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It’s Not Martial Arts

Have you noticed the most recent bandwagon in the martial arts?

It’s not a particular style … at least not a “martial arts” style….

 

Would you try to throw someone to the ground in a fight? Would you use a hip throw, or some other practiced move from judo, ju jitsu, or some other martial arts style?

Recently, I have been reading a newsletter published by another martial artist. I was pretty much on the same page as this guy, until …

he started talking about throws in a street fight.

He began a ju jitsu discussion, and I got very uncomfortable. Now, I could see why so many of the self-defense gurus are trying to distance themselves from the term “martial arts.” Some of what this guy was describing was downright dangerous … to the person attempting the throw.

It had a similar, icky, feeling as the practitioners who advise taking a punch straight into a wrist lock. It just doesn’t work that way in the real world. Maybe with a willing practice partner … but try to stop a full-speed punch directly into a joint lock? Not likely.

So, how do you label this unrealism that so often permeates a martial-arts style?

Well, the easy answer is to try to pretend that what you are practicing isn’t martial arts. Go ahead, try and convince yourself that what you’re doing is “better” than martial arts.

Why did I write “try to convince yourself”?

Because no matter how we look at it, what these realism seekers are doing is concerned with fighting (warfare and such), and it still is a practiced, thought-about skill … thus, it really is a martial … art.

This resembles the argument of … not all shirts are t-shirts, but all t-shirts are shirts.

What they are doing is martial arts?

[headline_georgia_small_left color=”#000000″]How to Choose the Best Martial Arts Style[/headline_georgia_small_left]

What you really want to do is choose the best martial arts style FOR YOU.

And I don’t really think you can do that in the Internet. (Sorry about that.)

Use the Internet to round out your information, to add to your skill, to consider other martial possibilities. Don’t use it as your principal learning resource … if you are a novice.

What is the first criterion for the best martial art for you?

Choose a style where there is a class that you can attend.

Makes sense, right?

You may love my style, but unless you live in my town, and can convince me to teach you, then you’re out of luck.

Choose from what’s available.

[features_box_green width=”75%” + border=”2px”]Note: I have other articles  and reports that delve more into style choice. Here, I am hopefully, pointing out the obvious … as a beginning consideration.[/features_box_green]

Choose according to your goals. If you don’t want to compete, but do want to learn an efficient, combative style, then make sure you are immersing yourself in a school filled with trophies and awards. (I prefer a garage with a bunch of sweaty peers, who really want to train for practical application self-defense.)

So, does this start a conversation?

 

 

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Tries to Escape Your Hold

Turn the following advice into a practical martial-arts exercise. Practice this, and you’ll react quickly in a real self-defense emergency.

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]First, Control with a Hold[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

In the first part of this exercise, you are going to grab onto your opponent (practice partner). Don’t simply reach out and grasp an extended arm … make yours a controlling grab, maybe a choke from behind with your forearm across your partner’s neck. Or maybe you have him (or her) in a headlock, to the side. Or possible, you have his arm wrenched behind his back.

So, start with some hold.

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Your Opponent Tries to Escape[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

In stage two of this exercise, your partner grabs your restraining arm and tries to pull it off of him — he attempts to pull the forearm away from the neck, or to push your headlock arm forward, in order to slip his head out.

There are two key components to this part of the exercise:

1) He starts to resist before you have complete control of him with your hold. In other words, he feels the arm start to restrain, so he panics and works at pulling it off.

2) His first response, in this case, is trying to free himself from your hold. He doesn’t think about hitting or kicking first. (We’ll save that for another day.)

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Super-Efficient Martial Arts[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

The point of this practice session is to develop a very efficient, direct way to respond to any attempt at escaping your grasp.

The instant you feel your enemy grab your restraining arm, your other arm or a foot should quickly strike. And I do mean quickly. FAST.

I’d tell you to think, “Stop the resistance!” but you don’t have time for such a complete thought.

The instant you feel a tug, you punch or kick. Make it a quick and solid strike.

In fact, practice from a variety of holds. You’re trying to develop the response that any time someone even starts to try to escape, you pound.

Practice it over and over from as many different ways as you can grab your opponent. Each time, he panics … grabs your arm or hand and … BAM!

