My background is in Muay Thai and boxing, but I've been curious about certain aspects of Korean arts with joint-locking, like Hapkido or Kuk Sool. Some friends of mine who used to train in similar styles (can't keep track of all the goofy spin-offs) like that have shown me some cool wrist and elbow locks that well, just plain work. They're painful and can be damaging, hard to escape from just using muscle, and difficult to counter with strikes if they're doing it from the correct angle. So from a purely mechanical perspective they are very effective.
What's lacking, it seems, is a realistic way to actually set this up on an opponent (like myself) who moves in and out quickly and doesn't allow his limbs to be grabbed. But I think there's got to be some way to incorporate or train these in a more... competitive or alive setting, right? Has anyone tried doing any locks from overhooks or the clinch, or maybe even after slipping a sloppy punch? I suppose I could just try in sparring, but if it failed I'd look like an idiot, and if it worked someone would probably get annoyed.
The most obvious application, the only one I've seen, was not in a ring fight or even against a competent opponent, but against some aggressive drunk grabbing another guy in a bar. It was that hold where the lockee's elbow is facing upward, and the locker tucks the elbow into his armpit and simply puts weight on it. It worked but I didn't see any followthrough because the bouncer showed up within seconds and made the "attacker" (it was all pretty mild) leave.
Hey, I can see why that would be useful, and there's less risk of jail or lawsuits with a compliance hold compared to knocking someone out (potential risk of death, if there's concrete or brick flooring or if alcohol is involved) or crippling someone's knees with low kicks.
But other than that kind of scenario, is there anything worthwhile in standing joint-locks? Against a highly trained fighter it seems like a high-risk/low-reward endeavor compared to striking and takedowns, and it's never been done to my knowledge in pro MMA, but then again neither had jumping front kicks, wall kicks or spinning hook kicks until relatively recently... And Chonan's flying scissor heelhook makes me think just about anything can work 0.000001% of the time ;) .
What's lacking, it seems, is a realistic way to actually set this up on an opponent (like myself) who moves in and out quickly and doesn't allow his limbs to be grabbed. But I think there's got to be some way to incorporate or train these in a more... competitive or alive setting, right? Has anyone tried doing any locks from overhooks or the clinch, or maybe even after slipping a sloppy punch? I suppose I could just try in sparring, but if it failed I'd look like an idiot, and if it worked someone would probably get annoyed.
The most obvious application, the only one I've seen, was not in a ring fight or even against a competent opponent, but against some aggressive drunk grabbing another guy in a bar. It was that hold where the lockee's elbow is facing upward, and the locker tucks the elbow into his armpit and simply puts weight on it. It worked but I didn't see any followthrough because the bouncer showed up within seconds and made the "attacker" (it was all pretty mild) leave.
Hey, I can see why that would be useful, and there's less risk of jail or lawsuits with a compliance hold compared to knocking someone out (potential risk of death, if there's concrete or brick flooring or if alcohol is involved) or crippling someone's knees with low kicks.
But other than that kind of scenario, is there anything worthwhile in standing joint-locks? Against a highly trained fighter it seems like a high-risk/low-reward endeavor compared to striking and takedowns, and it's never been done to my knowledge in pro MMA, but then again neither had jumping front kicks, wall kicks or spinning hook kicks until relatively recently... And Chonan's flying scissor heelhook makes me think just about anything can work 0.000001% of the time ;) .