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DaveB
DaveB's picture
Gedan Barai wrist release and take down.

Please explain what is right and what is wrong with this application

Philios
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I see this as being impressive to those who practice WKF-style bunkai for competitions, but ineffective from a true self-defense standpoint as it was demonstrated.

What's right:  She has very nice standalone technique.  Especially if she is indeed a white belt!  For the application, there are some concepts I see which are on the right track.  Breaking the grip.  Using hikite to turn her attacker sideways and break balance.  Using the gedan barai to further disrupt balance.

What's wrong:  To me, the uke here is much too nice.  That is a very weak-looking grab from a highly compliant partner (he actually steps to where she wants to throw him before she starts the action).  The uke grabs her wider forearms instead of her narrower wrists, which is intuitively better for grip.  He's providing next to no resistance.  Although this may be necessary to assist the student to first learn the application, afterward it should always be performed with a resisting partner.  Without pressure-testing you never know if it is effective self-defense.  

The young lady in this video is not using her body to disrupt balance, but instead tries to "muscle it" with only her straight arm and a huge gap between their bodies.  You can see that all the effort is in the one shoulder.  This simply will not work for a small person against a larger one.  Imagine if the uke was a large man instead of the scrawny teenager in the video.  She is not using her stance to disrupt balance either, nor is she even placing her lead foot behind her uke's to keep him from regaining his footing.  An understanding of the proper use of a fulcrum and lever would make this much more effective.  

This is a very sterile demonstration of a possible application for gedan barai.  I can appreciate that, but would have liked to have seen them go on to show a more realistic application with some "dirt" thrown in there, such as starting with a kick to the groin or knee, targetting the throat with a swift strike of the "blocking" arm, or striking the side of the jaw to force the head to turn away.

DaveB
DaveB's picture
Thanks.
Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

I’d pretty much agree with the analysis above. One thing I would add is the need to take the video for what it was, which is a short demonstration clip. It could well be that the group in question do add in the dirt, increase noncompliance, explore alternatives more suited to the individual, etc. We don’t know, so all we can do is look at the video “as is” for what it is.

In my case, I know people often mistake a two-minute clip to be the totality of the method. Many of my YouTube clips are from my seminars overseas. So what we have is 2 or 3 mins from 2 or 3 days of teaching. I therefore sometimes get comments like, “It would be better if X, Y or Z were added in”; “You could do A, B or C if they did D”; or “Why not drill it in X a way”. What those watching the clip often fail to appreciate is that they are viewing a short clip devoid of context, and had they been there they would know that their questions, concerns and critiques were addressed in the 99% of the training that was not in the clip. I’m therefore mindful of this when watching the videos of others. So while it’s totally OK to watch with a critical mind, and question what we are viewing, we need to be keep in mind the video can never show the totality of how the contents of the video sit within the wider training framework we have no knowledge of.

All the best,

Iain

Spaniard
Spaniard's picture

While I can definitely see there is more work to be done, it is light years ahead a lot of what I have seen.  Just the fact that she is using hand being pulled to the ear for a release and then the turn is a good start because she is already learning that sideways does not mean that the opponent was to the side and possibly doing a front kick.

Although, I think that this is the same sight that did an arm wrap against the body as a knife defense which made me cringe a bit though it had many good points otherwise.

Pacem ex virtute-

Erik P./Spaniard

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Spaniard wrote:
While I can definitely see there is more work to be done, it is light years ahead a lot of what I have seen.  Just the fact that she is using hand being pulled to the ear for a release and then the turn is a good start because she is already learning that sideways does not mean that the opponent was to the side and possibly doing a front kick.

Absolotuely. I'd agree that there are positive elements in the first video as described.

Spaniard wrote:
an arm wrap against the body as a knife defense which made me cringe a bit

I'm not a fan of knife disarms generally, but that one is particularly bad. With a sharp knife I dread to think of the damage that would do to the defender. The edge could easily be pulled against the forearm or the inside of the body / armpit depending on which way the edge is (both in the case of a dagger). It strikes me as a stick disarm that has been adapted without thought for the cutting edge?

All the best,

Iain