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Releasing The
Arms To Counter A Front Bear Hug
Real life is
often different from practice, and when students try to
use what they have been taught in an actual attack, it often
fails them at the moment they need it most.
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There are many self-defense techniques against
a front bear hug. And many include a strike
to the attacker’s groin. If this strike
is effective the attacker will often opens
his arms or release his grip. This allows
the defender to follow up with a kick, punch,
or throw of the assailant.
The problem is that too often the defender
isn’t taught how to free an arm so this
strike can be effective.
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Too often practice is not realistic - the attacking
partner often just loosely wraps his arms around the
front of the defender. The defender is then taught
to deliver a front strike with one hand or fist into
the attacker’s groin. This only works, however,
when the attacker’s grab isn’t tight.
In combat or in real-life assault situations things
are usually very different. The attacker’s grab
is usually tight and powerful. This grip locks the defender’s
elbows against his or her sides. If the arms can be
moved at all, any groin or other strike is so restricted
that the counter becomes ineffective. Thus, what the
student has learned suddenly becomes ineffective at
the very moment when it is most needed. |
Attacker grabs defender’s chest
from the front
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Incorrect – Defender attempts
a right-hand strike to the attacker’s groin.
The defender’s right elbow is locked and her
hand cannot strike the attacker’s groin.
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Correct – Defender squats and
moves her hips to the left rear.
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Then the defender shifts her hips
and right hand forward. Her hand strikes the attacker’s
groin. In this position the defender can forcibly
strike (elbow is not locked) the attacker.
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There is a simple solution. When faced with a tight
front bear hug, the defender can partially release
the tight grip and create space for movement by
squatting downward (letting the defender’s
weight pull on the arms to loosen them). The defender
can then shift his or her hips to the side (here,
the left). This releases the attacker’s grip
on the elbows and creates room for movement. Since
the defender’s elbows are no longer locked
to his sides, significant power can be generated
to attack the attacker’s groin.
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