I can remember as a young exponent asking my instructor Harry Baldock how to escape some difficult holds that I had difficulty with as a youngster escaping, especially some of the heavy weight pro wrestlers applied holds that I trained with.

Holds being applied correctly and forcefully are very different to a less than correct application of the same he replied. He added some holds are made to work and prevention is far better and easier than countering.

 

Single hand throat seizure attemptYeilding by parrying back from front on to side on and getting into a side guard position ready to prevent the seizure and counter engage

Initial arm resistance and then shoulder rotation drill

Resistance and yeilding in towards your aggressor, then bending of the elbow joint as part of a resistance and yielding seizure escape

Bending into a cover guard incorporating yielding and resistance as part of making range and positional adjustments to counter engage and affect an escape

Harry drilled me on the use of body mechanics, including joint rotation and limb bending as part of resistance and yielding to escape seizure. However if compromised and finding yourself seized and secured in a hold that is fully restricting, painful, or limb or life-threatening, he gave me the following advice.

There is a huge difference between an unskilled application of any hold and the same hold being applied by someone that is highly skilled and physically capable. He told me physical attributes play a large role in the effectiveness of some holds, as it is difficult for the small combatant to employ some holds on a large combatant, simply as a result of strength, size and reach differentials and it is difficult for a small individual to escape a considerably larger and stronger, highly skilled individual’s holds by other than dirty or deadly means.

Resistance and yielding applies to the counter of wide ranging threat situations with military close quarters combat and close quarters battle proven options. Situations, such as being seized, pushed, pulled or lifted, taken down or thrown down can be effectively countered by the employment of resistance and yielding principles, combined with combative skills.

Resistance and yielding enhance combative offensive and counter-offensive actions employments.

When you consider the enemy does not merely seize his target to demonstrate his physical prowess, but the seizure is usually a means to cause physical harm to his target by moving, decentralizing, seizing, securing and assaulting the target, then resisting the initial movement and momentum followed by the employment of combative skills to neutralise the threat, including the yielding component as well as adjustments will provide primary skills execution capabilities.

Resistance against a downward head pull by neck muscle resistance followed by yielding moving into close to point blank range setting up an escape by counter engagement

Counter enagement phase by means of a chin jab and eye gouging

Arm, shoulder and bodily resistance against double wrists grabs

Yielding using body mechanics to bend the arm at the elbow joint, powered by your body weight to a position horizontally above one of the enemy holdling forearms

Employing verticle downward force with your arm from an above position to cause an escape, which is effected by body mechanics and leverage not just physical strength

He said while some types of escapes from holds may fail in relation to the previous physical attributes differentials, military methods utilising armed escapes or dirty or deadly unarmed combat were far more guaranteed.

Clearly these methods are for battlefield “kill or get killed” close combat only, but they clearly prove the best of battle proven means to neutralize the threat and are primary practices of military CQB/CQC.

Military CQB/CQC armed spike escapes that will neutralise the most skilled grappler in the execution of a submission skill, clearly outlining the most proven means to escape seizure on the battle field

Another battle field example of military means to neutralize decades of unarmed submission skills expertise. Col Applegate told me that such methods of escape would take away any weight advantages and had no respect for the flowing robe brigade techniques.

Weapon disarming components of weapon seizure and redirection.

Positional weapon disarming adjustments using resistance and yielding by means of footing, body and weapon securing hands and arms adjustments to counteract enemy resistance

Harry explained to me what he called kill wrestling, where you were allowed to combine certain unarmed combat dirty tricks with the wrestling strengths of clinching, taking down, and holding and maintaining dominance on the ground, or secured enemy grounding, to enable footing recovery and stomping.

This also included counter wrestling and grappling takedowns. He explained that many of the preventative measures to foil skills such as the applications of wrestling leg shoots and head and arm takedown holds and the like from being effectively applied, provided very important basic components of resisting, holding ground and position, or evading, as part of military unarmed combat and military self defence strategies and combined well with dirty and deadly skills.

