Snapping Twig

Purple Belt Technique

Snapping Twig is designed for someone coming at us with a front, left hand chest push. Taking the angle of least resistance, we step back with our left foot to 6 o’clock into a right neutral bow while executing a right inward palm strike to the outside of the opponent’s left elbow, simultaneous with a left palm strike to the inside of the opponent’s left wrist. The strike creates a fulcrum, which will break the opponent’s elbow. The elbow break will also control the opponent’s width, which means that the attacker will not be able to turn into you and deliver a right punch with his free hand. At this point, we execute a frictional pull with our right hand (hooking over the opponent’s left arm and pulling it down past our right hip) while simultaneously delivering a left thrusting handsword to the opponent’s throat while shifting into a left forward bow to maximize torque. As we pivot back into our right neutral bow, we hit the opponent with a diagonal right raking hammer fist to the nose, while push-dragging forward to 12 o’clock and finishing with a right elbow sandwich to the opponent’s head.

Here is something cool to experiment with. Let us assume that after delivering the left handsword to the opponent’s throat, the opponent backs up (thereby leaving your raking hammer fist out of reach). If that is the case, try doing a left front crossover at the same time that you deliver the right raking hammer fist. As you continue on from that point in the technique, try delivering a right front kick to the opponent’s knee, and then finish, of course, with the right elbow sandwich.

Have fun!

Clipping the Storm

Green Belt Technique

This technique is designed for someone coming at you with a right step-through thrusting club attack, most typically via the short end of the club. Commencing in a left neutral bow, we take a quick step off to 11 o’clock while simultaneously delivering a left handsword to the outside of the opponent’s forearm (the right hand is now cocked at our right ear). Make no mistake about it. The initial left handsword, if executed correctly, will not only “deaden” the opponent’s attacking arm and cause extreme pain, but it should also cause him to drop the club. It will also put weight on the opponent’s feet, thereby canceling his height zone. If he still has a hold of the club at the point, the immediate follow-up move is a right inward handsword, preferably to the opponent’s bicep, not the wrist. This shot hurts even thinking about it, and I have never had an uki to date still be able to hold the club after that shot. Note that as we deliver the right inward handsword, we should also pivot into a left forward bow as we do it, to maximize our potential power on the handsword through utilization of torque. We then finish with a left outward handsword to the opponent’s throat while simultaneously sliding our right foot into a right cat stance, followed by a right heelpalm strike to the opponent’s chin as we step behind the opponent’s right leg into a right neutral bow.

Clipping the Storm is also contained in Long Form 6. In the form version, we have a different starting point than we do in the written version, the latter as I mentioned, which starts in a left neutral bow. In Long Form 6, however, Clipping the Storm comes directly after finishing the end of Unfurling Lance on the left side, which finishes with a left side kick to the attacker’s left knee and a left inward handsword to the right side of the opponent’s neck. To see Clipping the Storm from that starting point, and to see the master of his craft perform this technique, I highly recommend you visit the following link:

http://www.ltatum.com/movies/Week35/TipOfTheWeekMedW35.html

Deflecting Hammer

Yellow Belt Technique

This technique was designed for someone executing a right front thrust kick towards our ribs as we start in a right neutral bow. As we shuffle back, we simultaneously deflect the kick with a right downward block, while continuing that line right into a shuffle forward and right inward elbow to the opponent’s face as we check the opponent’s right arm with our left hand. In other words, be sure to continue the circle (don’t stop the motion) from your downward block to the right inward elbow. Note that using a traditional horizontal downward block to the opponent’s kick can cause injury to our arm depending on the force of the kick, and we also run the risk of hyperextending our elbow. Furthermore, we lose economy of motion when a horizontal downward block is employed. The downward block should be done with a closed fist (hence the name Deflecting HAMMER). Using a downward parry increases the risk of injury to our fingers.

Another suggestion to improve economy of motion and the continuous flow of the right inward elbow strike is to shuffle back to 6 o’clock. Stepping off-line to 7:30 reduces borrowed force from the opponent’s kick, and the opponent will no longer “land” right into the elbow strike as he plants forward from the right thrust front kick. Also since Deflecting Hammer is taught for Yellow Belt level, stepping back to 6 o’clock is very conducive for beginners to learn and follows the same footwork patterns as other beginner techniques whereby you step away from the attack and utilize your dominant (right) side.

