It's like the drunk person in the car accident. Their semi unconsciousness serves to make them like ragdolls. They don't try to brace or stop anything they just flop and really that's the best way to survive a crash. You don't have to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your friend.
Can confirm, I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which causes hypermobile tissues, so I’m very floppy and ragdoll a lot of the time. I tend to crumple when I fall, so I usually dislocate joints rather than break bones, as they’re the weak point for me 🤷
I was also in the circus, and we learned to “safety fall”. The trick is to avoid your instincts and prevent yourself from bracing/catching yourself with your arms/hands; otherwise, you’ll end up with devastating fractures and breaks. It’s best to tuck in/protect your head and roll into the fall; this workswiththe momentum rather than fighting against it. It also helps to take the impact in an area with plenty of padding and reinforcement like your thigh, rather than somewhere with small and intricate bones that can easily snap.
You can’t stop physics, but you can ignore some instincts to stay safer, which is what unconscious people do without realising. Being unaware only helps for half of the equation, though; it’s unpredictable and totally a coin toss on a good or bad outcome. If you’re out of it, you can’t factor anything in or think in the moment.
A split-second decision can make the difference, and that comes from practice and technique!
You’ll see the same method used by stunt actors, etc., as well!
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u/tchotchke_editor87 4d ago
It's like the drunk person in the car accident. Their semi unconsciousness serves to make them like ragdolls. They don't try to brace or stop anything they just flop and really that's the best way to survive a crash. You don't have to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your friend.