Headlocks

[Lizard]

A very common move. Has anyone else used headlocks in a fight? Does anyone know of any good ways of escaping from a headlock or any good moves that can be done on someone if you have them in a headlock?

[darrianation]

It depends on what type of hold he has really.

I’m not a grappler so some ju-jitsu guys might have some good ideas. I’ll tell you this I was in a fight once with this huge guy who got me in a head lock. He was standing at a 90 degree angle off of my left shoulder had a nasty tight grip I honestly thought my head would explode. I used my training and turned my head to the left and tucked my chin to my color bone so he couldn’t cut off my air way.

The angle he was at made it very difficult to do much. I really couldn’t punch him because I couldn’t reach him. I tried his groin but couldn’t reach it. I really couldn’t kick his legs because I was supporting his and my weight. He was to strong and I couldn’t break his grip, I even tried finger twisting.

Finally I worked my left arm back and placed it in his forehead I jabbed my thumb into his eye and I kept pushing as hard as I could.

He finally tried to re adjust his position to get my thumb out of his eye. His grip loosed just ever so slightly but it was enough for me to turn into him (right foot forward, left foot back) and squeeze my head free.

There are other things you can do depending on the type of headlock and the position of the opponent. This is my only experience with it in a real fight as an adult, and it worked against a larger stronger opponent.

This fight was quite interesting really maybe I’ll post it some time, but that’s another story.

In Karate and Kenpo we learned a few (okay a lot in Kenpo) of maneuvers like this. They work in practice but have no real idea how they’ll hold up in a real situation. I suspect if done properly and the right time they’ll work just fine.

Just a note or fyi. Head locks are usually performed by untrained fighters. It’s kind of an instinctual thing to do. A good JJ guy would only use it to work into a better finishing move, but the untrained guy will just hold on.

[Lizard]

Yes it is a very instinctual move. I'm more likely to fight someone who is untrained so it's the sort of thing I need to think about.

[Tom Yum]

BJJ, Traditional JJ and hapkido all have great head lock escapes. They are complicated to describe on paper but simple when shown- good way to share techniques from other stylists.

The 2 kinds of head lock escapes are the static one, where you are being held/restrained without movement and are being hit or the headlock into a take down, where they guy tries to take you down head first.

From the static one you can either try to use pressure points/vital areas to loosen the grip, go straight into a single leg-head assisted takedown or sweep (depending on how big your partner is) and into a finishing hold; you can step in front and roll into a knee bar which might be a little more risky, but still effective.

Better yet, if you were grossly over powered and outweighed, you could bite your way free while trying to land elbows to the thigh and kidney, palm strikes to the ear or groin and foot stomping but I wouldn't do anything to make the guy fall on you if he's twice your size.

[Thai Bri]

The headlock is a bastard of a move. Hardly practiced in any art, yet a favourite in an untotored brawl.

I've seen a cool looking escape in a Gracie Video. Imagine he has you under his right arm. You do what you can to release a biyt of the pressure on your neck and work your feet around in an anti clockwise direction. You should be fairly in fron of him. You then trap his feet witho yours and then sit back. He will fall forwards and you roll him over with the momentum, with you ending up on top.

An awful description, but it looks so cool! I bet it hurts your neck, but you'll get out.

[Tom Yum]

"I've seen a cool looking escape in a Gracie Video. Imagine he has you under his right arm. You do what you can to release a biyt of the pressure on your neck and work your feet around in an anti clockwise direction. You should be fairly in fron of him. You then trap his feet witho yours and then sit back. He will fall forwards and you roll him over with the momentum, with you ending up on top. "

That one is really good for the head lock into takedown, when the guy tries to throw you head first from the head lock, except that his own momentum causes his head to slam into the ground, then you land on top

[eXcessiveForce]

I love head locks. Particularly the vascular neck restraint. I knocked out a Very large football player with it. And have used the Guillotine several times. All have been very effective.

[Tom Yum]

Guillotine is a choke and the neck lock is a submission. I think he's talking about the pro-wrestling headlock that squeezes your head.

[Lost Ronin]

The headlock is the Brawlers best friend. It can choke you out if the guy is strong enough or it can lead to a takedown. Then there was this one fella who I used to grapple with, he would put you in a side head lock, release the grip and grab his gi with the hand that had control of your head. Then, with his free hand, he would pummel the shit out of your face (we used to allow striking during our ground fighting session.) That is my personal favorite, its quite cool to use in streetfights. When it comes to self defense I've used the front headlock more than any other headlock in my repertoire ( not a Pro Wrestling move, the kind of front headlock used by Folkstyle wrestlers, where they get control of your head with one hand and of your tricep with the other.)