Gripping Talon

Blue Belt Technique

This technique works for someone grabbing our right wrist with his/her left hand (hence, a direct wrist grab). Again, the hand that we worry most about would be the opponent’s free hand, which in this case, would be the right hand. As such, what we want to do in this technique is counteract that free right hand so that we don’t get hit with a punch.

While many Kenpoists teach and practice this technique for a static grab (that is, someone just grabs our wrist and stands there), in reality, this is not realistic. The catalyst in this technique is a wrist grab followed by a pull forward.

Our immediate response is to rotate our wrist outward, while moving our left hand under the opponent’s grabbing hand. At the same time, our left hand grabs the opponent’s right wrist and pulls down (height cancellation by putting weight on the opponent’s feet) as we simultaneously step in with our right foot into a right neutral bow and execute a right hammerfist strike to the opponent’s groin. By stepping forward with our right foot, we are taking an angle of least resistance, assuming a non-static attack. Also, make sure as you strike with the hammerfist to the groin that the opponent’s left arm is against our chest (could be an elbow break), thereby further canceling the opponent’s width and ensuring that the attacker cannot collapse his left elbow directly into our chest if that gap is available.

A good graft at this point would be to go directly into Crossing Talon, albeit on the opposite side as taught in the Orange Belt technique curriculum. Should we choose to continue on with Gripping Talon, the next part of the move calls for a right inward elbow to the opponent’s left ribs, followed by a right outward elbow to the right ribs. This elbow pattern is the same as that executed in Triggered Salute (Orange Belt technique), except that we are now working the outside of the opponent’s body. Should the opponent drop considerably from the initial groin shot, we can skip the elbow strikes (instead of trying to force them into the targets) and just continue on with the technique at that point. In any case, after the elbow strikes, we then do a left rear crossover towards 1:30 as we simultaneously execute a right back knuckle strike to the opponent’s left ribs. We the step our right foot to 1:30 as we land into a right reverse bow, which acts as a buckle to the opponent’s left leg. In-sync with the right planting foot, we add a right looping wrist strike to the opponent’s right side of the neck. This sets up the opponent’s head for the right knee strike. After the knee, we add in a right heel-palm to break the opponent’s left elbow at the same time that we plant into a right front cross-over, and then continue on into our standard cover out.

Thrusting Prongs

Orange Belt Technique

This technique works for a front bear hug with our arms pinned. That stated, it is important to learn to respond to the low bear hug as the opponent is coming forward, rather than after the bear hug has been fully applied.

As the opponent attempts the bear hug, we step back with our right foot into a left forward bow, taking an angle of least resistance. The forward bow provides the bracing angle that prevents the opponent from driving us back and taking us to the ground. Note that a forward bow provides the brace for a low tackle, whereas a neutral bow provides the brace for a high tackle (e.g., Striking Serpent’s Head). At the same time that we step back, we drive our thumbs up to the opponent’s bladder or groin area. When doing so, be sure to place our thumbs firmly against our fists to give the thumbs support and back-up mass for the strikes. Also, make sure that you move your arms directly from point of origin. This will ensure that we are able to effectively and efficiently get to the bladder or groin area with our thumbs. The bladder shot will create some distance for the next move.

After the bladder shot, our left hand traps the opponent’s right arm as we deliver a right knee to the opponent’s groin. The trap cancels the opponent’s width and also prevents the opponent’s right arm from going up and hitting our face as he reacts to the knee kick we deliver to the groin. With our right knee still in the air, we immediately deliver a right side kick to the opponent’s left knee or shin, which further cancels his width.

We then finish with a right inward elbow to the opponent’s head. Note that Thrusting Prongs is the inside version of Gift of Destruction where both techniques utilize a break to the opponent’s elbow followed by a right inward elbow.

Triggered Salute

Orange Belt Technique

This technique is designed for a front, right hand direct push to our left shoulder. We should note that direct shoulder to shoulder pushes, such as Triggered Salute, force us to work on the inside of the opponent’s body and arm. As the opponent pushes, take an angle of least resistance to help absorb the force of the push. If we “fight” the push, we will find ourselves getting shoved backward quite hard, which may enable the opponent to follow-up with extra strikes if we are not careful.

