GROUND DEFENSES

1.  Approaching From The Side - Defense Against a Punch

The attacker kneeling at one side of you, here we will assume on your left hand side, as you lie on your back. He is clearly the aggressor and you do not need to wait for him to attack you further by either grabbing or hitting you.  You could strike first, for instance by sitting up and punching his face.  However, let us assume that he beats you to it and throws a punch to your face with his left hand (Figure 1).

Irrespective of whether the punch is a straight or hooked punch you should do an inside to outside block.  Because of your position you will need to get as close to his legs as possible and turn in to the block.  Remember to push out or forwards with the block to increase the power of the block.  If your attacker is bigger and/or stronger than you then it would be good to use both arms to block (Figure 2).

Fig 1. The Attack

Fig 2. Turning Into The Block

Once you have blocked his punch grab his wrist/arm (at the elbow) with your right hand and pull his arm towards you.  At the same time either hit him with an upper cut punch or an upward elbow strike to his chin, depending on how close he is to you.  Use your left hand to tuck his wrist under your right armpit.  Wrap your right arm around the outside of his arm and under his elbow. Grab your own arm about where your elbow is with your right hand (Figure 3).  Finally, put your left hand on his shoulder.  If he starts to pull away from you then you may need to sit up to reach for his shoulder and adjust the positioning for the lock. To execute the lock lean back (if you had to sit up), straighten your left arm and lift with your right arm against his elbow.

Getting a lock on your opponent is fine, but you are still underneath. It should be possible to roll him off you because of the leverage you can apply to his arm (Honest! – try it). To do this, turn your body away from him keeping his wrist tight under your armpit and pushing on his shoulder (Figure 4). It is surprising how much ‘encouragement’ to move that arm lock will give him.

Fig 3. Apply the Arm Lock

Fig 4. Control Your Opponent

YDJ Graham Salt