Martial Arts

Don’t Skip the Basics! They’re Fundamental to Kickboxing All schools of kickboxing have certain things in common. As with most martial arts, there is a necessity to learn the basics before we can expand further upon the techniques. For kick boxing, and many other arts, the very first thing you learn is something you may… Read more »

As with all of our subjects here, a disclaimer is warranted. Anytime you, your friends, or your family choose to practice these techniques without trained professional supervision, you are risking serious injury and bodily harm. This is because you may injure yourself while practicing incorrect form, either by pulling a tendon or muscle, or through… Read more »

Spine cranks are highly illegal in many competition matches, and should NEVER be attempted unless the goal is to severely injure, paralyze, or kill an enemy. Even under trained supervision, these locks are incredibly dangerous. Once again, DO NOT ATTEMPT AT HOME! That being said, let us start to break down the two basic types… Read more »

Now that we have covered a majority of basic locking techniques, it’s time to cover submission or choke holds. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, there are many varied techniques to this, but there are two main categories of holds to be explored. They are each named for the type of essential choking they do, which are… Read more »

Blood chokes are preferred in most situations and for most self defense applications. Blood chokes are so named because they cut off blood supply to the brain. While this is simply a different form of oxygen deprivation, it is often safer to perform in a controlled environment. It works by applying pressure to the carotid… Read more »

Banned from many sport competitions, finger locks and toe locks are both versions of small joint manipulation. The reason for this banning is because unlike the larger joints, small joints are easily fractured, since they don’t require much leverage or power behind the attack. Finger locks in particular are easy to do, and use of… Read more »

Ankle Locks and Compression Holds As with arms, legs have secondary joints at their extremities, namely the ankle. When performing ankle holds, similar to wrist holds or locks, the goal is to hyper extended or hyper rotate the ankle into a position where it wasn’t meant to be. This often includes a secondary type of… Read more »

Comparisons to Arm Locks and One Basic Leg Lock Technique   While wrist locks and armbars are all well and good, sometimes you get unlucky. Should an opponent not prove susceptible to any of the above techniques, either because of improper execution on your behalf or because you couldn’t get them into position, there is… Read more »