Wrist Grabs

[Mike Flanagan]

Wrist grabs are actually more common than you might think. They frequently occur mid-fight, rather than as the opening gambit. Often when blows are exchanged either party (or both) will instinctively try to grab the other person's arm to prevent it from continuing to hit him.

Voila, now you can do your defence against a wrist grab.

Mike

[DancingSteve]

A lot of the Shotokan bunkai would suggest multiple attackers against this one opponent.

If you were a gang of say...American Whalers...trying to pin down this one Okinawan who had no weapons. And you rushed him to pin him down...he of course is lashing out with punches as you approach. I would say it is a safe assumption that grabbing his wrists and forearms to pin those quick punches down would be a viable option. Especially after you took a couple of those punches to the face and solar plexus.

Secondly...I teach a kids self defense class and I teach probably no less than a half dozen or more ways to get out of simple wrist grabs. I will agree that on a man-on-man fight...the wrist grab is not the first technique. But as others have said it can occur in the middle, I've even seen it in the UFC..as someone is getting pummeled they grab the wrists to stop the massive pummelage.. Anyways..back to my point. If an Adult is going to grab a child...they are going to grab them either by the wrist, the arm, the hair...or of course the neck. Wrists are amazingly easy to hurt and even a child can bring down a bigger attacker with a good wrist lock..or at the very least escape.

[Shotokan-kez]

Wrist grabs are used to get someone to come with the attacker, or to set up for another attack. They are not all that common but knowing how to defend against them is essential in my view. Just being able to break the grab correctly in defense without using a strike is good.

I agree with this completely. Oh the hand i can't really see this in a real life situation. We don't do this very often in our dojo but when i we i often think "would this really happen?". Then wonder weather they are a waste of time.

[Jiffy]

A lot of the Shotokan bunkai would suggest multiple attackers against this one opponent.

If you were a gang of say...American Whalers...trying to pin down this one Okinawan who had no weapons. And you rushed him to pin him down...he of course is lashing out with punches as you approach. I would say it is a safe assumption that grabbing his wrists and forearms to pin those quick punches down would be a viable option. Especially after you took a couple of those punches to the face and solar plexus.

Secondly...I teach a kids self defense class and I teach probably no less than a half dozen or more ways to get out of simple wrist grabs. I will agree that on a man-on-man fight...the wrist grab is not the first technique. But as others have said it can occur in the middle, I've even seen it in the UFC..as someone is getting pummeled they grab the wrists to stop the massive pummelage.. Anyways..back to my point. If an Adult is going to grab a child...they are going to grab them either by the wrist, the arm, the hair...or of course the neck. Wrists are amazingly easy to hurt and even a child can bring down a bigger attacker with a good wrist lock..or at the very least escape.

All very true

[alsey]

i've had my wrist grabbed in a real fight, but we had already started hitting eachother by that time. its probably not that common compared to other grabs, but common enough that its a good idea to know how to deal with it.

[RichardHangHong]

Most fights start up close and often involve a bit of shoving before fists start flying so often a shove can turn into a lapel grab. As for the wrist grabs, they're more commonly used with women and children to grab and pull them rather than as a way to get a strike in (unless you're a parent going in to slap the back of the knees! lol!).

I do a lot of wrist and lapel grabs when going through bunkai, but balance it with strikes and blocks for the same movement. Also, I rarely do bunkai from a distance, 90% of the time it always starts from up close as most situations start off this way.

[cross]

I do a lot of wrist and lapel grabs when going through bunkai, but balance it with strikes and blocks for the same movement. Also, I rarely do bunkai from a distance, 90% of the time it always starts from up close as most situations start off this way.

Very true. I guess starting from a wrist grab is just a reference point, from there the technique later on can be applied from any position where the opponents arm is controlled.

[DancingSteve]

Yes..very true Cross. A wrist grab can easily be translated into a lapel, hair, back of the neck, upper arm, etc etc etc grab. It can also be translated easily into a trapping motion AFTER a successful block. Rising, Outside, Inside, Knife Hand, Downward block moving into 'trapping' the wrist and controlling the arm. Takes a littl more more thought and practice..but its fun to take a class from very very basic stuff....to a bit more complicated over the course of 3 or 4 exercises...so by the time your finished you have taught them something that truly can be applied to real life.

[Jiffy]

Depends on the lock. Some are transferrable, some are not.

[jaymac]

It would be a great disservice to not teach wrist grabs, even if most people think they are useless. Did you ever see the video of the child who was abducted in ( I think Florida ) by a man. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her with him. They later found her body. Children and women should learn these techniques and everyone should learn them so they can continue to be taught correctly. That is what learning self defense is supposed to be about.