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Punch Follow-Up[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

What do you do after this speed hit?

The choice is yours:

Regrab the same way as before. If you took the fight out of your enemy with that one hit, then reapply your hold.

Continue hitting and kicking. If your initial hit did NOT do the trick, then you may have to knock the fight out of your enemy. Legal ramifications of pommeling someone you are restraining considered.

My favorite response (when it happens naturally) is to take that initial hit, reapply the hold, and then grab a limb for an arm bar or wrist lock. As I lock, I choose whether to keep both the hold and the lock, or to release the hold in favor of a more controlling joint lock.

 

The key to this practice drill is to work toward automaticity. You want a fast response … I need to emphasize that repeatedly with some students. It’s important.

If someone tries to escape your hold, then you have to regain any control lost, A.S.A.P.

 

 

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The Security Guard Secret

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]It’s Kind of Like …[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

Imagine for a minute that you walked into a gourmet restaurant; you’re there, because you have heard of the reputation of the most incredible chef — really talented.

After sitting and opening the menu, you notice that there is nothing sauteed on the menu. Not one item.

When you ask the waiter about this, you find that the chef doesn’t know how to sauté items. No clue.

Stop!

Now, no matter how talented the cook claims to be, no matter how good his fried chicken tastes, I still wouldn’t consider him a “master chef.” (Decent cook, maybe, but not an expert.)

He lacks a skill associated with chefs; you can’t go to culinary school without learning something about sauteing. You can’t pour over recipe after recipe, without encountering sauteed dishes.

And the fact that he  hasn’t mastered this one, sometimes necessary skill, makes me doubt the chef’s overall skill.

Do you agree?

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]What Does This Have to Do with Security Guards?[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

As a self-defense writer and practitioner, I have met more than my share of security guards, in the last 30 years. And recently, I have been working with a bunch of security-guard websites.

And I have found a lack … the majority of these guys and gals can’t do the security-guard equivalent of sauteing. What am I talking about?

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Wrist Locks and Joint Locks[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

Most of the security guards that I have met couldn’t do a wrist lock, finger lock, or arm bar if their lives depended on it. (And sometimes, their lives do depend on their ability to control an aggressor successfully.)

I don’t know if they are relying on weapons … pistols, batons, PR24’s, and flashlights … but don’t you think that depending 100% on a weapon is a little naive?

What if the perpetrator disarms the security guard? Hey, it could happen.

If they aren’t relying on weapons, maybe they think they’ll be able to use their striking skills — punches and kicks — from their martial arts training.

Wouldn’t you agree that there are times when it would be better to avoid hitting? For example, when there are bystanders witnessing the whole event.

Note: As a security guard, any time you have to hit someone, you’re going to have some explaining to do. Often, striking John or Jane Q. Public results in legal ramifications. At the very least, the red tape is more of a hassle, if you beat the criminal to a pulp at some point in the pursuit and apprehension of said criminal.

In other words, if you can avoid hitting, so much the better.

 

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]The Security Guard Training Secret[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

Look, as a security guard professional, you should avoid physical contact, if possible. Control from a distance far enough that you can’t be surprised, but close enough that the suspect can’t flee, either.

You position yourself in the path of a clean escape, yet far enough away that you can’t be engaged in a scuffle of any type.

All of this happens in an ideal world.

Sometimes, people mess with any type of law enforcement. Some people consider security guards to be “wannabe police with no authority.” And some people will be put into desperate situations where getting away seems like the only option.

When someone puts his or her hands on you, wouldn’t it be nice to know that you have a secret weapon? You can control the situation without hitting.

You can subdue a criminal who grabs you … and keep this person locked until reinforcements arrive.

And if you have restraints, like handcuffs, thumb cuffs, or plastic ties, all the better. You can lock your attacker and then add further restraint.

And it all stems from having wrist locks in your bag of tricks. You don’t have to use them all the time; you won’t want to, as a true security professional. But just in case …

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Bad Ground Wrist Locks

[headline_georgia_medium_left color=”#000000″]Starting from a Bad Wrist-Locks Position on The Ground[/headline_georgia_medium_left]

I recently had a discussion with a grappler who maintains that once a puncher is down (grappled), it’s next-to-impossible to punch with a straight blast of punches and have any effect. He felt that the angles, leverage, and positioning was all wrong for someone punching.

