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Wastelander
Wastelander's picture
#1 Attack Against Women

Hello, everyone,

This week's Waza Wednesday takes a look at a simple way to deal with the most common attack made against women, according to UK crime statistics--a right-handed grab to the upper arm. Honestly, when I had read that statistic, I was surprised, because it didn't make much sense to me as an attack, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it really is a common use of force and aggression against women. The technique we show in this video is very simple, and I didn't really make connections to kata, although you could pretty easily relate it to Gekisai.

DW
DW's picture

I really like it. It certainly conforms to the KISS-principle which is always a great thing when considering self-defense. Regards Daniel  

karate10
karate10's picture

I see Geksai dai influence in this bunkai, in addition, for the womens, If they have long nails, they can also use their nails  to the eye strike as it will  momentarily stun the opponent and use her hips into the elbow over the arm into gedan barai. Like you said in the video, theres so many ways to go about it. Excellent bunkai!!....Regards.....Gerald.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Thanks for sharing Noah. Nice bit of Gedan Barai bunkai. Leaves you in a solid position tactically too. I like it!

All the best,

Iain

Wastelander
Wastelander's picture

Thank you, all! This particular technique wasn't one that I originally intended to be a kata application, but it was also evident that it fit gedan-barai, and especially Gekisai. For this video, I decided not to really highlight the kata connection, but it's definitely there! Obviously, this doesn't apply to this forum, but I have to say that I find it amusing that some of my posts of this video online have been blowing up with negative comments because it's a womens' self defense video, but if I had just posted it as an application for Gekisai, I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten that response :P

DW
DW's picture

The comment section on youtube is normaly like the elephant graveyard in The Lion King. You don't go there, Simba. ;)

I really like the simplicity of it. The wife and I even tested its usefullness in the showers last night. Though cramped it can work in small spaces too.

Regards

Daniel

Heath White
Heath White's picture

Nice video -- simple and effective defense against a common attack.  Here's a suggestion: if the woman has trouble raising her arm against the man's strength, she can just bend her arm at the elbow, grab her own hand, and then it is two versus one.

Paul_D
Paul_D's picture

Why doesn't she just it him with her free hand?

Tau
Tau's picture

Thanks for posting this. As pragmatically-minded martial artists we're surely obliged to stay current with threats and what we teach. This does seem a bizarre attack to me. For where did you get your information on this being the most common attack, please?

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Paul_D wrote:
Why doesn't she just it him with her free hand?

There is hitting with the free hand in the video. It’s done after the escape, but she could also hit before and during as well as after. I don’t think Noah is suggesting otherwise, it’s just that the video was focusing on the grip escape. The strike alone may not be enough, so I can see why the escape was emphasised.

Tau wrote:
This does seem a bizarre attack to me.

Viewed in the context of a verbal assault and attempt to intimidate it makes perfect sense. It keeps the person close in the way a grip lower down the arm would not. It’s also relatively low key and would allow an abuser to assert “authority” and gain compliance in a way that is less likely to draw the attention of third parties. I would be a bizarre thing to do in the middle of an all out physical assault. However, I can see how it would be common accompaniment to intimidation. As to whether it would be the number 1 attack I would not know without seeing the statistics.

Tau wrote:
For where did you get your information on this being the most common attack, please?

I too would be interested in the specific source. There are quite a few bodies that produce crime stats (government, police, victim support groups, etc) and it’s always good to know the source.

All the best,

Iain

Wastelander
Wastelander's picture

The strikes can absolutely be used at any time. As for the attack, itself, I agree that when I first read about it, I thought it was strange, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to the same conclusions Iain did. It's been a few years since I read that report--2014ish, I believe--but it was either the UK government, or police, that formulated the report. I wish I had saved a copy (which I may have, but I haven't been able to find it).

Marc
Marc's picture

I like that. It is a simple gross motor movement that is similar to the likely flinch response.

The flinch response in this case would supposedly be to move sideways and try to pull the arm out of the holding hand. It might work but goes against the grip of the four fingers. Raising the arm on the inside is only a slight modification of that escape but it improves it by going against the thumb.

Another modification is to keep facing the attacker, which makes you stronger because you work with your arms in front of your body, and it allows for a follow-up technique.

Thanks for sharing. Take care,

Marc  

Paul_D
Paul_D's picture

Iain Abernethy wrote:
There is hitting with the free hand in the video. It’s done after the escape, but she could also hit before and during as well as after. I don’t think Noah is suggesting otherwise, it’s just that the video was focusing on the grip escape. The strike alone may not be enough, so I can see why the escape was emphasised.

Yes, that's what I was getting at.  Everytime I see a MA do an eascpe they always show the strike after the esacpe, and that just seems back to front to me.  Strike to faciliate the escpe, not esacpe to facilitate the strike.

I take the point that the video is focussing on the esacpe though.

MattG
MattG's picture

Shouldn't the criminal be grabbing the woman's left arm? Its a closer and more natural target (we often touch the nearest arm when we want to get someone's attention, or grab them by the nearest elbow if we want to guide/force them to walk somwhere).

I think the technique would work either way, but if it is your left arm that is grabbed by the criminal's right hand that leaves you on the inside after the gedan.

Thanks for this technique. It's very relevant to me as I'm studying gekisai these past few weeks.

AllyWhytock
AllyWhytock's picture

The crime statistics are sad yet informative. The interesting and tragic thing is that in the UK and in particular the Scottish statistics, most cases the assailant is known to the female victim. 1999 to 2015 = 191 female murders of which 85% knew their killer.

dhogsette
dhogsette's picture

I really like this application. Thanks for posting. I also agree that the strike prior to any release technique is so important. In my own teaching and training, I notice that sometimes I tend to forget about that initial strike, and recently, I've made it a point to emphasize the strike before the release. I think I do a good job of discussing and drilling "the blow before the throw," but recently I've tried to also emphasize and drill the strike before the release. I've noticed that some students, particulalry weaker students, be they male or female, get frustrated quickly and demoralized if a release doesn't work. But, if we drill the strike before-hand, they tend to develop more confidence in working the release.

Best,

David