The easiest traps occur when you can get the correct angle on your opponent, but when you cannot, you may have to crash the centerline with a double bridge before driving a palm strike into your target.
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	Trapping is tactical in nature. If you try to trap incorrectly or against the wrong opponent, the results can be disastrous. To illustrate, Richard Ryan (left) and Lance Clodfelter square off (1). The opponent attempts to trap but telegraphs his intentions (2). Ryan simply withdraws his half of the “bridge” (3) and fires a counter jab down the line of engagement (4).
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	Attempting to trap an elusive fighter is a mistake because one who is quick on his feet will not allow you to connect. Here, Lance Clodfelter and Richard Ryan (left) prepare to engage (1). The opponent steps forward to trap Ryan’s lead hand (2), but before he can penetrate Ryan’s defensive perimeter, Ryan slips to the outside (3) and drives a round kick into his ribs (4).
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	Some of the most effective traps occur in close after you have successfully crashed the opponent’s kill zone. To illustrate, Richard Ryan (left) clamps onto his opponent’s high guard (1), then uses a sudden downward rake to remove the barrier between his hands and the opponent’s face (2). To finish, Ryan rebounds off that action with an upward palm strike to the jaw (3).
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	Trapping must be sudden and explosive to connect with the attacker and overwhelm him instantly. To demonstrate, Richard Ryan (left) faces his opponent (1). Seeing that the opponent has a high, protected guard, Ryan bursts forward with a finger jab and bridge technique (2). Without withdrawing, Ryan beats the other man’s lead hand out of the way to clear a path for his jab (3). If necessary, Ryan can perform a hand change to trap with his lead hand before executing a rear-hand palm strike (4).
	With enough training—and the right scenario—it is possible to “fight without sight,” says Richard Ryan (left). The key involves maintaining direct contact with the opponent’s limbs and finishing it quickly.

Bruce Lee was the foremost martial arts pioneer of the modern era. If he was not the best of his time, he was certainly one of the most knowledgeable and well rounded. In Enter the Dragon, he displayed his vast array of combat skills and mastery of cinematic choreography. The famous duel between him and Bob Wall illustrated his almost frightening ability to crush an opponent at close range. Before that film was released, few people had seen a trap in action. Fewer still knew how to apply one. Even today, the techniques of trapping are surrounded by a veil of mystery and confusion.

What exactly are trapping techniques? Do they really work in real street fights? When and how should they be applied?

To gain a realistic understanding of trapping, you must first understand what it is and what it is not. Perhaps the most fundamental point to be made is that trapping is not grappling. When you trap, you should make no attempt to struggle with your opponent and pit your strength against his, nor should you try to manipulate his joints for the purpose of pain compliance. Grappling is a separate art unto itself, and it has its own rules and realities. By definition, trapping is the momentary immobilization of an opponent’s limbs so that for a brief instant you can strike and he cannot. Simpler still, it is the removal of his defensive barriers.

Origins of Trapping

The art of trapping probably originated when warriors fought using razor-sharp blades and other deadly implements.

Imagine a martial artist facing an opponent with a sword. It gleams and glistens with the threat of pain. Physical contact with it means injury or death. The last thing he wants to do is grab the blade. If he tries to punch or kick, he will be cut—or worse. So he deflects his opponent’s sword using his own and creates a brief opening that enables him to attack.

In a battle with swords, it is not uncommon for fighters to strike, deflect or otherwise momentarily trap each other’s blade to get the upper hand. When these weapons were removed from combat, similar techniques were developed for the empty hands.

But how effective is trapping in the real world when a sword is nowhere to be seen? Is trapping effective outside the realm of weapons combat? Why don’t boxers and kickboxers use it? Why do you rarely see it employed in noholds- barred matches where more committed methods of control take center stage?

Reality and the Trapping Controversy

These days, controversy surrounds the art of trapping. One camp holds that trapping is a practical and street-effective tactic. The other faction has dismissed it as theatrics and claims that it is unrealistic, outdated and better left in the movies. The truth is that like everything else, trapping does work but only under certain circumstances. Under the right conditions, trapping can be a fast and brutal way to end a fight. Under the wrong conditions, it can become a pathetic form of slap boxing with little effect other than opening oneself up for a knockout. Like all control techniques, trapping should be viewed as a tactical assault, meaning there must be a specific reason why you are using it.

If trapping can be applied only in a limited way, why do we see trapping techniques illustrated time and time again in books and magazines? Such techniques are demonstrated frequently in connection with systems such as wing chun and jeet kune do, even though these arts are much more than a collection of trapping skills. One reason is that it makes for great pictures. Trapping and similar control techniques lend themselves to long sequences of photos in which a fighter can show complete dominance over his adversary. However, in the real world, trapping is brief, explosive and often faster than the eye can follow.

