Joint locks have little importance in civilian-oriented self defense since you are not supposed to control a hostile individual.
However, these exercises are excellent to teach the fundamentals of biomechanics to beginners who are generally not fully aware of their own bodies.
Working on locks is therefore part of a global pedagogical approach and allows the public to be introduced to joint keys which, even if they are not studied in detail, can nevertheless prove to be efficient.
There are numerous joint locks and they are all very technical. For now, let’s insist on finger locks to illustrate the pedagogical process that should underlie the training.
Table of Contents
Train gently
The first step for beginners is to accept pain since they will be confronted with it during training sessions, although it is only a moderate pain. Pain is an integral part of all disciplines involving confrontation, and it is better to get used to dealing with pain at the gym than in the street.
Confidence constitutes the second step, that is self-confidence in one’s movements and confidence in one’ s partner.
To achieve these two stages, it is important for beginners to start learning the locks gently.
To do so it is recommended not to rush the gestures and to get both partners used to them. In case of a finger lock, it involves gripping the fingers firmly without crushing them, and then starting to move the partner’s hand in different directions (up and down, sideways).
The one who plays the aggressor’s role acquires a better understanding of the pain, and the victim assimilates the technique and how to measure the intensity of the finger lock.
An action triggers a reaction, and the reaction to pain consists in withdrawing from the area that inflicts the pain. Working this way allows us to avoid the frustration associated with pain, and to prevent both parties from stiffening up.
Once confidence is established, one can gradually increase the joint stress until the pain threshold is reached. Obviously it is up to the person undergoing the finger lock to follow the movement imposed by the joint stress.
Another benefit of working with joint locks is that it allows the integration of spatial placement. In the case of a finger lock, it allows the person doing the lock to understand when the victim is vulnerable and when she is not. This includes answering the following questions: When I apply downward pressure, how is my attacker positioned? In such a configuration, am I exposed to a blow? If so, which ones?
This way, trainees can picture “mental images”, stereotypes that help them better anticipate reactions. This has to do with the déjà-vu principle.
You see why there is no need to start using force from the very beginning.
Understand how a joint works
Beginners are unsettled by the cracking of the joints, thinking they have caused damage when in fact the sound is simply an overpressure in the joints that causes an air bubble in the synovial fluid to “burst”, which serves as a lubricant for the joints. Working slowly allows you to understand when pain actually arises, and to better integrate that there is no correlation between the cracking of the joints and real pain.
One must bear in mind that fewer and fewer people actually listen to their bodies and understand how they operate. This is why beginners need to be (re)educated, as they do not always understand the way an individual reacts to pain although these reactions may seem to be common sense to experienced people.
This lack of knowledge of the basics often leads to unwise remarks, such as “if I do this, he can do that to me…” ignoring the fact that the aggressor has received a blow to the genitals for instance.
Working on joint locks is therefore a good way to foster this part of the learning.
