Up For Grabs

For information purposes only. Exercise and diet at your own risk


Hair holds.
Simple but painfully effective. One of the most overlooked and under-rated targets for the Martial Artist to attack in a self-defense situation is the hair. When vital points and nerve centres of the body are discussed in books, magazines or the dojo the hair is hardly, if ever, mentioned at all.

The striking arts like Taekwondo, Kickboxing, some Karate styles that rely heavily on punching and kicking probably don't even realise just how effective and extremely painful the hair holds can be. Ju Jutsu and some other grappling orientated arts do incorporate hair holds into their arsenal of techniques and they do know their self-defence value and versatility.

So why are these holds so overlooked?
Well, if you fight within the realms of the Queensbury rules you will view them as ungentlemanly and definitely dirty fighting. Or you might think that hair pulling is only for women, when they have a scuffle with each other. If you examine any of a women’s fighting repertoire then rules certainly don’t come into it. Biting clawing, gauging and hair pulling are all there and in a self defence situation these moves are all of extreme importance, so hair pulling is definitely not for cissies. Grabs to the hair can be used in a multitude of ways. They can be used to break holds, restrain, to throw or to set up an attacker for a finishing Atemi blow.

Lets examine some of these methods more carefully and see just what you can do. You can grab a handful of hair to anchor your attacker's head in place to follow through with an elbow strike to the jaw, palm heel jab to the chin or a head butt to the nose, etc. You can grab two handfuls of hair and yank the head down to meet your rising knee coming up into the face, or use your leg as a platform and pull your attackers head down by the hair onto your knee. The hair can be grabbed for releases from frontal, body holds and lapel grabs. From these attacks you can reach behind the assailant's head and grab the hair on the side of the temple area and pull their head around. This will break the hold and not only control his head but also his complete body.

When you grab at the hair you should slide your hand through the hair so you not only have the hair between your fingers, but when you clamp your hand shut you will have the extremely sensitive roots on the scalp trapped as well. Pulling the short hair on the side of the head or back of the neck in a very small quantity will again release a frontal hold and set your attacker up for a finish. Both hands grabbing the hair on either side of the head and puling it back and down will drop the assailant to his knees, ready for a follow up knee strike. There are also many throws and takedowns, as well as locks and immobilisations involving hair holds. Most of them are mainly from Ju Jutsu systems. Hip throws, body drops and shoulder throws can all be used neutralising the hair.

Two basic takedowns that anybody can use in a self defence situation involve taking your assailant down from the rear. Reach over their head with both or one hand at the forehead hair line and snap the head back. This completely locks the neck and takes any mobility of the head away. Then you can drive a knee into the spinal region and pull backwards, dropping the assailant either onto your knee or to the floor. There you can finish with a strike or plant your knee in the nerve centre between the shoulder blades and pull back on the hair to restrain.

Another easy takedown is to grab the hairline again from the rear and kick out the back of the knee, dropping your attacker violently to the floor. This is a very quick and effective takedown. When grabbed or held in a particular fashion, you can also execute other takedown moves if the hair is accessible. If held in a side headlock, a common street attack, you can side step, grab the hair and pull the assailants head on into the floor for a finish. Also in a grappling situation on the floor, where a lot of street fights end up, you can pull and yank the hair to get someone off you, or to control their head for follow up strikes, locks or chokes.

One particular technique is of great effect for a woman in a rape situation. If an attacker is sitting astride her body she can reach up, grab the back of the attacker's head by the hair and twist his chin with the other hand. This will get him off her body and, if done quickly can break the neck. Remember that any facial hair also should not be overlooked as a target. You can twist, pull and tear the sideburns, beard and moustache with great effect. I have witnessed one Sensei throw his Uke with a perfect shoulder throw by holding onto his moustache, so I know how effective the hold can be.

If you have not experienced and been on the end of hair hold techniques then do so. You will have no doubts just how effective and painful they can be.

So try and start using the hair as a potential vital body point along with all the others. Remember in a close combat encounter the hair is always in reach and definitely up for grabs.

You can contact me on Kevin O'Hagan 0117 952 5711

http://www.bristolgoshinjutsu.com/
Disclaimer: Consult your GP before changing diet. Follow any Training regime or diet on this site at your own risk