When I first walked into my first Dojang (Korean Martial Arts Training Facility), it was to look at the art of Hapkido. I had never heard of it. Mind you I was 12 and this was the early 90’s, so Karate, Taekwondo, and Kung Fu owned the popularity contest in the Martial Arts world. These aforementioned arts were synonymous with kicking and striking. That wasn’t what I was staring at and drooling over as I walked into the Dojang while the Hapkido class was training. I saw students contorting and gruesomely twisting every joint in the body, sometimes many joints at once. The look of pure terror and pain on the student’s faces while they succumb to each joint lock, followed by the grin of knowledge being gained in your favor, was mystifying. I was hooked instantly.

Over the years, more so in recent years, I’ve heard people state that Joint locks are useless in a “real” fight. In my opinion, this statement and misconception has ramped up since the popularity of MMA. It’s not hard to understand why. Watch most any fight and you’ll see many punches and kicks and some ground fighting in which the elbow is the primary joint that gets locked and the rest is quite rare. Another place this statement gets thrown around is from practitioners of styles that don’t spend much, if any, time on joint locks. They state that joint locks are far too difficult, and therefore not useful, to apply in a “real” fight. Lastly, this misconception has grown due to practitioners resisting 100% while asking someone to do a joint lock, and the joint lock typically failing. Tell that same person that you will prove that punches are useless, and proceed to tell them what punch to throw, when to throw it, and what part of the body they plan to hit, and then step out of way when they throw it. It’s the same scenario. When you know what’s coming and focus all of your energy on resisting, it becomes very easy to defend. That has nothing to do with a realistic situation of self-defense.

Generally speaking, when most state that joint locks aren’t useful, they tend to point out wrist locks and finger locks. It’s easy to understand why practitioners believe joint locks don’t work if you watch online videos of willing participants casually grabbing a wrist or lapel, waiting for the defender to neatly apply the joint lock without resistance. This is known as “compliance training”. It’s a needed way to train with joint locks and the easiest way to demonstrate them, but not necessarily the most realistic looking to the untrained viewer.

The fault in this misconception that joint locks aren’t useful lays in the word “real” in regards to a real fight. When I say the word, “fight”, what does it conjure up? Is it two guys in the street throwing punches at each other? That could be true, but that’s not the only time martial arts training comes into play. There are potentially 5 parts to most fights or altercations. Throwing punches is only 1 part of that equation. If that is the only part you look at, then yes, joint locks become considerably less useful to train for that situation. However, that’s the biggest part of the altercation you want to avoid, and joint locks can do just that. Here are each of the 5 parts and how to best prepare for each one:

  1. The buildup. This is the “reason” for the altercation. It could be an argument over who possesses a higher percentage of Neanderthal DNA or a thief/mugger trying to spot their next target. Either way, this is the prevention and awareness portion of an altercation and should be trained by everyone. A vast majority of altercations can be avoided if you understand why these attacks happen and how to deal with them. Physical martial arts training doesn’t apply here aside from maybe understanding distancing, the rest is preparation and avoidance.
  2. The onset. This is an extremely quick, yet important, part of an altercation. This is where joint locks reign supreme. The attacker has initiated with an aggressive motion that will certainly lead to a physical altercation. Possibly a grab on the body, such as the wrist or lapel, to set up a punch or other attack. This is also when the attacker is least suspecting of a joint lock counter as they aren’t in full fight mode and aren’t expecting retaliations just yet. A joint lock at this point can end a fight before it even begins. Punches and kicks at this point are a bad idea as it will certainly decrease your chances of success if you are not the larger, stronger fighter.
  3. The physical fight. This is the result of the altercation if all else fails. Attempting a joint lock at this point is all but futile unless you are a seasoned street fighter with extensive joint lock training. Larger motions are key here. Punches, kicks, take downs are what win this portion, but at a cost. This is where all the physical damage takes place, and blood. Do you want to swap blood with this person? I’m guessing not, but it’s more than a small possibility. This portion of the altercation should be avoided at all cost. Hence the need for joint locks at the onset. Note, this is part where all combat sports reside as both parties are fully engaged and aware they are fighting, hence why you don’t see as many joint locks.
  4. The conclusion. All fun things come to an end. Some fights stop when a person gives up and walks away tending to wounds and bruised ego. Other fights end with outsiders breaking things up. While there are many possible endings, the one you want the most is you holding down the attacker waiting for the police or other help to show up. Unless you are considerably larger than the attacker and can just sit on them, you’re going to need….you guessed it, Joint locks! These controlling techniques can hold an attacker in place until help arrives. Punching and kicking at this point? A quick way to land in jail my friend.
  5. The aftermath. One area that most don’t think about, but really should, is what happens after an altercation. Set aside the issues you deal with if things didn’t go your way, such as being physically injured or having your wallet stolen from you, even those who successfully ward off an attack have to deal with the aftermath. For some, it’s dealing with the legal consequences, but even beyond that is PTSD. While it may be mild in many altercations, it may be debilitating in other situations. If someone was seriously maimed or killed in the altercation, you’ll never forget it and may have serious psychological issues to deal with. Plus, if you got attacked in front of your favorite bar, do you think you’ll ever walk into that bar again without recalling that incident? Not likely. One must take the time to deal with the aftermath properly. For common altercations, simply talking to someone shortly after is a big step. For others in more serious altercations, ongoing therapy sessions are a must. Even our bravest and most skilled warriors, our military and law enforcement, have protocol in place to deal with altercations in their debriefings to help ease the psychological effects of these altercations.

