Escaping A Wrist Grab
The wrist grab is one of the most common offensive grabs from the front. It is also one of the easiest to counter and to guard against. The most important thing to remember when dealing with any grab is where the grab is weak. Where is this grab most easily assailable? For the wrist grab, that location is where the thumb meets the forefinger. This location is inherently weaker than the rest of the grab because this point relies solely on the strength of the attacker’s grip. The rest of the grab has solid hand behind it and so is much harder to escape.Knowing that the thumb-forefinger intersection is the weakest point of a wrist grab allows us to attack that location in order to escape. There are many ways to go about doing this and several will be discussed.
The easiest way to escape from a wrist grab is to make a big circle with your arm. When I say make a circle what I mean is to move your arm as though it was a propeller blade in front of you. This move must be done quickly and with force on your part. The circle should be made with the entire arm, not just the wrist or the forearm or the elbow joint. This circle originates in the shoulder and uses the entire arm. In this manner, the attacker’s arm literally flies off. I have taught this move to quite a few people and the most common mistake is to not do it full force and to not use the entire arm. When the person being grabbed does not begin the circle at the shoulder but rather tries to pull against the grab, that person puts herself in jeopardy. This move will fail if you do not circle your entire arm, because if you attempt to use the elbow joint then your attacker’s strength can cancel the move. On the other hand, I have been gripping a very small 8 year-old’s wrist as hard as I could and had my grip thrown off by this move when properly executed. Basically just think of this move as a propeller. Keep the arm straight and rotate from the shoulder. This move is also more effective if you do it very suddenly. See photos 1-4 below
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A second way of removing your wrist from the attacker’s grasp is to simply pull it loose. However, I do not mean that you should pull against him. The instinct to pull away when somebody grabs you is not a very good one. Most times when I first tell people to get their wrist free they begin to pull in the opposite direction of me. This does NOT work. In doing so, the victim has basically made the fight one of strength, a fight she will invariably lose. Instead, when I say pull your arm free I mean break out of the finger-thumb intersection. The first thing to do is locate the finger thumb intersection. Sometimes it will be underneath your wrist, sometimes on the side and sometimes on top. Once you have determined where the intersection is you can break free by turning your hand so that the thumb is facing the intersection. This is the part of the hand used in a “ridge hand” strike. Next, open you hand as wide as you can. This makes the top of your wrist much stronger and also wider. Finally, as quickly and powerfully as you can, pull the wrist out through the intersection between the thumb and forefinger. (See photos 5-7) This is to be immediately followed with a strike. I prefer a knife hand strike to the throat. This stuns the opponent enough to allow you to run.
If you find yourself having difficulty doing anything to get your wrist free then try performing a strike to distract him before executing the move. A kick to the shins, knee to the groin, or even a good stomp on the toes might be enough of a distraction to allow you to free your arm. Also, if you find that in the situation you can’t remember any moves to get away because your scared then just remember to attack the grab where it is weakest. By attacking the finger thumb intersection I have found that there is still a good probability of success in escaping a wrist lock regardless of previous martial arts experience.
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Dan Boyden is 17 years old and has been training for two years in Traditional Korean Hapkido. His current rank is Red/Black but is to be tested for his first degree Black Belt in the very near future.
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