Defense Against the Hair Grab

[JusticeZero]

Pull their arm straight, then attack the elbow joint is the first thing i'd think of. You already have one point of control and at least one of the attacker's limbs tied up before you start moving after all.

I'll have to see if cocorinha lines up for that or not when I have someone with more plausible dimensions in front of me to beat on; it would be 'fall into squatting stance and X block up to force the attacker's arms to extend, spread block with body twist to expand between attacker's torso and attacker's elbow joint'. If the attacker follows you down to keep their arms bent, jump upward into a head butt to the throat, and drop the X into a downward hammer strike to the groin, then grab their thigh and use the remaining interposing hand to see if you can now slip your heel behind their other foot and dump them backward onto their head. If they persist in maintaining some control in that but are going down, dive with them and do a cartwheel off of the elbow on their sternum.

Like I said though, i'll have to check the geometry on that on someone - probably Vidro, since he's taller than I am. The attacker would probably twist to an angle that would call for somewhat different technique, maybe needing a scissors takedown in the middle instead.

[Ace2021]

I keep my hair extremely short as a preference. Having one less thing an opponent can manipulate + cause you pain by is a nice benefit.

However, I think this is predominantly a female hazard. Every single street fight I have ever seen with two women always comes down to the winner being able to manipulate their opponents hair, and punch them in the face whilst doing so.

Short of shaving your heads, ladies, the only other thing I can think of to help you is braiding your hair, and that wouldn't be 100% effective.

[Montana]

In the situation described...

1. You're to close to do an "effective" kicking technique as they've described. A foot stomp or side kick to the knee would be more plausible.

2. Look at the videos again. The attacker is soooo wide open for a punch to his floating ribs, which causes serious pain, if not cracking/breaking the rib, and the fight will end there.

3. Anybody really know what the high block is used for besides blocking something coming at/down to your head? It's an arm break guys. You put one hand (like in the video) on the guys arm to keep it where it is and do a high block to his elbow.

Of the 3 videos, the first is the only real plausible technique..the others work great in the classroom with a partner that goes along with what you're doing, but doubtful in the street.

[bushido_man96]

I like most of the components of the first video, but I would definitely consider striking with the hands more prior to securing the hands. Kicking low, groin or knee, rather than the body, and I liked the outside movement, provided he doesn't keep ahold of the hair. Otherwise, you help them take a chunk of it out.

I didn't like the second video at all. It looked ackward, and the instructor didn't do a good job of making me feel like it could work.

In the third video, I didn't like the idea of going so low at the beginning of the technique. It might be ok, if your really limber, but I would take a different route.

[mr_obvious]

First defense to hair grab.

1) Go to a Barber shop

This would be (and is) my solution.

[joesteph]

I think it's sad when we yield our freedom to have the simple length of our hair dictated to us by the Neanderthals of society.

I think that the first video:

http://www.ehow.com/video_2357209_self-defense-video-hair-grabs.html

is the best one. Although I agree it may be more of a woman's concern than a man's, it can happen to men, too, and this demonstrator, a man, tells it like it is when he says "And it hurts!"

I wonder if the one doing the seizing hasn't done this before, disorienting his/her victim, and controlling someone who doesn't know what to do other than to cry out in pain. It would be a surprise to such an attacker if the one seized did any counter-moves, and the ones demonstrated in this video seem the best to me.

[tonydee]

Also agree that of the three, the guy in the first video looked most credible. The lady in the second video seems to need to learn about using her hips, legs, torso etc to generate power... bending her knee before she front kicks. That elbow looked more likely to dislocate her own shoulder than hurt someone's back. The final video might work, as long as the opponent's no stronger than her and a little surprised, but it's hard to fall backwards then get back up quickly for that knee. It's also dangerous if there are other attackers who might kick you mid-escape.

The style of joint lock is also interesting: you have to drag their arm (and your head) down quite a way before this starts to apply much pressure. If you have the element of surprise and can generate a slight S bend at their wrist - rolling their hand slightly sideways then pressing forwards - you can escape with much less movement and much more compliance-forcing pain. Higher skill requirement though.

Being frank (when am I ever not?), I think all those solutions are half baked, and agree with those who've said a much stronger emphasis on striking is better than anything in the videos. I'd be delivering a palm heel, elbow, punch to the throat, eye gouge, front knee or front-kick to the knee even as my other hand pressed their grab against my head. Id' be using that back hand to twist their wrist and escape as they loosen it from the shock of my strike....

Why strike too? Joint locks against much stronger opponents just have a low success rate. A movement like this is most likely to be needed by someone who's not particularly strong. It's not instinctive to go up to someone built like Tyson and tug at his locks (if he had any). But someone might do it to a lady or child. When someone grabs they grab intending to either hold you prone or rip you around violently - not so much in between. A larger opponent can bring a lot of power to bear through a grab: try to do what any of these videos does as the opening movement and if you're not strong enough to bend their wrist, you can be bowing your own head down nicely for them to pull it into a knee, or to rip you forward and lay you flat on your face.

Reminds me of headlock escapes - there are so many great escapes that work perfectly in class, but why do they all start with someone standing passively beside you? When someone with an aggressive mindset, athletic body and even schoolyard fighting experience actually wants to drag you around by the head, they'll be ripping you around their body breaking your balance and you're as likely to find your head down at knee height with their body weight on top of you before you have a chance to counter. Sometimes, it's good to re-create a little of that schoolyard feeling for a reality check about a determined opponent. If you can't get your hair grab or head lock escape to work under pressure, then find another technique....

Cheers,

Tony

[algernon]

I think it's sad when we yield our freedom to have the simple length of our hair dictated to us by the Neanderthals of society

Well put!

I did not watch the first or third videos in their entirety. The bad advice came soon enough to have to.

In the first video, the demonstrator committed both hands to to his attacker's grabbing hand without protecting himself from the attacker's free hand. He then seemed to suggest maintaining that hold while being pulled around. This technique left him vulnerable to any strikes save the wide round punches to the head, and would expend unnecessary energy struggling against his opponent.

The woman in the third video instructed dropping to your knee while your (probably larger) opponent is still standing and still has a hold on your head. Don't do that.

The woman in the second video begins strong, using both hands briefly to pull the attacker off of his base, and setting him up for a kick. That seemed to me to be the beginning of a solid defense. However, she then began some awkward small joint manipulation; the problems with such have already been well covered.

I would not recommend any of these videos.

Edited October 4, 2009 by algernon

[joesteph]

The woman in the second video begins strong, using both hands briefly to pull the attacker off of his base, and setting him up for a kick.

I think she is strong in hand use, and that kick is ready to fire, but what follows would be tough to perform.

This Krav-Maga video has front, side, and back hair grabs.

http://www.ehow.com/video_2368030_defend-against-hair-grab-women.html

I'm not sure about the front grab response, since it may depend on bodyweight as much as speed, but the side hair grabs really based themselves on striking like mad below the belt of the attacker.

I think that anyone whose hair is pulled from behind has to be fast to do what's suggested in this video.

[rogue2257]

First defense to hair grab.

1) Go to a Barber shop

This would be (and is) my solution.

One of the reasons I keep my hair as short as it is.