As you can see, joint locks potentially come into play in 2 of the 5 parts of an altercation. Strikes and kicks are just in the 1. Plus, a joint lock during the “onset” portion, may end the altercation without injuries or any of the negatives that come from a physical fight, and you can bypass step 3 and possibly even 4 and 5.

For many years I was under the belief that joint locks, heavily based on pain compliance, wouldn’t work on someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It makes sense that if a technique is based on pain compliance that it wouldn’t work on someone who may not feel pain or have a delayed reaction. That belief was put to the test in my early 30’s at a night club. A heavily intoxicated friend of mine was becoming more and more physical and out of control. His punches to my shoulder early in the night were laughable and just a tap to get my attention. The drunker he got, though, the harder the punches. Eventually I got tired of it and the unnecessary grabbing and loud belligerent yelling. So when he placed his hand on my shoulder with increased aggression, I quietly and subtly applied a wrist lock known as a two-way torque or “S Lock”, as I didn’t want to punch my friend in the middle of a club and cause an issue. In spite of being heavily intoxicated, he dropped like a bag of rocks the second I applied the joint lock. While the bouncer heard the scream of pain, he saw no altercation happening, and ignored the issue. This was the first of a handful of times I’ve had to apply a joint lock to someone that was heavily drunk, and it’s worked every time and no conflict resulted in it as most had no idea what happened. They just realized they ended up on the ground right after doing something stupid, so learned to stop doing stupid things. It was clear to me that joint locks are still a viable option against someone under the influence. I stop short of stating that it would work 100% of the time, but for me, it’s currently at 100%.

Hopefully now, if you were ever suspect of joint locks and their usefulness, you can accept that they do deserve a place in self-defense, and that they can be extremely effective. With that said, one must still understand the positives and negatives of joint locks. I’ve seen schools train joint locks but in a bad way that makes them useless. Casually learning and regurgitating a joint lock against a training partner that
falls perfectly every time for you and never tests you or applies aggressive movements and resistance once you’ve learned the technique is a fast way to give someone a false sense of security. If you’re going
to train joint locks, you must understand them on a deep level and stress test them. Understand positioning when applying the joint lock to protect yourself, or buy time, from an incoming attack and to apply the greatest amount of torque in the most efficient way possible. Understanding how to set up the joint lock or how to soften up an opponent to overcome strength issues. Knowing how to make impromptu adjustments if you hit resistance. Most importantly, knowing when joint locks can be applied. If you believe you can catch a punch being thrown at you at full speed and aggression, and turn it into a wrist lock that throws them across the room…you’ll be in for a rude awakening…and some missing teeth when you wake up. Everything has its limitations, take the time to learn them.

 

I have about 30 Myths and/or Misconceptions read to write about in the coming months or even years, but would love to hear your input! What Myths or Misconceptions have you heard that you would like to know more about? If it’s one of the many I’m currently writing, I can push that to the front of the line to be released!

If it’s not one I had planned on writing, that gives me more things to research and write about! So post in the comments, email me, or message me on social media.

Have issue with my conclusions or something I’ve stated that you don’t believe is correct? Tell me. If I agree, I’ll re-write the article!

The whole point of theses upcoming articles is to pull the curtain back on Martial Arts and get to the truth. I have no problem changing my mind and my articles if I’m proven wrong.