To prove my point, we can even remove both the straight blast punches, and to mess up positioning completely, let’s start from a bad wrist locks position. Here’s what I mean….

 

[headline_georgia_medium_left color=”#000000″]Bad Wrist Locks[/headline_georgia_medium_left]

Let’s say someone knocked you to the ground and was now grappling with you. In an attempt to regain control, you grab his forearm and hand and tweak to a lock … but it doesn’t work.

Your positioning is all off. You’re a little discombobulated … the torque isn’t causing any pain to the wrist.

What’s worse is that your opponent is bending you like a pretzel into a grappled hold.

Is all lost?

Not by a long shot. Since this is about self-defense, where rules and restrictions don’t apply … you can hit, pinch, gouge, and kick … anywhere.

I bet you could reach eyes, groin, shins, joints, throat, and so on.

[headline_georgia_medium_left color=”#000000″]Practice Wrist Locks[/headline_georgia_medium_left]
It’s time to practice an ineffective wrist lock … on purpose.

No, no … don’t practice bad joint locks. Instead, let’s just say that the attacker on top of you starts trying to pin you down before you have the lock effected fully.

You’re being pinned AND …

Start from there.

Any questions?

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Wrist Locks Tweets

Are you on Twitter? What kinds of topics do you follow?

Or do you only follow people?

As you know, I have been Tweeting as of late … but I have NOT been using Twitter to market what I sell. Are you interested in knowing my results?

First, let’s talk about a fellow wrist locker:  I thought another wrist-locks expert was in complete juxtaposition with my “no-promotion-on-twitter” point of view. Whereas I have not sent people directly to sell pages, and preferred to educate with wrist-locks articles, I thought this master was pushing his wrist-locks DVDs on a DAILY basis.

[headline_georgia_small_left color=”#000000″]Who is this mystery martial artist?[/headline_georgia_small_left]

Alain Burrese.

But guess what! He isn’t pitching his video daily at all. Let me explain …

Every day, I saw a Tweet pointing to Alain Burrese’s DVD, Lock On: Joint Locking Essentials Volume 1: Wrist Locks.

Well, recently, I had my birthday, and surprise of surprises … Alain emailed me with birthday wishes. So, I asked him if his Twitter.com efforts were successful.

His response?

He had no idea what I was talking about. It must be an Amazon affiliate promoting his product.

It’s a good thing he’s in the dark, because I can’t imagine that that the affiliate’s selling a lot from that link.

[headline_georgia_small_left color=”#000000″]So, why am “I” tweeting?[/headline_georgia_small_left]

I’d like to make it easier for you to find information. So far, I have been using Twitter for the following:

• To help you find martial arts information
• To retweet interesting tidbits. Call it life-enrichment.
• Actual communication
• Updates about what’s going on with me … NOT what I am having for breakfast, but rather new book, site, and video projects.

[headline_georgia_small_left color=”#000000″]So far, have my efforts been successful?[/headline_georgia_small_left]
It really is too early to tell, but I am enjoying the process.

A few people have clicked over to my articles on wrist locks and practical martial arts; in that sense, I am happy to be able to help.

Now, the question is … should I Tweet a link to THIS wrist locks article? 😉

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Weird and Unusual Joint Locks

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Weird and Unusual Joint Locks[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

Why would a martial artist want to control with the really weird locks?

Don’t some of those wrist and joint locks seem all but useless? How could you use those in a real fight?

Are these lesser-known controls only good for removing a grab to your body?

In the book, Wrist Locks: From Protecting Yourself to becoming an Expert (revised), there’s a chapter that teaches you a 12-13 specific locks.

So, why did I want you to learn those particular locks?

Readers of Wrist Locks can understand some of my decisions:

• Readers practice all of the variations on the Basic Lock

• They find practical uses for revving the motorcycle

• They see how Step-Throughs fit into actual scenarios

• And they could even see themselves performing a nose control …

 

 

But how in the world can you make a Double Ninety or “The Weird Lock With No Name” practical?

