Grappling

General:

Train in grappling because not all fights are fistfights. Some fights begin with a grab.

Wing chun players dislike going to the ground. Wrestling on the ground can be an effective one-on-one technique if the terrain permits, but may not be a good strategy if the arena is an alley with broken bottles. Also, groundwork does not allow you to consider multiple opponents.

Most of the wrist/elbow locks involve trapping his hand once he grabs and counterattacking by applying leverage to the wrist, elbow, or both, frequently so as to secure him for a strike. Corollary: if you grab someone and they grab your hand/wrist to secure it in place, you have a problem.

As many of the grappling techniques involve counter-grabbing or piercing, hand, wrist, and forearm exercises are very important. Air grabs, waves, wrist rolls, rolling the pole, towel, fingertips, etc. Fingertip strength, not just palm grip strength, is important, especially for penetrating. Grip and wrist strength is also important for good lops, and wrists are valuable for punches.

Tan/pak hand release: 6-12

From a cross hand wrist grab, tan sao with held hand, then L palmheel to his R elbow as step forward and use R palmheel on his jaw.

Hand trap off grab 6-8

He may cross grab w/his R and punch (with L hand) quickly. R tan sao, then your L guard hand goes forward, blocking his L punch across and guide it down to where your R hand can grab his L wrist. His R wrist will be momentarily trapped under his L wrist, as his R hand is still gripping your R wrist. Both his hands are trapped, your L is free: punch.

Notes: similar to pak wan kuen/gum sao [5-8]. The first part of this is the tan/pak hand release above, except that he grabs and punches.

Against a cross hand wrist grab

R tan sao and over to grab his wrist as pivot R, holding arm at shoulder height, and place L palm on his R elbow. Lock your elbows, and shrug your shoulders. Breaks his arm.

Notes: to avoid this on street and in training, keep punching arm BENT.

Elbow wedge: 6-10

Cross hand wrist grab, clamp his R hand down with L hand as R tan sao, then R hand turns outwards (under or clockwise) (towards ulna) and grabs wrist (use thumb). Turn R as put your L elbow on the back of his R elbow and sink in stance.

Notes: keep your R elbow high. His R wrist should be over your L knee. Stance: do not bend over. Keep feet spread, sink. May need to have L heel come off ground.

Followup: Once the R hand has caught his R wrist, the L arm is no longer needed there. Extend it in a flat chop as a strike or to intercept a L hand blow. Turn L sinking and pull his R wrist so that his inner R arm forces the back of his L elbow straight, as your R elbow goes to his shoulder/back.

Notes: didn't get this one down well. Wait for the second strike, then shift.

7/9/94 CR: If L punch comes: L (trapping hand) fun saos down central line at him to pick up the punch, then L-L lop as step W (to stretch him out) as R jumm sao to back of elbow (takedown/break).

pak sao/arm lock throw (6-29).

Opponent throws a R punch, you pak, but your L hand circles clockwise (huen sao) as you pivot R and your L arm shoots under their R arm. Place L palm on center of back/shoulder blades as R hand pulls them down by neck. Continue until they go down.

Notes: L elbow should be bent enough(using shoulder to push with) to trap their R arm in the crook of your elbow. If their arm rides up to your shoulder, they can claw/strike/etc. your head.

Remember to hit them with the R punch before grabbing their neck.

If they try to get behind you, don't let them. Turn with them and continue to flip them. If they won't go down, put your L foot behind their R foot as you shift your L hand to the back of their neck(freeing your R hand) and uppercut them w/ R hand.

Wrist wedge: 6-14

Cross hand wrist grab, immediately trap his hand on your wrist with your offhand. Point fingers of trapped hand up (outside his arm) then down to floor (inside). Dig with fingertips into the thumb-side edge of the arm, where some nerves run(air grabs improve this).

Can either stay centered and take him straight down in front of you, or you can shift towards side of grabbed arm in stance to lock their arm straight, elbow up, and apply pressure to take them down to the outside away from you (better if he has a knife).

Notes: move into them to make the wrist angle more acute, do not pull them.

6/16/94: Cut forward across his arm with the edge of your hand, but do not bend wrist acutely in order to huen or cross at a more perpendicular angle. Stay at shallow angle where you have your wrist in a strong position.

If he rolls his arm over so the ulna is no longer vertically placed, grasp his wrist w/your R hand and squeeze as you bend wrist down.

Head grab: 6-28

Against an attempted tackle, get his head to one side of your body. Head-side hand to back of neck, clench hard to control and press down(as in 1st Form)[gum sao], other hand clenches just superior to their elbow, presses down.

Arm lock throw: 6-29

Against an attempted tackle, get his head to one side. Head-side hand to back of neck, clench hard (lop) to control and press down( gum) (as in 1st Form)[gum sao], off-hand snakes under their arm and rotates elbow upward into bong sao to throw/roll them away.

