So you have a friend with a compressed spine and you want him to feel better: have him lie down and give himself a hug. If he can hold and move his Deltoids (back shoulder bones) it’s good. now slowly pull one at a time so the body is rocked with a series of waves and move your hands up and down to the hips and back up. If it is a deep injury than try to help him breath deeper by lifting his arms a bit to allow the intercostals (muscles between the ribs) to part with less work and learn from this yourself on how to accept a hit your current form cannot handle. Be humble and do not try to weather an explotion without moving. Let it move you without affecting your heart. Don’t become attached to the hit and let it pass.

On getting up with gear: If you are on your back like an upsidedown turtle (how did you get there ???) lift up your legs and as they drop down tense the connection (hip muscles and tendons which pull the thigh up) and the momentoum will carry you forward. Rolling to the side is also a good thing and remember your knees are not armoured so don’t drop them on rocks as you slide or loose your balance. Learning to walk at night without falling down seems to be a lost art with the young ones and I hope to bring it back. Basics are the entrance to the building and no roof is possible without them. 

In times when you are really tired and feeling forgetfull and angrier than usuall it is beneficial to keep the real reason of this imbalance in mind and that will help you do the work and live for others instead of focusing on yourself. I often consider what may happen if I loose an arm or a leg or my eyesight and that may happen but in service to others we can free ourselves too. I am not a religious man and this is not just a martial thought. I try to learn from anything I am given and many times sad things can teach us a lot. Remember the middle finger is the trigger finger and the pointing finger is just that.