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Are joint locks a great idea in self defense?
Last week we talked about car jacking. During the program, a somewhat unique opportunity occurred, and I’ll illustrate it in today’s video.
Here is how it happened: my partner was simulating an assault. I was explaining that, naturally, a mugger doesn’t just gently push his victim and remain away. No, instead, he really goes to contact, following and attacking his prey. Here, he pushed me against a car (to follow the same theme).
I explained to him that in such a situation, you must use the weapons you have at your disposal, whatever they are: the throat, the eyes, the eardrums, whatever. And you deal with the striking distance you have depending on the proximity with the opponent.
Fortunately, my partner’s fingers were ideally placed for me to do a joint twist. Hence, that’s what I did.
As you can see, this is the ideal opportunity to discuss joint locks and tell you my thought on this technique.
First of all, yes joint locks hurt when they are well executed.
They can therefore be useful under certain conditions, the most important thing being that the opponent feels the pain. Note that this may be reduced if he is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
We therefore do not question the effectiveness and relevance of these techniques from a biomechanical point of view since it has been proven. It is also used by forces of law and order when they have to control someone without hurting him.
In short, the issue is not to discuss whether the locks are effective or not, but whether it is appropriate to use them.
When should you try a joint lock?
Keep in mind that in self defense a joint lock should only be undertaken if there is an opportunity. Obviously, you should not “force the hand of destiny” trying to provoke an ideal configuration to do so.
According to me, this counterattack must be adapted to the circumstances. Although a joint lock is effective, it is not instinctive at all. In addition to this, they are complex movements that are not adapted to the constraints of the street such as stress, tunnel effect, disrupted motor coordination, etc.
Although it is possible to use it to defuse an argument that is going out of control in order to subdue an individual without hurting him, it is not intended to be used in more dynamic situations.
In the video, I said that you have to do with what you have at hand. Here, the situation was conducive to a finger lock, but I never tried to trigger this situation!
Be able to seize the opportunity
When I joked about “key-opportunity”, it was to tell you briefly that you should only do a lock if you have the opportunity to do so, otherwise you shouldn’t do it simply because you want to.
It is a good opportunity if:
- You’ve had enough time to analyze the situation beforehand;
- You remember which lock is adapted to the situation;
- You estimate that it won’t put you in danger after (e.g. Juji Gatame on the ground is to avoid on all occasions otherwise you expose yourself to a second assailant, a knife you haven’t seen before, etc);
- You can do it efficiently.
You may understand better now how difficult it is to use a lock in real life, even when you have the opportunity.
Simply because you won’t be able to perceive it, and even if you had, you won’t be able to seize it immediately afterwards.
According to me, trying obstinately to make a lock is therefore counterproductive. You will hardly ever have the opportunity to do so, and persisting only increases the risks to create parasitic movements and thus to be vulnerable in front of your aggressor.
La définition d’une clé articulaire: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cl%C3%A9_articulaire