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Especially “The Weird Lock With No Name!”[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

One of the reasons I teach you these particular locks is that they present some very important principles for successful joint locking.

You learn just by practicing those particular locks. If you experiment with these controls enough, you will learn to generalize these concepts to other locks and controls that you may have to use for real self-defense.

 

It almost happens automatically.

 

Still, you ask, “Keith, why did you include some of those more bizarre locks?”

Some of these locks have very specific uses, meaning they don’t generalize well to different situations.

But they are perfect if you use them in their particular niches.

And you can learn by example. If these locks fit into particular places, are there other locks that could make your fighting more efficient, if placed in the right spot?

 

Here’s what I am talking about. Let’s take The Weird Lock With No Name as an example (pictured in the book photo towards the end of this article).

Why would you ever want one of your hands on the inside of your opponent on his or her biceps, while your other hand bends the opponent’s wrist in a control?

Could there really be a situation where this is useful?

 

Here are just a few possible scenarios for The Weird Lock With No Name:

You are against an opponent, and you’re standing to the side of him. You have his arm outstretched and your other hand is snaked around the back of his neck.

With a little pressure you will bend him over — maybe into a throw — maybe drop him down, flowing into another control…

But this guy resists your pressure. He has one mighty neck. He could have played the part of The Hulk.

Not only does he resist bending his neck, but he actually bends his arm in, not allowing you to ‘straight arm’ him.

What do you do?

You allow him to bend his arm and keep his neck upright, because his resistance, pardon the reference the The Borg in Star Trek, is futile.

Resistance is futile, because if The Hulk resists, he will pull you right into The Weird Lock With No Name.

It’s that simple.

 

 

In scenario number two, you want to put an arm bar on your opponent, but you find your arm is on the inside of her guard.

Do you take the time to pull your hand free?

 

[features_box_blue width=”75%” + border=”2px”]

Not a bad idea, if you trap the arm that’s in the way as you pull yours free. Also, only pull it as far back as needed to barely clear the obstruction. No cradling your fist back at your side.

[/features_box_blue]

Your hand can’t move forward — otherwise the efficient fighter in you would have already been hitting, right?

So, what do you do?

You move your hand in a direction where you don’t feel resistance. And bingo …

That direction just happens to be on her biceps. BAM — you have a chance to use The Weird Lock With No Name again.

Hmmm — Maybe this lock has more uses than previously imagined.

In fact, without brainstorming any more scenarios, you are able to generalize this lock to a principle:

When you have your arm on the inside of your opponent’s, and it is either right to left or left hand to right hand, you can do The Weird Lock With No Name — as long as you can put your hand on your opponent’s biceps without resistance.

Whew — that was a mouthful.

But I have something concrete to practice.

I can invent situations where my hand ends up on the inside. I can practice as many variations as I can think up.

And someday, if I ever feel that familiar feeling, that would make others panic, I can easily move just a few inches into an efficient lock.

The trick now, is to make all of this automatic. Any time, I feel my hand (fist) being trapped on the inside of my enemy’s arm, I want to bend his forearm directly into that weird lock.

 

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Last Thoughts on These Strange Locks[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

You don’t have to own Wrist Locks or know The Weird Lock With No Name, to incorporate this principle.

If you do already own the book, you’ll find The Weird Lock With No Name on pages 77-79  of the revised soft-cover edition.

 

But as I said, you don’t need the book or that particular lock, to make this article worthwhile to you.

Pick any strange lock that you already know.

Put the lock on your partner.

Now back up one step. Ok, rewind two steps. Go back to where your hand is making ‘first contact’ (A Star Trek reference again?) with your partner in preparation for the lock.

Now, freeze action, right there.

Examine both of your positions — hand positions and body positions. Look at everything. On both you and your partner.

Now, the question becomes:

How many ways can you find to get to that unusual-lock position in a fight.

‘All roads lead to Rome‘ — and several of your hand encounters could lead to one particular joint lock.

If you do this with all of your ‘weird’ locks, you could really enhance your martial arts skills.

 

 

 

 

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Wrist Locks On Your Back

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Wrist Locks on Your Back?[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

by Keith Pascal

No, I’m not kidding.