He went on to say, after all the wrestling approved sporting variations come from the former more life threatening competitive ancient combat sports and such practices can thank ancient military unarmed combat for their development and origins.

Yeilding by evasion against a legs attack to set up a

counter engagement.

Post leg shoot or tackle evasive yielding cross face and eye gouge, kill wrestling skill

He then demonstrated the different ways a single wrestling or submission hold could be applied in relation to the means of application and individual subject’s proficiency and physical attributes.

Harry explained there was no single textbook escape that would enable escape from the same hold applied by different proponents every time, however the important basic principles of individual self-preservation and risk reduction applied. He then explained the necessity to utilise resistance and yielding against forcefully and correctly applied holds including submission techniques.

The general order of execution was prevention of the technique being applied, or if compromised and secured in a hold, immediate risk reduction, especially with strangulation choking joint locks and bars.

Escapes against a formidable enemy/opponent that had applied forceful technically correct holds, required post immediate employment of risk reduction and self preservation skills, resistance to prevent immediate effects leading to your demise.

Then making yielding adjustments to relieve the effect of pressure of the hold was essential. This could be achieved in various ways in relation to the specific skill, but included adjusting your body positional angle, moving your feet and legs to establish a platform and affinity with the ground.

Then a gradual employment of resistance adjustments and minor yielding including manipulating and rotating hyperextended joints to relieve pressure and enable escape, which would be a natural progression.

He would say a little bit of pain lets you know you are alive, but pressure is another thing as this means something could snap.

Steve Reinsfield a good friend and top wrestler said something very similar once when down at the old Todd Group facility. Pain is your friend, pressure is your enemy.

When I took over in 1986 I continued with Harry’s work and included additional principles and skills development, based on land, air and sea unarmed warfare gross motor skills to increase stability and gross movement to escape specific holds.

Three points of contact with the ground surface, commando crawling, escaping out the rear tunnel, barrel rolling and side folding to a fetal position all played important component roles in specific difficult holds escapes.

Identifying and exploiting enemy application of holds errors by fast mapping continuously and making the necessary adjustments and countermeasures to exploit the error.

Being able to establish a stable and secure ground combat position to employ immediate self preservation skills to reduce immediate risk, combined with resistance and yielding to achieve weapon drawing sourcing and securing improvised weapons and employing them against vulnerable bodily targets, or if unarmed initiating the previous combined with multiple dirty or deadly unarmed skills to target sensitive delicate bodily vitals is all important in the Todd Systems.

Then there was always the reality that to escape some holds you may have to sacrifice the ligaments of a limb as part of your escape and enemy neutralization.

Strangulation and choking expertly applied, may require a combination of small components of self-preservation to maintain the integrity of the airway or reduce the risk of pressure or velocity against the carotid artery.

Arm bars and locks may require multiple small but important components such as joint resistance and rotation, combined with changed bodily position and angling and utilizing your legs as levers and boots to prop or affect a release.

Practicing ground combat, ambush phase bludgeon edged weapon threat counters, requires not only the basic principles of land, air and sea unarmed warfare positional skills and groundcover skills, but also the employment of masking of your intentions, resistance and yielding as part of your disarming and threat neutralization.

Resistance and yielding applies to wide ranging combative objective achievement, including weapon retention, firearms edged and bludgeon weapon disarming and most situations where momentum has been lost or you are in bodily contact, clinch or on the ground in combat.

Locking a weapon after disarming seizure down and away or locking it in close with the muzzle pointing down and away resisting having the weapon taken from you or turned on you combined with yielding by moving with the enemy force to free or redirect the weapon on you, is a dire example of life or death required resistance and yielding

Being able to assess and decide in relation to the specific threat situation you are facing and employ constant fast mapping at real time, identifying changes in threat in relation to escalation, increased force levels or identifying enemy errors or weaknesses that you can exploit as part of your escape and disarm is very important.

Considering there is no one escape that is guaranteed against all enemy applications of the same hold, it is vital that you understand problem-solving by employing sound essential principles, combined with threat specific additional components.

Understanding that pain is your friend as it tells you that you are alive and pressure is your enemy, as something is near breaking point is very important in the escape of some secure and submission holds.

