Finishing techniques.

[panamaican]

As I was reading through a blog by Andre Bertel, he said that likes to finish all of his techniques with a choke, a break, or a dislocation. My sensei teaches us to try and finish all techniques with the opponent on the ground - whether by sweep/attack to the knee/throw/etc. - for escaping purposes.

Obviously, nothing is written in stone but has anyone else been taught a theory similar to these?

[bushido_man96]

In Combat Hapkido, we always try to finish, whether it be with a lock, pin, break, or strike of some kind.

[Montana]

We train not to finish, but rather to stop the fight. Our aim is to use whatever force is necessary, yet not excessive unless the situation warrants, to stop the opponent from attacking us. If that means we have to "finish" him, then so be it. If it mens we just have to knock the wind out of them or bloody his nose to end the fight..even better.

[Rateh]

The last organization I trained under believed in ending with the attacker on the ground.

The one I currently train under believes in the "can't see, can't breath, can't walk" philosophy. Meaning that if the attacker can't do one of those things, they can't come after you. That doesn't necessarily mean PERMANENTLY can't, just that that they can't do it long enough for you to get away. Maybe that means permanently, maybe that means for a few minutes, it all depends on the specific situation.

[Kassen]

My take on finishing is that you should always aim to finish an opponent but the type of finish is really situation dependant. If you have set an opponent up for a sweep / takedown / throw then fine but in many situations a break, strike or point finish is more suitable.

It also depends on your opponent, if you practice one method, sweep / throw / takedown for example, and you opponent is difficult to throw (e.g. larger than you or with a grappling background) then multiple options are useful. It is very important to assess your opponents characteristics and potential weaknesses and act accordingly.

I prefer not to limit myself to thinking I must finish in a certain way and enjoy looking for different ways to stop an opponent as in various situations one option may not be available.

[shoshinkan]

One of the early Okinawan karate writers wrote something along the lines of - many karate technique should be applied to a stunned or prone opponent to finish them.

sorry at work and books at home but if you consider much of the kata content it could well be very true.

[DWx]

I'm not sure if we employ the idea of finishing techniques in the strictest sense. In practice, we emphasise on being able to get to a position where you are ready guarding and are able to either run or strike again if necessary by any means possible. Doesn't matter if you got there by a break, throw or whatever.

[KarateGeorge]

We use a building blocks method of training. With beginner ranks we don't worry about teaching the takedowns yet. We teach just basic techniques by themselves so that they can learn the moves separate from having to piece too many things together at once. As they move up through the ranks, we gradually add more complexity to it, so that as they start getting closer to black belt they'll be using takedowns in their techniques.

[Kassen]

KarateGeorge, we do much the same in that we will only teach junior grades basic techniques and start to teach senior Kyus (brown belts etc) an interpretation or finishing move, usually the most obvious or least destructive. Only when you acheive your Dan grade do we start looking into different applications for finishing an opponent.

One of the aspects I enjoy most of Martial Arts however is looking at different methods of finishing a would be attacker or various applications of techniaques to give you a range of possibilities.

I certainly agree though that junior grades, until they have proven that they have the discipline and skill to perform more dangerous techniques both in a club and real life situation, should only be learning and practicing more basic moves and combinations