Reverse grappling is an important concept in self defense and self protection because it is such a key manner in which to maintain control over a dangerous, fluid, or escalating physical confrontation. Reverse grappling is about utilizing a deep understanding of the grappling arts to avoid being overcome by an aggressor in any close range situation. This may be for the purpose of stopping a takedown, to land the takedown, or to not be tied up on the ground yourself. All are real world self defense occurrences that require study, training, technique, and practice.
In the following video on avoiding the takedown (featuring hands), Jerry Wetzel makes an excellent point. Not only are wrestlers experts at shooting for the takedown, but by putting so much time into competing for the setup, they also become experts in defending the takedown. For anyone who thinks grappling doesn’t have a place in self defense (of which I am absolutely of the opposite belief), they must at the very least concede that “reverse grappling” is of the utmost importance. After all, if the myth of never going to the ground is to be validated, then there better be a plan of how to do so; as Jerry points out, I wouldn’t want to rely on the single option of landing crushing strikes to be that plan.
Hands
Along with lashing out, it is a must that you have options should that outside striking range be infiltrated. Jerry breaks down four critical levels of takedown defense throughout this series. There needs to be options at each and every stage, because self protection is not entirely under our own control. Options create the control that is lost to the actions of the aggressor. Fighting is fluid, improvisational, but messy. Real world aggression and defense is rarely a beautiful art. The art in street fighting is about response and rapid adaptation more than it is about technique mastery. I discussed this difference in training in the article Checkers and Chess.
If, for any number of reasons, traditional striking to keep an aggressor at bay is compromised (whether it’s your own ability, the superior ability of an attacker, hand or limb injury, or succumbing to the speed or power of an aggressive rush), the hands can also offer frames, grip controls, or energy exploitation to maintain control of the situation, create angles, reset the range of the fight, avoid being taken to the ground, or simply provide a path for escape. Jerry points out three great concepts that require training to make the use of your hands offering multiple options at this stage of takedown defense.
- Elbows in for retaining mobility (more on this in the second video)
- Changing levels to meet the aggressor – Jerry points out matching and dropping your level while not breaking posture and using eye contact or focus point to manage this. Great advice and easier said than done if not practiced. (For more detail on moving with balance and alignment, enjoy these tips from GMB Fitness)
- Proper control of an attacker’s head – By focusing defensive or deflective pressure into your attacker’s head, the general rule “where the head goes, the body will follow” will result in driving the attacker to the ground, to the side, or breaking their spinal alignment to allow you a position of leverage dominance. All of these are much better outcomes than getting wrapped up if an aggressor closes in from striking distance.
Elbows
Keep them IN! Whether you are striking, grappling, or simply staying aware at all times, this is always great self protection advice. Jerry covers a number of reasons why this is important in takedown defense, and I would add that making this an all-the-time habit limits the success of other opportunistic attacks including sucker punches as well as those using stick or bladed weapons.
Jerry’s first point is about not unwittingly giving up the inside position, while also being able to quickly transition to your own underhook control, as we investigated in depth earlier this month—Paragons of Power and Leverage. Jerry’s second point is about transitioning back to framing for angles and leverage, or moving into a Muay Thai style clinch which maintains that strong head control over the attacker. I would add that in any of these situations, the close range and devastating striking option that elbows offer should be peppered in if the danger level dictates. Nothing wields the element of surprise quite like a sharp or crushing elbow blow, while also having the benefit of hardly leaving an opening to be attacked. For all of the reasons here, elbows are one of my favorite protection and defensive tools.
Head
The attacker manages to close in past both of the defensive ranges above. There is no need to go right into a full on grappling battle just yet. Framing with your own head position can both stop a tie up, or break a tie up if an attacker has begun to get grips. It is the third layer of takedown defense before conceding to a grapple. Once you concede the grapple, there are dangers in real world self defense that bear consideration (even if you are good).
These dangers are due to the close nature and the pre-occupied nature of a grappling situation. It is the last place you want to find out that an attacker can pull a weapon such as a knife and it is the last place you want to find out that this is a multiple attacker scenario. Along with being the final bastion to a lockup, making sure to establish solid head position establishes dominance if the grapple remains unavoidable. Head position is paramount to leverage, control, posture, and spinal alignment. Losing head position and range together has a high propensity to ending up in a very precarious position: a disadvantaged lockup.
Hips
The final stage is to make sure you keep control of your hips. We looked at the sprawl in detail in January, so I’ll allow Jerry’s video to recap some of the main concepts. As Jerry points out, this is the last resort. It will still offer angles, escape options, and the ability to stay on your feet. If things continue from here, it is a full on scramble, grappling match, or ground fight. As always, I recommend you really know what to do once down there. Not because I think pure BJJ is the ultimate art; I am a fully blended martial artist. My reasoning (versus those who consider grappling to be a minor or ineffective portion of self defense) is because it becomes so detrimentally crucial that once there, you do not lose. Losing on the ground has a high percentage of your attacker having complete control of what comes next. That is a situation to avoid at all costs. Be sure to layer your defenses from top to bottom, from long range to close range, and from a high level of control to almost no control. These are the scenarios you may find yourself in.
Image credit: http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/castle3.htm
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