Choose any wrist lock that you can do standing up. Try it on a practice partner a few times.

Now, lie down on the floor. Have your training partner reach in to you for a grab or submission hold. Design the exercise in a way that allows you to respond with the same lock that you practiced in a standing position.

Even though it’s the same lock, it feels different, doesn’t it? (What? You’re just reading? You aren’t following along with training partner at your side? We’ll, experience the difference after you read this article, I suppose.)

The relationships of the angles to limbs is the same, it’s just that the orientation has changed. You need to get accustomed to effecting locks from this supine position. You need to learn the finesses that limit your enemy’s movements, even though you may be positioned below him or her.

 

[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]Why is any of this important?[/headline_tahoma_small_left]

Could you imagine someone reaching down to you, as you sleep? You awaken to someone choking your neck from above. Of course, you’ll probably hit and kick, but a control … a lock … might be nice, to stop all movement, until you get your bearings.

After all, just seconds ago, you were asleep. Right?

 

[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]Grappled, Again[/headline_tahoma_small_left]

If you think that sneaking up on you as you sleep is an impossible scenario, then what about a more likely one … what if you were knocked to the ground?

Of course, you want to get back on your feet A.S.A.P., but you might have to defend yourself from the ground for a second or two. Just maybe.

I’m proposing that you spend a portion of your training sessions practicing your wrist locks from a downed position. I know you won’t let it happen in a real-life situation 🙂 , but just pretend that you have been knocked to the ground.

Maybe you aren’t on your back; you could defend yourself from your knees, on your side, or facedown. The question is, how will you take your opponent’s grab into a wrist lock or joint lock?

And that is the question of the day … that warrants a little wrist-locks practice … on your back.

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unhand the security guard

[headline_tahoma_medium_left color=”#000000″]Security Guards’ Rules and Regulations[/headline_tahoma_medium_left]

 

by Keith Pascal

I know a lot of martial artists who mistakenly believe that if they become security guards they’ll have all sort of opportunities to practice their martial arts and self-defense.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

 

[features_box_blue width=”75%” + border=”2px”]Note: In the early 1980’s, I did a stint for a year, where my duties included being night security for a hotel. I never had to use my martial arts, except to help the bouncer escort someone rowdy from the lounge, one evening.[/features_box_blue]

 

As an official representative of a security company or the corporation that employees you, you won’t be able to “go all whoop-arse” on any customer who doesn’t afford you the respect you deserve. You have rules, regulations, and … lots of limitations.

If you watch a store, for example, my bet is that you won’t often (if ever) find yourself shooting someone in the store. Nor will you beat them with an oversized flashlight. You’d also better nix carotid artery holds, eye jabs, breaking the knees, and so on.

The key to being a security guard is to exhibit professional restraint.

[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]When Can You Use Martial Arts in Security Work?[/headline_tahoma_small_left]

Of course, you need to obey the law. And you need to obey any specific laws that may relate to security-guard work.

Next, you need complete mastery of any rules, regulations, and specific guidelines mandated by your employer. Also, if you work for a retail outlet inside a mall, you need to know the law of the land — mall rules.

Once you take all of the above into consideration, we can talk about …

[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]Security-Guard Self-Defense[/headline_tahoma_small_left]

If the original question was, when can a security guard use martial arts in his or her work, then the obvious answer should be … for the purposes of self-defense.

If you have to defend yourself or someone nearby, then you might have to use your skills.

So, how do you defend yourself AND obey all of the limitations imposed by official agencies and employers?

Answer: By using the minimal amount of self-defense possible.

In other words, don’t haul of and pull a Bruce Lee on the perpetrators, unless you really, really … really have to. Realize that no matter what, you’re probably going to have a lot of explaining to do. It’s easier to rationalize a wrist lock than a broken knee cap.

Wrist lock?

Yes, a joint lock is sometimes necessary to gain control of a situation. (Remember those guidelines and regulations.)

Stop the aggressor without hitting, kicking, poking out, or breaking. Ah … the elegant wrist lock!

[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]When Should You Effect a Lock Control?[/headline_tahoma_small_left]

There are probably many answers to the above question, but the easiest answer is … you can lock, when someone grabs you or attempts to grab your weapon.

