[Ren]

Escapes Against Being Grabbed

Now can talk about the being grabbed problem.

There are many "tools" to utilize when an adversary comes up to you and is able to grab a hold. The moves are very basic to keep things simple so when the time comes, your reaction will be swift and decisive. They are also very easy to practice so that your movements can become very fluid and direct.

Some masters use a partner to help you know how to keep your position correct and which direction to use your actions in. You can see exactly which body parts you should be grabbing or striking, and then you should be able to go through the motions with or without a partner (Having a partner to practice with is, of course, always a better solution.) A good number of these moves will seem similar or repetitious (this is purposely done so that your mind doesn't always have to come up with different concepts, making your reactions even quicker.)
A master can explain the moves and the purpose for doing each one as he progresses along. He often goes over each series of moves several times to make sure you are able to follow each step along as he demonstrates it. You will notice that each move a master shows you leads to the next step.
I like Wing Chun (aka "Wing Tsun"). In the practice of Wing Chun, every attack is simultaneously done while defending and vice versa.

[Ren]

How to Defend Against a Headlock

 How to defend against a headlock? Headlocks are troublesome you know? So, when your adversary has you in the lock, you may take one hand and grab his hand; use the other hand to wrap around his waist and hold tight. This ultimately reduces his control on you, keeping him from breaking your neck or throwing you around like a wrestling dummy. Brace yourself as much as possible and twist your torso away from your attacker slightly. This should open up a gap to slide your waist side hand between you and your attacker. Now pulling his grabbed hand and pushing his arm with your now free arm should give you the necessary force to break his hold. (A remember to maintain control of his grabbed hand!)

Once the hold is broken, duck under and step back, bringing yourself behind your attacker while maintaining control of his arm. You should now have advantage over your adversary.

So, remember these: 1. Grasp his hand and waist to gain stability. 2. Twist your body away to create a gap, striking first if needed. 3. Slip waist side hand through the gap and use one hand to pull and the other to push the arm to break the hold. 4. Duck your head under and step back behind your attacker.

Another method would be to use the waist side hand, give the attacker a groin shot first, and then breach the gap with the same hand. Use whichever tactic you prefer. A groin shot is almost always a good tactic.

And, third way is, to use the waist side hand and come over your attacker, grabbing his face and pulling his head back. This should loosen his grip enough to break his hold, or you break his neck (his choice  ).

Practice these moves as often as you can (to find out which works best for you). Commit it to muscle memory for quick recall. And good luck!

[Ren]

How to Defend a Bear Hug from Back - Arms Out

Bear hug. So scary! It can be extremely difficult to attack your enemy if he wraps you up from behind, even more so if he is much larger than you are. He gets your arms pinned, and your options are nearly gone.  Once he has grabbed you, put your palms against the front of your legs and push outward using your arms and shoulders. If you are unable to move at all because he is much stronger than you, a good heel stomp to the toes of his foot should damage him enough to give it another try.

Flex your arms and shoulders forward, creating the gap. Slip your hand and forearm up through the gap, and clasp your hands together. This gives you the power of both arms. Force him downward to separate his hands and break the hold.

Once his hold is broken, you can use your opposite hand to grab his wrist, allowing you to control him slightly. Spin towards your attacker, delivering a swift elbow to the jaw. Continue your attack, striking him with a knife hand to the neck. Grab the back of his head, pulling him downward into a knee shot. (Keep in mind that none of these attacks are possible unless you first break free!)

You know, you should practice these moves as often as you can to commit them to muscle memory. 
Review: 1. Stomp the toes. 2. Flex the arms and shoulders forward to create the gap. 3. Slip your hand through and clasp your hands together. 4. Break the hold. 5. Attack.

  Cool, right?

[Alexa]

Yes.

I'm trying.

[Ren]

How to Defend a Hair Grab

The baldcels are safe when it comes to hair grab. Sorry for the bad joke.
So, for all the people who may have the hair grab problem. Here we go; if someone has a good handful of your hair, trying to just push the hand away is just not going to work, you bet. Having your hair gives him or her great control of your head. So, the thing to do is actually the opposite -- check this out, with both of your hands grab his or her hand and press it tightly against your head. This actually does two things. first of all, it limits his movements and keeps him from ripping your hair out and secondly, while you have his hands, your elbow is protecting your face from being hit with his/her other hand (which can be devastating!) Then lower your center of gravity by crouching slightly at the knees and waist. This will cause your attacker to crouch with you, collapsing at his elbow and giving you the opportunity to grab his thumb or finger that has your hair. We have to mention here that attacking the entire hand may be difficult. However a single finger is weak and can be a lot more advantageous. Roll the finger back, causing your assailant to release his grab and giving you control of that hand and arm or to risk breaking his/her finger. This should give you enough advantage to attack or escape. You got it. But please, remember to practice this move as often as you can to commit it to muscle memory. Practicing all moves can only benefit you:
1/ Grab his/her hand using both of your hands.
2/ Drop your center of gravity, causing him/her to open his/her grip.
3/ Attack the finger and thumb, causing him/her to release his hold.