6/16/94: must do a better gum sao. Step OK, shift OK, bong OK, gum wimpy.

Lop jing gerk: 6-20

Body-side hand clenches under/back of shoulder(thumb in armpit)as off-hand catches and clenches wrist. Push body-side hand forward and down as pull wrist-hand back and up, kick/knee with far leg.

Notes: smooth and coordinated, don't wrestle.

Bear grab: 6-32

Do same punching motion as outward pole shocking and "punch" with upper back and spine. Do explosively, round back. Do not throw buttocks back, just off-balance him a little.

Neck arm grab: 6-25

In response to a R punch, wu sao with guard hand as R hand goes under their arm and up to the L side of their neck. L hand goes to behind the shoulder blade. Choh ma and they fall.

Notes: stepping in properly is essential. Stepping in allows you to use your hips, lead leg and knee to lock them up and pull them over.

R hand goes to their neck, not their shoulder. Try to pull your hand to the middle of your biceps (down & back). Pulling horizontally will not trap them as well. He ends with his R arm outstretched above his head, his neck and arm trapped in your R elbow. Can dig in with the R fingers in his neck. Can punch his R kidney.

Variation: use R lop and L neck grab, as entry instead of the wu sao. The L neck grab can help feed the neck into the R elbow crook, and then the L can release the neck and grab your R wrist for a more powerful squeeze. Since this has a step-through (toh ma) to R behind R, can use your hip to throw him, or just to bend a taller man down to where you can get your R armpit over his R shoulder.

Bil jee vs headlock: 6-19

When an attempt is made to put you in a headlock from the front, bil jee to the inner front edge of the armpit. If he is still coming, use thumb to pinch down.

Notes: jab fast to shock the nerve, slow and powerful takes time to hurt. You want explosive.

Headlock release: 6-23

If in a headlock, turn body to face into his, and keep him from loading you on his back for a throw. do not bend over or forward; try to keep your torso straight and vertical. Check his offhand with your arm on the side away from his body (try to get inside his offhand, rather than trapping his arm against his body) or he will hit you in your trapped face. Reach up with body-side arm and press up and in at base of septum. Hook finger to keep pressure up when he tries to roll out of it. When he is bent back, palm strike to bladder, neck, wherever.

Can use your checking hand and your body-side hand to feed his offhand into an armlock. Push his offhand away, and try to reach around him under his off-elbow to grasp his offhand with your body-side hand. Pull his forearm behind him and up into an armlock.

Rear arm lock release: 6-4

When he is succeeding in an armlock twisting it behind your back, go with the flow, spin and fun sao.

Notes: Turn a full circle, hesitating allows him to block the fun sao.

Use this move if he's turning you around with the armlock. If not, do the move below.

Attempted arm lock release

If he is in early stages of doing an armlock, straighten arm quickly and palm strike to lower abdomen.

Notes: if he is taking you down, use this. If he's turning you, use the one above.

Tan/wu off push: 6-37

A attacks with a double hand grab or push. L wu across body as swing R hand under, then up into tan sao and shift R to clear centerline. Punch to torso w/L.

Notes: L can wu, pak, or nothing at all as appropriate. Do not slow them or deflect them as you parry, but walk them into your counterstrike.

Followup: pak his R arm w/L as strike w/R (punch/palm/elbow).

Versus a double grab/push

Better against grab. Quan sao (insert R bong between arms, L tan to outside of his R arm). Shift R and rotate the bong>tan (may use L as wu to help) to tie his arms up and move them away. May strike w/L as do this.

Notes: If he frees his L arm and brings up and around, use bil to intercept, shift L w/tan>gum (holding his R wrist down w/ the original R tan, or converted tan>gum) to trap his arms across his body. Can clap hands together, hit his head in the middle.

Followup: pak his R arm w/L as strike w/R (punch/palm/elbow).

Alternate use of small quan sao against double grab 10/11/94 CR

L tan into center and R bong sao to outside of his L arm. Shift strongly and smash away.

Thumb break 6-2

From a R-R handshake, shift R and drop L jumm sao to base of his thumb. Do not chop with the hand edge, use forearm.

Thumb break 6-3

From a handshake, grab thumb with free hand and bend back to break it. Grab and break fast, if you move slowly, he'll react.

Or: bend his thumb tip to base of thumb (bend thumb inferior knuckle 180°).

Neck grab defense 6-18

Against a an attempted R grab of your neck, step in with a tan sao/shift/punch.

Notes: His grab opens his centerline, so strike the open area.

Another neck/chest grab defense 10/11/94 CR

If he gets a hand on neck or chest , shift strongly into bong sao to the outside of his arm as an armbreak. Can trap the wrist to secure. Can toy ma or step back to extend arm, make it vulnerable.