Look at it this way, if you lock from a grab, then you aren’t slowing down a punch to effect your wrist lock. This is a plus.

This also means that you will probably be able to snap on your lock without hitting your lawbreaker.

Taking a grab into a non-breaking lock is probably easier to explain in a court of law than busting up someone’s face and breaking bones. Wouldn’t you agree?

[headline_tahoma_small_left color=”#000000″]Final Thought on Security Guard Joint Locks[/headline_tahoma_small_left]

My ultimate goal would be to deal with, and survive, any encounter without touching the suspect. This means that I consider avoiding a wrist lock to be a success … a win. I lose if I have to use self-defense, even a wrist lock.

Sure I protected myself or someone else with a joint control, but I still had to exert force. In this case, winning is losing. Right?

But if the choice is your safety or controlling with a wrist lock, then …

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security guard mistake

Recently, I have had the opportunity to review over 250 security-guard sites. Not only were many of these websites dull, but many lacked some very important features.

The job got so tedious, that after narrowing the top sites down to 125, I hired someone to help me evaluate the best. I needed someone to help me qualify the good benefits of the content and resources that I had discovered.

You see, I was disappointed.

I had accepted the project in the hopes of finding some good representations of security officers training in wrist locks and joint locks. I mean, you’d think this would be one of the first skills that they’d want to acquire, right?

I couldn’t have been more disappointed. I only found two sites that even mentioned locks.

How disappointing for me, and how dangerous for the security guards of the world.

 

[headline_arial_small_left color=”#000000″]If  You’re a Security Guard …[/headline_arial_small_left]

Hey, if you’re a security guard, then allow me the luxury of worrying about your safety.

You absolutely have to master the tools of your trade … night stick (baton), flashlight, gun … and your hands and feet. In an altercation, your job might prevent you from punching and kicking, but you might have to control the perpetrator … an unruly customer, a thief, and so on.

Could you control someone if you had to? Do you know enough locks and arm bars to keep you safe on the job? Enough to do your job effectively?

You don’t have to buy my book on Wrist Locks  — at least not yet 😉 — start with any locks. Sign up to the free ecourse and list on the right. Practice that handshake lock with all of the scenarios and variations in the various lessons. Get really good at that lock … know how you’d use it in a real altercation.

And if you have questions … you can always ask at WristLocksExpert.com

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Don’t Forget the Kick

In the last blog post, we dealt with a gridlock scenario where both you and your opponent respond with a punch during a wrist lock.

You punch because she’s resisting, and she punches because you are effecting a lock as a control.

So, you both punch at the same time.

Problem?

[headline_georgia_small_left color=”#000000″]Counter the Wrist-Locks Resister with a Kick[/headline_georgia_small_left]

I gave you several options on how to avoid a simultaneous, double knockout. One option that I didn’t discuss was a low-line kick.

I have developed a lot of drills, and you should too, where I kick low the instant I feel wrist locks resistance. These kicks could aim for the shins, knee, or inside of the leg.

Note: I also am partial to a scrap with my instep down the opponent’s shin … or a solid, stomp to the part where the shin and foot “connect.”

Demolishing the ankle in a real, life-threating emergency is an option, too.

 

[headline_georgia_small_left color=”#000000″]Escaping The Wrist Lock[/headline_georgia_small_left]

Of course, since you should always look at the flip side of a coin, I also have a lot of drills where I kick low in response to someone else trying to wrist lock me.

So, are we just creating another “both-gunslingers-draw-at-exactly-the-same-time” situation?

Instead of punches, have you just created an impasse with kicks?

Actually, now there is some variety: While you lock, you feel resistance … so, you have a choice of either kicking or punching immediately. (I suggest you practice both, for automaticity.)

And on the receiving end, you have a choice to use a punch or a kick to escape the lock.

This turns it into a real game … kick-n-kick, kick-n-punch, punch-n-kick.

So far, all of this can be practiced in the context of a regular, martial arts class. There’s nothing magic or really special about any of these moves, right?

In the next post, I’ll show you how to make this very same scenario into a higher-level, advanced martial-arts, training session.