Forms of Trapping

There are two distinctly different forms of trapping: tactile and non-tactile. Non-tactile trapping is the most common.

It consists of immobilization techniques that do not require the use of touch to trigger their application. You use your eyes and sense of spatial judgment to determine the range and timing of the assault. No contact with your adversary’s limbs is necessary until the moment of attack.

You make no attempt to connect with or decipher your opponent’s movements or energy; rather, you focus on using speed and surprise to suddenly overwhelm him. Non-energysensitive traps most often take advantage of the opponent’s positional liabilities, such as a poor guard or passive blocking techniques.

Tactile trapping focuses on the ability to decipher and manipulate the energy of your opponent’s aggression or resistance. It is light-years ahead of the non-tactile version. It can empower you with the ability to feel your opponent’s intentions the moment you and he come into contact.

Although the use of sight is highly recommended, it is not an absolute requirement. With proper training, it is even possible to defend yourself while blindfolded or in complete darkness as long as you can maintain physical contact with the attacker’s limbs and end it quickly. Once contact is made, you use your sense of touch to feel the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent’s defense.

The incredible neural network on the surface of the skin allows you to “hear” the pressure and friction of his resistance. You can learn to recognize the exact direction of an attack and continually redirect it to your advantage. This results in the uncanny ability to second-guess your opponent’s actions and smother or crush his attacks before they hit.

The bad news is that few people truly understand and are able to pass on the proper training methods. Tactile trapping is one of the most difficult skill sets to develop and has limited application in the real world. Only a fool would fight blindfolded if he does not have to. The real value is the acquisition of the ability to sense and redirect force on contact.

With enough practice, this skill can transcend trapping and become useful in grappling, balance attacks and weapons- defense techniques. Touch-force training can become a powerful supplement to the eyes, but it should never replace the knock-down-drag-out basics of hand-to-hand combat.

If it is done correctly and under the right conditions, trapping can and does work. It can be performed with the hands, forearms, elbows and even feet. If you are accustomed to only conventional exchanges of blocks and punches, trapping can be completely unexpected. Instead of going around your opponent’s guard, you go through it. As stated above, once you master touchdriven or tactile trapping, you can wrap your opponent’s limbs in a confusing net of controlling techniques, checking his every move and utterly frustrating his attempts to escape or counter. You can crash through his guard and snare him in a web of suppressive actions like a spider traps a fly. Effective trapping drives your attack into the heart of your opponent’s defense. When it is initiated with great speed and the element of surprise, few people are prepared for the blitzkrieg.

When It Works

Trapping works best when your opponent is on the defensive and willing to stand his ground and fight.

The ideal opponent is a stationary fighter with a high defensive guard and a commitment to blocking techniques. That’s because the very nature of trapping requires close contact with his limbs—at least for a moment.

An opponent with a high guard or commitment to block your attack creates the obstructions that become the “bridges” upon which the techniques of trapping are built. Without the ability to create such a bridge, at least momentarily, trapping is usually not feasible or necessary. That observation brings us to the most important rule of trapping: Don’t do it unless you have to. Trapping should be used only when there’s some form of barrier preventing a direct attack. If there’s no barrier, just hit.

When It Does Not Work

Trapping does not work well against highly aggressive fighters or those who prefer to use evasion as their primary defense. Unless you are unbelievably skilled, attempting to trap such a fighter is dangerous. He will not allow you to make the connection you need. He will evade you, retract his guard or counterattack at the first sign of your attempt to control him. Highly mobile fighters with a tight guard, or one that is constantly in transition, provide no obvious barrier to fight through. No barrier equals no trap. Trying to connect with such a fighter will likely get you hit. Remember that no matter how swift your trapping may be, it is still an attempt to control, and controlling techniques are never as direct and efficient as striking itself. While you’re attempting to control him, he’s trying to tear your head off.

Forget about the endless exchange of check and control techniques often seen in martial arts movies. Remember that these techniques exist only to create drama and prolong the combat. They have nothing to do with real fighting.

It’s easy to be seduced by complex controlling and trapping techniques because they provide a feeling of utter dominance over an opponent—at least in practice. But the more you’re seduced by complex actions, the farther from reality you drift. In the real world, trapping must be sudden, brutal and direct. An effective trapping attack should include only one engagement in which you blow through your opponent’s defenses and overwhelm him.

Trapping should be applied on a case-by-case basis and only as needed. In the art of trapping, less is more, and keeping it simple is just plain smart.