Armpit grab 6-27

As he steps in with a 2-hand tackle/grab, he opens himself up. Grab the muscles to the front of the armpit and squeeze.

Notes: Use tips to penetrate, not the flats of the fingers. Keep a good stance, don't fall backwards. Keep the elbows low. Even if he comes in at waist level, don't duck down.

Against an upper body grab (2-handed, from front) 6/16/94

If a person grabs around shoulders, he will normally lead w/ one hand. Example: R. Use same-side hand to reach up the centerline and secure the back of neck. Use your other hand's thumb to drive thumb tip straight down to ground by pressing vertically into the pit behind the collarbone.

Notes: if you press thumb backwards, he will go backwards. If you press down, he will escape by going down.If have trouble with this move in practice, remember to use thumb tip, not pad. Do not push down with entire hand, or even just the other fingertips. I find wrapping the fingers over the trapezius and levering down, thinking of the thumb as a can opener, is effective.

Throat grab (1-handed) 6/16/94 6-40

He grabs your neck with 1h, possibly coming in w/offhand punch. Secure his hand in place with your same-side hand (if he grabs w/R, use L to secure) by grabbing it. With free hand, reach up for a) muscles on side of neck b) trachea. Use fingertips, not pads, for penetration. Try to make thumb and fingers meet. He will likely attempt to escape the pain by moving/leaning to the side away from your hand at his neck. Twist his grasping wrist to palm-up (pulling the thumb loose from your neck) in order to free yourself. You can apply your thumb to the back of his hand and twist the wrist for a wristlock. At this point he is secured by the neck and one wrist, and off-balance.

Tricep strike 6-41

High punch: As straight high hand attack comes in range, lop it and pop other hand up underneath his arm, make fist and flip knuckles into his tricep (1 inch superior to elbow, not 1/2way up the arm). Can flip flat palm backhand up (training). The lop can yank his arm straight and position it steady just long enough for R knuckles to impact.

Footwork: Do not move into attack or you will get hit. Step back if he comes in deeply enough.

Low punch: (8/4/94) cycle L hand over and down to slap down as stand ground/step back, R hand cycles into backfist downwards onto bulge of forearm muscle.

Arm destructions

Against a double grab or push, if his arms are fairly straight, raise your hands (palm down) quickly, popping into clenched fists, and strike his triceps w/knuckles. This works best if his hands are palm down: target are is the gap between the biceps/triceps on body-side of upper arm. If a single push/grab/punch, use hand on cross side (if he punches w/R, use your R arm to pop up) and use other hand in wu sao for protection. Do not pak hard, just want it out of the way.

Notes: this is a 2-handed version of the triceps strike (6-41) without the trapping. If using both hands, just like picture #45 Sil lum tao.

Also see triceps strike/tan& punch in Section 5.

Training: popping the knuckles up hurts after a while. Use the back of the hand as a slapping move for partnered practice, but use knuckles sometimes for feel and aim.

Elbow wrist break 6-38

As he palm strikes or comes in with a 1h push (R), lon sao (barring arm) to behind wrist as gwai jahng to palm. Shift. (??? outwards???)

Lon jing jeung 6-39

Same as elbow wrist break, but no shift, and a vertical palm replaces the elbow strike. Use jing jeung to push down the centerline until it meets his palm, not lon sao first (would pull into you w/o protection).

Wrist takedown (RM 5/23/94)

Same-side grab w/icepick grip (L grabs your R, his thumb towards your hand).

Secure his grabbing hand w/your free hand, and bend trapped elbow sharply as tuck elbow over his elbow. Bend your elbow down to floor, he sits straight down quickly. This is a wrist takedown, not an elbow takedown.

Example of usage: he punches, you pak sao, and he L push blocks your pak sao punch (L/R). From this reference point, could lop/shift/punch, could lop sao followup, could do other things. This is an alternative.

Loy doy dock gerk versus punch 6-42

Against a straight right punch. Raise R arm in tan sao to make contact, then lop as knee to abd/ribs.6-42, but labeled noy.

Trapping

Outside hand trap

If opponent has both hands high and together, *simultaneously* grab both wrists (not hands). Do not use thumb. Aikido stylists love to work on your thumb, don't give it to them. Press hands together and slightly down as you pull their rear hand towards you and drive forwards with a punch to chest.

Notes: This works well against boxers. No thumbs. Keep elbows in to protect self. Keep punching forearm in forearm contact with their lead arm, to continue pressure and trap their arms. Maintain hooking pressure on their rear wrist to keep that hand there.

*Do not flap hands out sideways. Almost do straight jabs w/ your palms to their wrists. Flapping outwards opens your centerline for him to do a straight jab up the middle before you can trap. Whichever of his shoulders is to the rear is his arm that will be trapped inside the crook of his lead arm elbow. The hook should be strong, to pull him into the punch which is a continuation of the straight palm jab to his forward wrist.