That stated, there are two key angles of least resistance for this type of attack: (1) is to ride the force of the push (borrowed force) by stepping our right foot forward towards 12 o’clock and (2) is to borrow the force by stepping back with our left foot into a right neutral bow. Whichever angle of least resistance we take (note that #1 is the most commonly taught method), be sure to move from point of origin and simultaneously pin the opponent’s right hand with our left hand while coming up the blind side of the opponent so that he can’t see our right heel palm strike to the jaw or chin.

Also, be sure to simultaneously check the opponent’s right knee with our right knee to give the opponent an angle of disturbance. This knee check is a positional check. The key here is to get the hand check, heel palm, and knee check to work simultaneously. Since we are always concerned about height, width, and depth, let’s examine how these are cancelled in Triggered Salute.

The initial heel palm will raise the opponent up on his toes (height cancellation), which prevents any type of counter knee or kick. The width is also controlled because the opponent’s free (left) hand cannot reach as the heel palm is executed. Depth is also cancelled because there is weight on the back leg, thereby preventing the opponent from being able to move forward or backwards. Should we not make good contact with the heel palm, the next move involves a horizontal crane elbow break to the opponent’s right arm (although I often see this taught as a bicep strike by stunning the arm downward), which further controls the opponent’s width and his ability to retaliate with the free (left) arm. We then hit on the third point on the circle, specifically the right inward elbow strike to the solar plexus. The outward elbow that follows further controls the opponent’s width. From that elbow, we execute a right back knuckle strike to the kidney and/or ribs and follow through with a right uppercut strike to the opponent’s chin.

Clutching Feathers

Orange Belt Technique

This technique works for someone grabbing our hair with his left hand. As mentioned in previous blog techniques, our first consideration when someone is grabbing us is typically the opponent's free hand, or the one that isn't grabbing us. Just as important is to make sure that we pin the hand that is grabbing us. If we neglect the importance of the pin as someone grabs our hair, and proceed by simply trying to knock it off, we will likely lose a good chunk of it. Therefore, in Clutching Feathers, we pin the opponent's left grabbing hand with our left hand and step back with our left foot into a right neutral bow to get away from the opponent's free (right) hand which could potentially punch us. This, of course, assumes that the environment allows us to step back. The pin and step back will put the opponent on an angle of disturbance, as his height and width will be controlled momentarily. In sync with the pin and step back, we strike with a right middle knucke shot to the lymph nodes underneath the opponent's left armpit.

A few noteworthy points about the middle knuckle strike: (1) this is a specialized weapon aimed at hitting a specific target. If a straight vertical thrust punch were to be used instead of the right middle knuckle strike, it wouldn't be able to penetrate the nerves in the armpit which facilitate the release of the opponent's grabbing hand to our hair (2) the middle knuckle strike to the lymph nodes is a THRUSTING strike as opposed to a SNAPPING ONE. The idea is to thrust our middle knuckle strike right into the attacker's lymph nodes (3) the middle knuckle strike will cancel the opponent's height by raising him up on his toes (thus preventing any type of a counter knee or kick attack); this in turn, will aid in the width cancellation which means that the opponent will be unable to counter with his free (right) hand because he is up on his toes; the depth is cancelled as well.

So what do we want to do when someone grabs our hair? Pin the opponent's hand that is grabbing us to save our hair, and get away from the opponent's other arm. Just as important is to cause injury to the attacker so that we can safely escape from the encounter.

Lone Kimono

Orange Belt Technique

Lone Kimono is one of my favorite Kenpo self-defense techniques. It works for someone grabbing our lapel with his left hand. When someone grabs us this way, our first consideration should be the opponent's free hand, which in this case would be his right arm since a grab is often followed up with a punch. Since the environment allows us to step back, we do so with our left leg while simultaneously pinning the opponent's left grabbing hand. Note that by stepping back, we are controlling the opponent's height zone because of the weight on his left (front) leg, thereby eliminating the possibility of the opponent being able to kick or knee us with either leg. The width is also canceled which means that momentarily the opponent will not be able to punch us with his free (right) hand. Finally, the depth is also controlled since the opponent is unable to move forward or backward effectively.

