still puffy and tender, and my neck is still stiff. But I did no permanent damage.
