Ways of Escape

Like a lot of fighting systems, Chongdo has a range of techniques that allow students to escape from a variety of aggressive holds, grabs, chokes, and submission locks. In the street, these types of techniques do not occur very often (versus grappling or punching), but provide a good range of options for the most popular hold-style attacks that exist.

One inconvenient problem with teaching specific escapes to specific counters is that holds come and go. A technique popular today is replaced by one never quite seen before, and tomorrow’s trendy hold technique is replaced by one from decades ago. Holds of various kinds really are often fashionable, and there’s never any guarantee that a student won’t encounter a new one at some point—to his peril.

Chongdo provides an added approach that helps mitigate that risk. As well as teaching a variety of escapes to about 30 common holds (ranging from Greco-Roman wrestling to Judo to clinching to common battery-style attacks), we also provide eight tactics that allow students to respond on the fly to new types of holds or holds not otherwise covered.

The basic escape tactic is evasion, in which the student (in black shirt) simply snatches his hand, wrist, neck, or other limb or joint clear. This is the most simple to do, but does require the most amount of time—that is, the student needs time to identify the motion, predict the target, decide on evasion, and then move the hand clear. In addition to simplicity, it’s other advantages include the ability to step further away to avoid trouble, or step forward and intercept the next move with a counterattack.
Another tactic is timing, in which the student identifies the grab just as it occurs. Before the attacker can secure or reinforce the hold, the student will pull his hand clear. This is very commonly done against a variety of hand-wrapping holds, in which the attacker grabs you with one hand, and then transitions his grip by either changing hands or repositioning the arm. In fact, that transition represents the weakest point of the attacker’s hold: but if the student delays, it becomes a very strong hold indeed. As a result, the student twists his hand free right during that transition.
If the attacker successfully grabs hold before the student can evade or slip out of the hold, the student should instantly respond with a direct strike. Rather than risk a complex or exotic counter-technique to the attacker’s hold, the student simply strikes the attacker hard into the face or throat. A powerful shot like this can stop the attack a second before it becomes a clinch or takedown, and takes less than 0.5 seconds to execute. If your own training program contains any striking techniques whatsoever, you can incorporate this tactic into your own training immediately and successfully.
If the attacker is positioned outside or is at length from the student, it may be difficult to strike or kick him. However, in such cases, there is a great opportunity to apply disadvantage, in which the student will step slightly toward the direction of the attacker’s pull, and then counter-lock the wrist, hyperflex it, or bend the fingers back. In this example, the student rotates the attacker’s wrist to weaken his hold. Rather than try a risky throw or exotic flipping technique, the Chongdo student will more likely strike the face or kick the shin and rake downward. At closer ranges, an elbow is effective.
Equally effective is imbalance, in which the student trips, reaps, or pushes the attacker over a leg or two. In this case, the attacker has grabbed the arm and is attempting to turn him into a punch. The student steps into the turn, steps behind the attacker’s legs, and uses his hip to violently check the attacker over that leg. At this point, the attacker can either let go and fall, or will attempt to hang on; if the latter, the student simply turns counter-clockwise to drive the attacker into the ground, landing in a very dominant grappling position next to the attacker’s head.
Often neglected is the simple concept of environment, in which the student uses something nearby to escape a stronger hold. In this photo, the student and attacker are near a wall; as the attacker applies the hold, the student simple drives the attacker’s wrist and knuckles into the wall. He could also rake the knuckles down brick, push the elbow through plate glass, or swing his wrist into a column or sharp edge. While clinching, the student can drive the attacker’s head back into a wall, or while grappling use a nearby object as a weapon or lever.
A smarter attacker may position his body to prevent many of these tricks, and he may move fast. The student may opt to use distraction, in order to interrupt the attacker’s focus or orientation. For example, the student may drive a finger into the attacker’s eye, pop the attacker’s ear or nose, or (in this case) gag him with a shot to the throat. Unlike a direct strike, the intent is not to cause injury (which might be hard with limited reach or range), but to distract him. As he hits the attacker’s throat, he can then try one of the previous six strategies more effectively while the attacker is reacting to the throat shot.
A very complicated hold or submission technique may prevent easy escape. However, the attacker in these cases is usually tied up as well. The student waits until the attacker releases something or attempts to reposition, using this transition time to effect and escape. In this simple case, the attacker has toppled the student and pinned his arms down while maintaining side control. The student knows that the attacker can apply a mount if he tries to bring his legs in as a weapon, so he simply pauses. When the attacker raises a fist to strike downward, the student drives palm upward into the attacker’s jaw to throw him to the side.

Not all of these approaches are intuitive to describe, but become obvious with simple demonstration and experimentation. Your own system or style may employ variations on all these; if not, it takes little effort to incorporate all of these and use them with your own techniques.