Attacking Vital Points when Grappling

In the martial arts world, when people talk about vital points they usually refer to striking vital points using different weapons such as the fingers, single knuckles, etc. A good method which can be used when grappling is to press the vital points to cause pain and to momentarily draw attention away from a specific attack.

Imagine you are ground fighting with your opponent, and you are in a cross arm bar (juji gatame) position, except for the fact that your opponent has his arms folded and you are finding it hard to straighten them. Then you attack a vital point on his/her wrist by pressing hard on the inside middle part of the wrist exactly where all the veins and nerves are. This will create pain in the wrist of your opponent who’s attention will then be drawn to that pain, and away from trying to keep his/her arms bent to defend the arm bar, allowing you the opportunity to quickly straighten his/her arm when they are not thinking about it, and gain the victory. Or how about this scenario. You have gained the back of your opponent and have hooked your feet around the inside of his/her thighs and are looking to apply a rear naked choke (Hadaka jime) but your opponent is defending well by tucking his chin in not allowing you to feed your arm round his neck. Using your elbow, you press at a vital point just underneath his shoulder blade hard, which will cause pain to your opponent, who shall thrust his/her chest forward to relieve that pain, and shall also raise his/her chin slightly, allowing you to quickly pass your arm round the throat then neck. You then apply the choke and gain the submission.

These are just two examples of how vital points can be used in grappling as well as when striking. Experiment yourself with a partner from different positions. From the mount, side mount, guard, an ankle lock position or anywhere else. Even from standing positions, when your opponent resists techniques or throws, press vital points on his/her body in order to draw attention to the pain and away from resisting the technique, which should leave you able to apply what you are trying to do.

Marks

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