Escaping The Wrist Grab
Part I - From The Same Side
by Christopher Caile
Wrist grabs are a basic attack. They
are found in aikido, jujutsu systems and daito-ryu
aikijutsu. And they are taught as part of self-defense
in most karate systems and within self-defense courses.
At one time self-defense and escape techniques from
wrist grabs, pins or pulls were critical to survival.
In medieval times the primary weapon was a knife and/or
a sword or swords --carried in easy access through
a belt, in a scabbard or elsewhere on the body. Incapacitating
a wrist could stop a weapon from being withdrawn,
or provide a critical second of incapacitation for
an attacker to use his or her weapon. Martial arts
that were developed prior to the 20th century thus
naturally incorporated a variety of wrist attacks
and other manipulations.
Today, however, wrist grabs rarely relate to weaponry
unless the weapon is a beer bottle, club or baseball
bat. More often than not, today assailants use wrist
grabs for control, usually by a much larger, stronger
person against a smaller weaker one -- such as a male
assailant pulling a women or a child, or a parent
controlling an offspring. Of course, in many martial
arts the wrist and elbow might be grabbed for an arm
manipulation after a strike, but this is a different
story.
This series will explore a variety of simple wrist
grabs, from the same side, from across the body and
two hand grabs. This first article will examine the
simple front wrist grab such as an attacker's left
hand grabbing the right wrist of someone. The escapes
here demonstrated are simple and effective. They are
also compared. Because of space many techniques common
to aikido and/or jujutsu systems have not been discussed.
First, let it be said that there are a literally
hundreds of possible escapes and self-defense techniques
that are taught and practiced. Some, however, are
better than others. And what is used is also dictated
by the attack -- a static grab and hold versus a grab
and pull. What works in one situation doesn't necessarily
work in another.
 One
of the most common defenses (shown here) is to use
your free hand to grab the top of your fist and then
pull back against the attacker's grip and in particular
against the attacker's thumb -- the weak link in most
wrist grabs. The advantage in this defense is that
in pulling back you also pull the attacker's shoulder
forward which can inhibit a punch by the other arm.
Also, as you sink back you can move your weight to
back foot, allowing a front snap kick (not shown)
by your front foot. From this position you can also
easily run away.
There are a couple of disadvantages to this technique,
however. If the defender is small and significantly
weaker, the pull back might not be sufficient to break
free. In addition, if the attacker is pulling in,
a weak pull back might actually propel the defender
further into the attack instead of breaking free.
And of course, this technique still leaves the defender
in front of the assailant and open to a potential
strike or attack by the other arm. If you pull back,
even if you free yourself from the attacker's grip
and don't continue to distance yourself further, your
movement backward unfortunately places you at perfect
kicking range of the attacker.
 Another,
and slightly different, self-defense is instead of
pulling back, to first rotate your wrist and arm so
as to turn the attacker's wrist so the palm is up
and the elbow is down.
As a test, rotate your own arm in this way (a position
common to an inside or outside block in karate). Notice
how there comes a point that neither the wrist nor
arm can rotate any further. This is the position that
you want to move your attacker's arm into. It is also
simple to do. The attacker is not concentrating on
this directional move (as he or she would be with
a pull back). Additionally the muscles involved are
not very powerful. If you combine your arm turn with
a kiai (shout) or defensive movement with your free
hand, the opponent's concentration will be broken
and the movement will be easier to do.
As you turn your arm over, support your fist with
the palm of your free arm and then step forward (here,
with the right foot) to the side of the attacker.
 This
allows you to use your whole body weight against the
thumb of the attacker's gripping hand that, along
with the arm, is locked in position by the preceding
move.
Here you are not expending muscle power against muscle
power, but instead letting your body's weight and
movement do the work. And if you want to counter attack,
you can raise your left elbow (not shown) to do an
elbow attack against the attacker's head or face.
Their are several benefits of this technique. It
takes less strength. It can be done if the attacker
is pulling in, and it can also incorporate a counter
attack (elbow to face or head). A disadvantage, however,
is that the defender is still potentially open to
a strike or other offensive technique from the attacker's
free arm. A kick is less likely, however, since you
have maneuvered to the attacker's side.
Both of the techniques shown above allow a defender
to break free. Both, however, are vulnerable to an
attack from the assailant's free arm and neither establishes
control over the attacker. For this reason I personally
favor a self-defense technique similar to that seen
in many renditions of the karate kata Saiha. I was
shown one such technique while researching kata applications
on Okinawa. It is illustrated below.
As soon as the opponent grabs your wrist, you begin
to step forward with your right foot as you pivot
to the outside around the attacker's grasping wrist.
