Purple Belt Technique
This technique, like Crashing Wings in the Orange Belt manual, is for a rear bear hug with our arms free. There is an important distinction, however, between these two techniques, which is often neglected or unknown to many Kenpoists. The difference lies in the position of the opponent’s hands that are grabbing you. In Spiraling Twig, the opponent’s hands are too high to be able to crash down with the elbows as in Crashing Wings, so instead we use our middle knuckle strikes to the center of the opponent’s hand. In both techniques, however, it is paramount that we drop our weight while stepping out to 3 o’clock to cancel the height of the opponent, thereby minimizing the possibility that the attacker will be able to lift us up and potentially throw us.
After the middle knuckle strikes, and the crash down with our elbows on the opponent’s arms, we then grab the hand of the opponent with our two thumbs. As we proceed by stepping out with our left foot, we simultaneously break the opponent’s right elbow with our right elbow, which will also cancel the opponent’s width. As we continue our stepping and apply the wrist lock while in a left forward bow, be sure to point the opponent’s fingers towards his head, and then immediately turn the wrist on a 45 degree angle to apply the break. We then keep the pressure on the opponent’s wrist as we front instep kick the mid-section as he is bent over, while your right stiff arm lifting back knuckle is in orbit which immediately strikes the opponent’s face.