Then understanding how to escape holds against multiple enemy aggressors in situations like being held and hit, or grabbed and stabbed takes the urgency of escaping secure holds to a whole new level.

Resistance and yielding is very important in relation to terrain obstacles and terrain related dangers. By being aware of your immediate surroundings, for example the distance from your rear flanks to any solid back drops, you can employ resistance under rearward forced momentum and then employ direction change by utilising counter engagement and yielding direction change which is referred to in military CQC as pre-object impact forced direction change.

All my military master chief instructors have insisted on training and testing to gain proficiency by means of battle handling exercises conditions with the total factor of confusion and unknown, until you were faced by the threat to ensure in the case of hold escapes the threat is as realistic and close to a combative level as safely possible. This was of course once you had exceeded the basic enabling drills and static practice phases of escaping seizure of both insecure and secure holds.

They all had no time for simple studio type self defence, where the aggressor would simply apply a weak static example of a hold. They would insist on the seizure, securing, restraining, or submissions skills having a definite reason and being employed with sudden aggressive shock action and high force levels.

Holds would involve dynamic, aggressive pushing, pulling, lifting, rapid decentralisation and had at minimum high intensity intimidation and very forceful strongly applied holds.

There is a huge difference between studio cooperative practice and sudden aggressive shock action on unexpected battle handling exercises that promote realistic threat situations with a high level of aggression and intensity.

The reality is immediately you find yourself compromised, resistance and self-preservation kicks in followed by sound assessment and decision-making based on your prior training and extensive practice of escaping serious threat seizure and securing.

Resistance yielding minor adjustments to relieve the effects of pressure and enable you to manipulate your joints as part of an escape or drawing of a weapon are all primary practices.

Using every distraction ounce of cunning, including faking unconsciousness, masking your escape intention actions by verbiage or expected reactions are all escape aids against a formidable proponent.

Importantly psychologically you must be prepared for pain and pressure and understand the requirements to remove yourself from the vulnerable position you find yourself in and neutralise the threat.

In military unarmed combat, solely combat sports or traditional martial arts escapes that are technical, time-consuming and not always effective against superior formidable combatants that may well be of considerable greater physical stature, can get you killed.

However understanding principles of land, air, and sea close quarters combat warfare including resistance yielding, making minor adjustments and enduring pain in the process of employing deadly armed or unarmed escapes or dirty tricks with improvised weapons or by targeting delicate bodily senses and life-support vitals makes escapes against even a formidable adversary that much easier.

I’ve always said that the choking arm is far less likely to achieve its objective if the combatant can hold position, reduce risk and employ an edged weapon to destroy the integrity of the choking arm or remove it.

While the nape of the neck in combat sports is an illegal target and seizing a testicle, squeezing and ripping the scrotum away, stretching or severing the spermatic cord would never be allowed, it certainly is a primary consideration in military close quarters combat escapes once the immediate effect has been neutralized.

It is important that combatants understand they must have knowledge of seizure, securing and submission as in how to combat enemy fighting arts and they must know how to utilise land, air and sea warfare principles combined with resistance and yielding, making minor adjustments to relieve the effects of the specific hold and establish threat neutralization.

Knowing when to resist and when to yield by professional instruction and extensive realistic situational training and good hard practical drills practice will hard target and safe guard combatants. All too often the untrained will resist to the point of self- injury and end up in a situation where they have no control over being moved lifted or decentralized. Combative side falling for example prevents nape of neck ground contact and also going backwards over the hamstrings. Knowing how and when to cease resistance and employ yielding when being decentralized is unavoidable combined with the best of battle proven safest options is vital.

It comes back to the old adage, some holds are made to work and escape by conventional means may well fail as it is expected and can be countered out, however your best combative chance of escape is utilising dirty and deadly military close combat armed or unarmed skills, combined with the basic principles of self-preservation resistance yielding and adjustments.

You will be best at what is your primary practices and if you master the most battle proven dirty and deadly options you will be the best combatant you can be, plain and simple.