[Ren]

Let's continue after this spring break.

How to Defend a Guillotine Choke

I am telling you the truth, I hate the guillotine chokes! The most important thing to remember in this move is that when your attacker rushes in, you should use your outside hand to grab his or her hand that comes in around your neck. Securing that hand and wrist comes into play to control your attacker. With your free hand, come up between your attacker’s legs, and strike him in the groin. Remember that when you do this, you are also striking his elbow, forcing it in a bad direction. This will most likely break the elbow or, at least, disable it. Remember to keep a good hold on his wrist. Continue with the mobility and step through your attacker’s hold, breaking free (and do not forget to keep hold of the attacker’s wrist). Using  it (the controlled wrist), step all the way through and turn to face the back of your attacker. If you have maintained control of the wrist, it would have twisted his arm back, forcing your attacker’s center of gravity downward. This should give you a huge advantage over your adversary.

This move works on either side, so no matter which side your attacker wraps you with, the principle is the same. The key is to keep control of that hand or wrist at all times. Any part of your attacker that you can control gives you that much less reason to worry about.

Well, so, again:
1. Grab the attacker’s hand or wrist as he comes in (it's vital).
2. Give him a good shot to the groin (also hit the elbow).
3. Keep control of the wrist (Vital too!).
4. Step all the way through, facing the back of your attacker.

And you know, practice the move as often as you can. This will commit it to muscle memory so that it can be instinctual.

[Ren]

How to Defend a Bear Hug from Front (Arms Out)

Now about how to defend a bear hug from front (arms out). Well, with this move, you must have situational awareness to know where your hands and body are, to create the necessary space you need to execute it. When your attacker lunges or charges in to grapple you, slam your palms into his ribs to keep the vital space you need to work with. Once you feel the space there, force your hand and forearm up through the gap and into his throat. Using your elbow and forearm, force your opponent away from you, creating even more space between, until you can safely bring your other hand up to grasp your forearm. Using the strength of both arms, shove your opponent away from you so you may attack. (This is a very basic and simple move.)

In short:
1. When you attacker comes in, slam your palms into his ribs. This is vital to keep space.
2. Keep one hand for space and work up the other to your attacker’s throat.
3. Use your forearm to create enough space to use both hands.
4. Using both hands, shove your attacker back.
Practice this move as often as you can to commit to muscle memory because the more you practice, the better you will remember.

[Ren]

 Wrist Grabs defend.

Many of the attackers are holding your wrists. So, let's do it: How to Defend a One-Hand Wrist Grab

So, this is a very simple and basic move. The most important thing to remember with this is to pull towards the breach in the grip of your attacker. You will notice it between his/her thumb and fingers. Taking advantage of this opening will reduce the amount of force needed to break the grab.

When your attacker grabs your wrist with his/her hand of the same side, first turn your fist downward, and then pull it towards the gap in his grab, releasing you. If your attacker uses the opposite hand to grab your wrist, the same general principle applies, except you pull towards yourself and downward towards the gap. Make sure to not just use your arm to pull with, but also pivot your hips and torso for added force and energy to your pull.

Your attacker may be some larger than you, in which case you may have to reinforce your pull by using your opposite hand to grab your own fist for even more additional force. Situation awareness should tell you whether to use the added reinforcement and expend the extra few seconds.

Once the release is successful, redirect the energy using both your arm and body to swing the bottom part of your fist into your attacker's facehead (hammer fist). Redirecting the motion of pulling away and using all that motion and energy to strike your opponent can lead to vicious and devastating blows to your attacker.

So, please remember:

1. Look for the breach, and twist and pull (using your opposite hand to reinforce if needed).
2. Redirect the motion into a hammer fist to your attacker's face or head.

If you want you also can learn how to defend two hands wrist grab.

