Breaking Holds




Escaping Arm or Wrist Grab


If an attacker grabs you by the wrist or forearm, then one of the easiest ways to break this hold is to quickly twist your arm and retract back to the body as quick and as hard as you can. By twisting or rotating the wrist, the attackers grip will be compromised slightly, as your wrist rotates, the attacker has to release slight pressure of their grip due to the painful friction of tight moving skin on skin, and once the twist begins and the grip eases, the fast retraction technique used to snap the arm back should be enough to break the hold.

Using Karate moves such as Uchi Uke and Gedan Barai while been grabbed can result in some interesting arm bar style counter attacks against the grabber and also be used as direct strikes to the wrist or hand of the attacker to force them quickly off the grab.

Escaping Shoulder Grap


Should an attacker happen to be stood directly in front of you holding one or both of your shoulders, there are a number techniques that can be used to escape this. The most obvious thing to do with anybody who is close enough and directly to the front is a knee strike or kick to the groin. Alternatively, punch up. Using a tightly clenched fist, fire the arms directly up and aim for as close to the hands or wrists of your opponent as you can. Punching hard upwards into the wrists or lower forearms especially if an attacker has a tight clenched grip can be extremely painful to your opponent especially if a pressure point is struck which causes the attackers hands to open and the arms to retract. Once you break the grip, a swift Groin Kick to prevent them from chasing you and then escape as quickly as you can.

Escaping A Pin Up


If your attacker has you pinned up against a wall, then it is quite vital that we use good Self Defense to get out the situation as soon as possible. One clever way to escape this situation is to drop-shift your body weight. Drop shifting, is simply allowing yourself to flop by basically switching off your legs to drop, meaning the attacker has to either support your body weight themselves or let you go, if they let you go, escape quickly to one of the sides of the attacker by springing diagonally upwards and outwards from under them. If the attacker decides to support your weight themselves, this then makes them extremely vulnerable in both the arms and legs. Again a strike to either arm or leg followed by a kick to the groin here would be enough to release the grip of an attacker and allow you to flee the situation.

Escaping A Headlock


Should an attacker have you in a headlock, it is imperative that you escape as quickly as possible for obvious reasons. The most important thing initially is to remain calm, don't try to struggle too much, instead concentrate on the escape procedure. The procedure is to try and step right behind your opponent rather than been held by the side. if you can shift your entire body weight directly to the rear of your attacker this then gives you the upper hand on the center of gravity. Next twist your head either into the opponent or away from your opponent, moving your nose towards or away from their body, this twist acts almost like a key in a lock, allowing you enough angle to retract the head in most circumstances. If you still can't escape, try to stand up once you are more or less behind the attacker, if you lack the strength to lift off or stand up from this pose, simply place one of your hands on the rear of the attackers thigh and squeeze them as hard as you can. Squeezing the skin in a nipping or clamping motion on the rear of the thigh is one of the bodies strongest pain receptors, it hurts bad, keep on this until you have your chance to escape, then make like a tree.