After pinning the opponent's left grabbing hand, and then stepping back with our left foot to get away from the opponent's free hand, we immediately execute a right upward break to the opponent's left elbow. This elbow break also controls the opponent's height by raising the attacker up on his toes, and controls the width by preventing any type of counter punch from the opponent. After breaking the opponent's left elbow, we then rake the arm diagonally down which could possibly work as an additional elbow break, but will control the opponent's depth and width. We then compliment the angle of the opponent's left arm and finish with a hand sword to the neck.

If the environment did not allow us to step back (because of, say, a wall behind us), we could front ball kick the opponent's right knee and force him to step back (similar to Conquering Shield). Why this option? Because again, since the opponent's free hand is our greatest concern, this kick would turn the opponent's right shoulder away from us, thus canceling the width of the opponent which would prevent him from punching us with his right hand.

Spiraling Twig

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.

Encounter With Danger

Green Belt Technique

This technique works when we have been pushed hard from the front and are falling backwards as a result. To prevent our head from hitting the ground on impact, we have our rear end hit the ground first, and both of our hands slap the ground to absorb the shock. Hence, to absorb the shock, we take the angle of least resistance and go with the push. We then immediately counter with a modified side kick to the groin at the same time that our hands slap the ground. If that kick doesn’t drive the opponent back enough to end the confrontation, we then role onto our left side and execute a right side kick to the opponent’s body.

Obscure Claws

Green Belt Technique

This technique is designed where an attacker attempts a rear grab to our right shoulder and pulls us back. The angle of least resistance, then, is to borrow that force and go with it by stepping back with our right foot to a left neutral bow as we claw the opponent’s face with both hands. The first claw will cancel the opponent’s height and width and our forearm and shoulder will act as a check as we do the initial step back. After the double claws to the face, if the opponent is still holding on, we can proceed by stepping forward with the right foot to a right forward bow as we execute the elbow break to the opponent’s arm.

Twirling Wings

Purple Belt Technique

This self-defense technique is for a rear two-hand choke to our throat while the opponent is pulling us back. As such, the angle of least resistance is to go with the momentum driving us back. As we do, we drop our left foot back to approximately 5 o’clock, as we end up pivoting to a forward bow with a left vertical outward block to the opponent’s left arm to clear it, followed immediately by a right inward horizontal elbow to the attacker’s ribs. We then pivot out of the forward bow as we execute a left inward horizontal elbow to the ribs and/or solar plexus. The issue, however, that many Kenpoists don’t address is the lack of the pin. If, when we are being choked and pulled back we do not pin, it is possible for the opponent’s left arm to hit our face either by accident or intentionally, which could cause us injury and potentially check our width and depth since we are turning into the left hand. As a result, this technique is more effective when we pin the opponent’s left hand with our right hand. Why pin specifically the opponent’s left hand? Because it is best to check the opponent’s arm that we are moving into. There is no need to check the hand of the opponent that we are moving away from. Furthermore, if we pin the opponent’s hand tightly, it is possible to break the elbow and/or wrist of the opponent as we take the angle of least resistance as we are being pulled back. The technique is called Twirling Wings because of the figure eight type pattern with our two elbows.

Short summary: PIN the opponent’s left hand as we step back!!!

Delayed Sword

Yellow Belt Technique

Delayed Sword is a self-defense technique taught off a front, right hand lapel grab. The catalyst is a grab, followed by a shove. Therefore, the initial step back is your angle of least resistance assuming a non-static attack.

Many American Kenpo instructors teach the technique by stepping back with the left foot and executing a right inward strike to the attacker’s right wrist or bicep while the left hand is checking at solar plexus level as a precautionary check. The problem with this approach is that they are omitting the importance of pinning the hand the grabs. The pin and step back is used to cancel the opponent’s height, width, and depth. Also, if you don’t pin the hand that grabs, if the opponent lets go, it will cancel most of your action. After the pin, step back, and inward strike, the next move is a front kick to the opponent’s groin, which acts as a simultaneous width and depth check. The technique concludes by using marriage of gravity as you execute a right handsword to the opponent’s neck, being sure to cut diagonally down to check height, width, and depth zones.

Delayed Sword teaches students how to use their strong side forward (which is important in the early stages of learning) and how to create and gauge distance. Should the first inward strike not cancel the opponent’s width, and the attacker counters with a left punch, it is possible to graft into Sword of Destruction. Alternatively, if the opponent tries to tackle us after the inward strike, we can graft into, say, Striking Serpent’s Head or Intercepting the Ram.