This is also a basic defensive move in aikido that
allows you to get to the outside of the attacker and
lead the attack.
The Saiha kata move, however, is somewhat different.
In this application you support your own arm with
your other hand. This turns your opponent's wrist
over into a similar position as done in the technique
above, but it also moves you away from any potential
attack by the assailant's other fist while manipulating
the assailants arm so it is impossible (unless he
lets go) of turning towards you to attack. Notice
(close up) how the attacker's wrist moves inward (hand
outward) which forces the attacker's elbow inward
and restricts body movement.
 As
you continue to rotate, snap your own elbow (with
your whole body weight behind it) against the outside/bottom
of the attacker's elbow. If done with a quick snapping
action this movement will damage your attacker's elbow,
or break it, before the arm pops upward and away from
you -- so be very careful when practicing this technique.
The attacker's left wrist will now be close to your
own left hand and within easy reach. Grab the attacker's
wrist.
Once you have grabbed the attacker's wrist drop backward
into a horse stance. Don't step. By releasing your
left knee and letting your weight drop, your can let
your weight pull the opponent's arm down, and with
it the head will be pulled forward, allowing you to
strike with a right backfist to the chin or face of
your attacker (that drives the head backward).  Here
you have both taken control of your attacker while
simultaneously mounting a counter attack.
This dropping motion that lets gravity do the work,
and that uses muscles only to halt movement (rather
than generate it), is one of the forgotten secrets
used by some of the old karate masters. It was also
the basis of the traditional body movement underlying
the Japanese Samurai tradition. (1)
This technique has the advantage of movement away
from a second offensive technique, of using your own
weight and movement to achieve an escape, while also
(if desired) being able both to take control of the
opponent and mount a counter attack -- all as part
of one quick and powerful movement sequence.
A variation of this techniques involves how the defender
can react in case the attacker is somehow is able
to punch at you with his right fist? Eiichi Miyazato
(the Okinwan master who was one of the prime students
of Chojun Miyagi's Goju-ryu karate system) showed
me how at this point your left arm could be extended
to intercept and block this attack (instead of grabbing
the left arm as is illustrated) while at the same
time doing the same backfist to the attacker's face.
This article can only touch on several viable alternative
self-defense techniques that can be used against the
wrist grab. If you have another application that you
think is practical, you can send it to FightingArts.com
through the Comments section following this article.
Footnote:
(1) In Hakuhokai Daito-Ryu
Aikijujutsu (Daito-Ryu, a jujutsu system, being one
of, if the oldest, of Japan's continually practiced
martial arts systems) which incorporates within its
teaching curriculum the Aizu (Japanese Clan through
which Daito-Ryu was transmitted) sword art, Ona Ha
Itto Ryu Kenjutsu, the founder Okabayashi Shogen emphasizes
this method of moving the body and transmitting force
without the use of strength. This method of body movement,
common to pre-Meiji era (pre-1868) martial arts, was
based on high level techniques developed for cutting
and stabbing with the sword. Aikido inherited this
concept from Daito-Ryu. Although this method of body
movement is used in a much more restricted method,
in Aikido it is a principle concept of the art. Likewise,
some of this concept of movement was incorporated
into the karate that developed on Okinawa and is still
taught in some systems, such as in Okinawa Karate
Do Shorin Ryu Kishaba Juku. Joe Swift, the well-known
karate historian and Associate Editor of FightingArts.com,
has translated a book by Matsuo Kanenori Sakon Sensei,
"Ryukyu ke Hiden Bujutsu" in which the author
notes this same concept of movement within old Okinawan
karate. In my own Seido Juku karate system founded
by Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, Nakamura uses this same
dropping of the body method when moving back into
a horse stance for this technique, as illustrated
above.
About The Author:
Christopher Caile is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief
of FightingArts.com. He has been a student of the
martial arts for over 40 years and holds a 6th degree
black belt in Seido Karate and has experience in
judo, aikido, diato-ryu, boxing and several Chinese
fighting arts. He is also a long-term student of
one branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong.
He is a personal disciple of the qi gong master
and teacher of acupuncture Dr. Zaiwen Shen (M.D.,
Ph.D.) and is Vice-President of the DS International
Chi Medicine Association. In Buffalo, NY, he founded
the Qi gong Healing Institute and The Qi Medicine
Association at the State University of New York
at Buffalo. He has also written on Qi gong and other
health topics in a national magazine, the Holistic
Health Journal and had been filmed for a prospective
PBS presentation on Alternative Medicine. Recently
he contributed a chapter on the subject to an award
winning book on alternative medicine, "Resources
Guide To Alternative Health."
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