From a front headlock, the best thing to do is use knees, you can split the guys head open pretty easily. From a side headlock, you either tighten the grip and choke your opponent out, or you try to drive him to the ground headfirst. The best defense from a side headlock is to grab his arm thats choking you with one hand, and then put your other arm on his forehead and push down while pulling out with the opposite arm. Kinda difficult to describe on paper, its a gracie jujitsu defense. If you ever get caught in a front headlock during a fight, snatch the leg closest to your head as quickly as possible. This will not allow him to knee you (he may be able to knee you slightly) and it will also not allow him to move around you, therefore not getting to your back. If you wanna pick up more info on headlocks I recommend Dan Hendersons "Jiu-Jitsu Killer" series, its chock full of juicy Greco-Roman Wrestling moves, and trust me, Greco guys will kill you in the clinch if they get a headlock. Well, that's enough of me rambling.

[CHOKE UK]

Originally posted by ryta1203
Ok, please be careful when practicing these escapes, if you are not careful dangerous things can happen (permanent damage to your head/neck). That Gracie move sounds very tricking and I am sure takes considerable amount of time to master, that is unless you don't mind hurting yourself in the process. From a standing headlock your opponent has to only sit down (moving forward), while pushing you back (so as to be on your belly) and the you will lose all feeling in your body or be dead (broken neck), which is not healthy. There is a hapkido move from a standing headlock that you twist your midsection, point your arm away from you, in a circular motion bring that arm (the close one (to him of course)) over his arms breaking or straining his hold on your neck, then shove your hand underneath his chin or nose (which I think is better, grab onto if you want) and bring your self up while throwing him down/backwards. if you arms aren't long enough to do this, put that hand on his back and take the other hand (far hand) under his closest leg. Sorry, but this is a REALLY ROUGH explanation of these techniques.

Rita from your post I can see you have no practical knowlege of this subject, only from what you may have read in a book !

Rita, Yeah I bet you hate headlocks !
I bet they can make a right old mess of your long flowing wig,
not to mention messing up your "pearl necklace" and I am not talking about jewellery.

Keep taking your "hormones",
Or is that the noise that comes out of your bedroom at night !!!

[Thai Bri]

I've seen another escape. Once again imagine he has you in the side headlock, and he is on your left.

Put your left arm across his stomach. Your right hand on the floor, then throw both your legs out straight behind his feet, jamming them. Push him backwards with your left arm.

[CHOKE UK]

Originally posted by ryta1203


If I am lucky, my opponent is inexperienced enough to actually use headlocks, so to answer your dumbass question, no, I don't hate headlocks.

Do you have something to say other than "I'm a complete jackass.... STILL"

I am sorry you are a moron. Better luck next go around.

ps. What the hell is that "hormones" statement? Are you somehow refering to masterbation? Are you looking for a date? WTF?

CHOKE YOUR UK man, and get a life.

Rita, even your sarcasm is useless.
What book did you get these feeble jibes from?
Keep taking the hormones,
if you dont know what it is or are still in denial about it, look it up in a book, your good at that !
well you got to be good at something?

[Tom Yum]

Rita, which style/styles do you practice?

The hapkido headlock escape you mentioned is not descriptively complete. If you practiced the move 500 + times (which you would if you were blue belt or higher) against a resisting opponent (in the higher ranks of HKD its no longer a non-resisting dummy) you would know that pushing up on the chin, mouth-fish hooking, nose-fish hooking or striking the cavaties on the neck are only half of the technique. The opponent doesn't just fall. If he is bigger and or stronger, you will have effectively changed the position of his head, while causing him a painful annoyance. Did you forget the rest of the technique?

Most non-TKD korean martial arts are really big in 3 things:

1 - understanding and applying concepts (ask the guy named Hapkidoist2000 who sometimes visits- he is a 2nd Dan, I am only a 1st dan brown belt).
2 - Constant repetition.
3 - The development of Balance, Speed & Power.

I have also studied BJJ and can affirm to the effectiveness of its headlock escapes and its techniques. Visit a bjj school for a free class. Sign a waiver and tell the instructor you want to go all out. You will get royally taken down and out. You are right about the unseen variables on the street; but most people who practice MA stay in respectable places.

Are you a practicing martial artist or athlete? What rank or title?

Or are you a troll without experience looking for instant self-recognition?

[Tom Yum]

Rita, you have never practiced Hapkido (at least at the advanced level). You do not know the technique either.

Sounds like your are BS -ing your way in these threads. Take a martial arts class (for real) for a couple of years and please refrain from bullsh1ting people who practice for real.

You are starting to sound like the kind of person that gossips around the office and tries to intimidate people with clever psychology; you're kind would have a hard time in MA classes, cause you would talk the talk and then get smacked down in something like point sparring....

[Nick]

...

When my dad was a teen, he got put in a headlock by a guy. He reached over his head and yanked on his nose to get him off. That technique saved his life.

Later...