Very good points. I practice Aikido and when I was in Florida, I visited a dojo that a class called Gentle which was billed as being for ages 70+. I don’t know what it consisted of but since falling is a big part of Aikido anyway I would wager that safe falling was an important part of it. In Aikido we learn to relax when falling and distribute the force of the fall over our whole body. This is in contrast to uncontrolled falls where fear causes the body to stiffen and the force is concentrated in one spot, causing injury.

I am 69 and have studied for four years, never having studied any martial art before. I have fallen (outside of class) since then, including from my bicycle, and have avoided injury because it is now natural for me to relax when I realize that I am falling.