 

[Ren]

How to Defend a One-Hand Throat Grab

This is very important when it comes to protect yourself well! Why? Because one of the more vulnerable points of the body is the throat. It could be a lifesaving technique to know a good defense against an attack on the throat. It is plainly visible that when someone grabs your throat, it does not take much pressure to really damage this area. Your reaction in this matter must be quick and decisive.

The most important thing you must remember is that when the attacker grabs your throat, you must drop your chin to your chest, blocking the grab as much as possible. If this is not accomplished, anything else you try to do is more than likely going to fail. You must drop your chin to block being strangled or you are done. Once you drop your chin, tilt your shoulder inward and downward to open up the attacker's thumb! Then, grab his or her thumb, pushing it backward to release his or her grab on you.

Well, sometimes this will prove to be difficult. If this should be the case, the attacker at this point is close enough to deliver a little reinforcement by delivering a quick punch to the mid-section and then pushing the thumb for the release. Remember to always be ready to reinforce your attack when something is not working.

Attacking the mid-section in this particular defense is more advantageous for the reason that since your chin is dropped downward, seeing the eyes and throat and attacking them is difficult. Therefore, attacking an area you can see just makes more sense.

Remember:

1. Drop your chin to your chest (This is vital!).
2. Tilt your shoulder inward and downward (this opens up the thumb).
3. Attack the thumb to release grab, striking the mid-section if needed.

Practice these moves as often as you can! As in any martial art, practice leads to muscle memory, which is key to the basics of any discipline.

[Ren]

Reminder: Find a partner to continually work with. Try your best not to break one another. Well, if you're an incel finding a partner may be challenging. Bad joke? Sorry.

[Ren]

Now, it is another self-defense test. Try to answer it honestly without watching the correct answers (they will be posted in the next post).

1. In training our defensive tactics, we snap our foot quickly out and back to get used to the movement. But in real life application, we:

a. Extend our leg outward, causing the attacker’s leg to break at the knee.
b. Don’t attack at all because it is considered assault.
c. Keep one foot elevated in front of us to defend against more kicks.
d. Do the same thing we do in training, except much harder and faster.

2. What part of your body do you use when trying to control against the attacker’s kicks?

a. Your feet.
b. Your body.
c. Your hands.
d. Your back.

3. What is the first thing you should do if someone grabs your hair?

a. Scream your head off.
b. Try to push your attacker’s hand away.
c. Grab on to his hand with both of your hands.
d. Try and punch him in the face.

4. When the attacker tries to kick you, how should you move your body to properly defend yourself?

a. Stand still, tense up as much as you can and take the hit.
b. Turn around and run away as fast as you can.
c. Step to the side and turn your body.
d. Step back with your hands up, and then move in with your attack.

5. For the most effective strike against your attacker, what kind of kicks do you want to make?

a. Round kicks for more power.
b. Straightforward.
c. Spinning kicks, especially because they look cool.
d. Any of the above kicks are appropriate.

[Ren]

The answers:

1. a
2. c
3. c
4. d
5. b

[Ren]

Now about the Offensive techniques

Look, I will be covering offensive techniques. They are the final set of movements that finish off your opponent to secure your escape in self-defense.

These movements are powerful, fast and deadly; so they need to be trained to
ensure precision and control.

The 3 types of offensive techniques are: power strikes, pressure points, and chokes and locks.

The first offensive technique is known as the power strike. Our targets for power strikes are all along what we call a person's center line. A person's center line is basically their spine (if you were to draw a straight line from the skull downward to the tailbone). This center line is home to all the vital organs (brain, heart, lungs, stomach, reproductive organs, etc.) and executing a power strike to any one of these targets can be devastating! Be careful!!!

The second set of offensive techniques is pressure points. Pressure points are specific, sensitive areas on the surface of the body, applying pressure to which can either be beneficial or detrimental to one's health and mobility. Knowing where and how to strike these pressure points can easily give you the extra time you need to escape in self-defense.

The final (third) offensive technique is chokes and locks. Choking is one of the worst feelings a person can have since oxygen is the key to survival for the human body, and cutting off sources of oxygen means that our attacker can't attack. Like choking, joint-manipulation is another way to incapacitate someone. Joints are meant to move freely only in specific directions. Learning how to manipulate our attacker's joints (by using locks) can help us control a situation without having to strike at all!

[Alexa]

I am trying to focus and remember everything. And practicing safely.

[Ren]

  Good, good, good!