I was helping teach a class the other night and one of the things briefly touched on, as part of the monthly testing process, was self-defense against a one-handed grab.
Essentially, the attacker grabs your wrist and you have to do a circular side block, with a stepping motion, in order to break the grip and be in a position to counter-attack or flee.
Some of the adults were trying to make it more realistic so the man in the group was holding on tightly to the woman's wrist. The only problem is that the women were trying to pull away rather than breaking the grip in a more controlled manner.
Pulling away puts you at a disadvantage when you use all of your body weight to do it because it puts you off balance. Chances are just as good that you'll fall, with the attacker on top of you, or stumble if they suddenly let go. Both of these are bad things.
The women were concerned about being strong enough to break the grip. I explained that they had to remember that their attacker, in this case, knew what they were going to do and was compensating for it (which they shouldn't do by the way). I also said the it is a good time to use an element of surprise (kick to the shins/knee/groin, stab toward the throat or eyes) to loosen the attacker's grip and then execute the technique.
I'm sure this sounds like babble and my main point is not to actually educate you in self defense by writing about it. My point is that you have to look realistically at the techniques taught to you, and practice in a way that will give you the best chance of success if you ever need to use them.
Practice, practice, practice and plan for the worst case scenario when you. Be completely committed to doing whatever it takes to get away and have a plan for when you do.
Posted by bbarton at October 6, 2004 07:23 AM