We are going to review the front belt (arms caught) overlooking all the easy moves such as headbutts, bites and other small vicious moves. We are going to work on the technique required in the program when you want to pass the Pencak Silat green belt.
Table of Contents
Is the bear hug above or below the elbow?
- If the attacker grabs you above the elbow, you can move your arms and use the “lighter” technique, hitting at the sides, to force him to release. Besides, twisting the strike upward is another variation.
- If the attacker attacks you lower, below the elbow, it can become more tricky. Hence, instead of striking out, counterattack with pressure and/or by grabbing his genitals;
So either you grab his genitals, which creates an opening and allows you to grab his torso, (you don’t need much room, just enough to pull your leg back and knee him), or you squeeze his genitals, or bite his inner thigh. Again, this creates an opening and allows you to hit his knee with the “pull-push” effect – pull towards you and push with your leg. Afterwards, the attacker will release the pressure, as he has already taken a hit. Keep contact, bring your shoulder up so you don’t get hit, stay protected and knee him back, either in his knee or in the inner thigh to create an opening. Here you must beware, keep contact, and send a growing kick, either to the throat, plexus, genitals or knee.
It is as if he wants to lift you up. By the way, he can lift you up, so it’s very important to remain stable.
Do you lack flexibility?
If you can’t hit a rising kick to the throat and you think “I can’t because I’m not flexible”, then cheat a little: grab his neck and lower his head down, it will be easier to inflict a rising kick to his throat.
Alternative
As you land a rising kick, you can rearm your knee and pivot to stand with your back to him (while maintaining eye contact on your attacker). With your calf, mow down his closest leg. Your partner knows what’s going to happen and will let his leg go. So, to avoid injury, if the leg is too anchored, chances are it will grab the ground and as you strike, you will break his leg. Be very careful in training.
This way, you can mow down his front leg to knock him down. If your attacker anticipated this blow and put his hand on the ground to avoid falling, then use every possible opening: either strike at his genitals or reach for his support hand, strike and drag him to the ground. Once on the ground, your attacker is still dangerous, so don’t drop your guard. You can hit his ribs with your heel, inside the thigh, in the genitals, ankles, and to really hurt, on the elbow to smash it.
Usually, it doesn’t have the same reaction twice. Also, it is likely that your assailant will catch himself by placing his elbow, hand, or crashing to the ground completely.
Improvise and adapt to the situation
During training, you usually have an instruction to follow.
Here, you have to catch, create the opening, strike at the throat or plexus and mow down the leg. If this doesn’t work and the attacker protects his face with his arm, if you mechanically kick the elbow, you will take a hit without even having reached your target. You can of course continue the exercise. However, if this target (the throat) is not accessible, tell yourself “this doesn’t work, I won’t fail, I’ll readapt, so I’ll look at what is the following target”: the face is inaccessible? the plexus is okay? the genitals are okay? and so on. You have to be attentive to the reaction of the other person and be able to improvise according to the situation.
