One critic of commonly taught weapons defenses in hand-to-hand-combat training is Montreal-based Richard Dimitri, founder of senshido. Richard Dimtri notes that many H2HC instructors would rather modify reality to fit their system than adapt their system to fit real life. Example: the H2HC training partner who attacks in a manner that makes the defense work or who holds his weapon in a position that makes it easy to execute the prescribed disarm.

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Senshido Founder Richard Dimitri’s Approach to Increasing the “Real” in Real Street Fights

The first step toward overcoming that deficiency in one’s H2HC training, Richard Dimitri says, is to restructure your H2HC training so your partner really tries to “stab” or “shoot” you. It’s also crucial to create the emotional conditions that exist in a real street fight. To do that, you need a partner who issues verbal threats and who behaves and reacts the way real criminals do in real street fights.

The first component of an effective defense is awareness — not just awareness of your general environment but also awareness of pre-assault indicators and the rituals of violence, Richard Dimitri says. You must be able to recognize the situational and behavioral elements that precede an armed attack in real street fights, along with the body language and movements.

Before attempting to disarm a thug using H2HC techniques, it helps to distract him. To do that successfully, you must first figure out what he wants because that will determine what you need to say or do. Richard Dimitri recommends asking the assailant a question that forces him to think, thus creating a momentary hesitation. It will permit you to use your hands in a manner that’s consistent with the behavior he expects from someone who’s terrified. What appears to be a pleading gesture on your part can be an excellent way to maneuver your hands closer to his weapon.

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The shortcoming is exacerbated by instructors of self-defense training who create unnatural situations in the dojo to make their techniques work. For example, if your partner attacks you in a realistic manner, with his knife moving quickly and changing from a slash to a thrust or from one angle to another, it’s unrealistic to expect that you can discern the angle of attack and apply the appropriate response. That’s why you need to have general H2HC principles that work against a variety of offenses that you may encounter in real street fights.

Some of Richard Dimitri’s H2HC strategies for knife defense depend on whether the weapon is stationary or moving, while others apply to all situations. Common to both is the need to avoid getting cut in a vital area (neck, heart, inner thigh, etc.), even if it means placing a less-critical body part in the path of the blade.

Next, Richard Dimitri says, you must clear your body. That means ascertaining how the knife has to move to hurt you and then shifting in the opposite direction to get out of harm’s way. You should also attempt to seize the attacker’s arm and pin it against something to stabilize the weapon and prevent it from damaging you. Securing the knife need not occupy both your hands for the rest of the fight; once you have control of it, you can briefly let go with one hand and strike a vital area. As soon as you do that, however, you should go back to securing the weapon.

Finally, you need to neutralize him using the most effective means available. Aim to inflict maximum injury so he concentrates on the pain rather than on attacking you.

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How to Win a Street Fight: Four Self-Defense Moves
From Combatives Expert Kelly McCann.

Martial artists love to argue over whether you should expect to get cut during a knife attack. Although some claim it’s defeatist to tell yourself you’ll be injured, senshido founder Richard Dimitri says you should anticipate getting sliced so you don’t freeze or panic if it happens.

He relates a story about getting slashed across the chest with a knife back when he was new to the martial arts. He stopped to look at the gash before re-engaging. Afterward, he realized that if the knifer had been more competent, he’d have taken advantage of Richard Dimitri’s momentary distraction and finished him.

Photos by Anthony Lubkan

Appropriate Response to Injury in H2HC

Don’t buy into claims that you’ll pass out or die if you get stabbed in a specific spot, Richard Dimitri says. If it happens, it happens, but you can often keep on fighting.

How does that translate to H2HC training for real street fights? Never quit. Even if you sustain a “fatal” stab with a rubber knife, continue to fight back. In real street fights, according to Richard Dimtri, people survive knife attacks — some of which involve multiple stabs and slashes — all the time.

Senshido Founder Richard Dimitri’s Principles for H2HC in Real Street Fights

Many of the H2HC principles Richard Dimitri teaches in senshido for nullifying a static attack hold true for knives and firearms. Whether you’re held at knifepoint or gunpoint, it’s essential to employ a passive stance that has your hands moving slowly in a manner that’s congruous with someone who’s scared. During this time, your adversary will be extremely aware and tense while he measures your ability to resist. If you make any sudden moves, you could be stabbed or shot.

One of the most important parts of weapons defense against a static attack is playing along with the attacker to cultivate a false sense of security and distract him. Efforts to verbally de-escalate the tension will likely lower his guard and bolster his ego. Then, if you need to get physical and use H2HC techniques, he’ll be less prepared to react.

This concept forms the foundation of Richard Dimitri’s behavioral approach to self-defense, and it’s emphasized throughout senshido.

H2HC Options in Real Street Fights

If you find yourself facing a static knife attack at a distance, running away is usually the best option. Grabbing an improvised weapon is also good, as long as doing so doesn’t leave you open to your opponent’s rush.

Because you can’t realistically expect to discern the nature of a moving knife attack and then select and execute the proper defense, it’s even more important to follow Richard Dimitri’s belief that H2HC principles trump H2HC techniques.

On the subject of trying to control the weapon versus attacking the attacker in H2HC, he leans toward controlling the weapon. However, if that’s not immediately doable, you should switch to an H2HC plan that takes advantage of whatever your opponent makes available — attacking his weapon hand, overwhelming him with strikes or decimating him with the senshido “shredder” technique.

When facing a dynamic knife attack, assume a posture that makes it hard for the blade to reach your vital areas, Richard Dimitri says. Your chin should be tucked and your shoulders raised to protect your neck and throat. Your arms should be up in a boxing-style stance with the backs of your arms toward the knife and your hands closed.

Your ability to block his offensive moves is but a minor obstacle for the assailant, H2HC expert Richard Dimitri says. After his strikes are stopped a few times — at most — he’ll start stabbing from another angle. That’s why Richard Dimitri advocates jamming his arm against his body or otherwise grabbing it and anchoring it to arrest the knife’s movement.

A firm anchor involves wrapping the limb and cupping the elbow while pinning it to your body. As soon as the knife is stabilized, pummel the attacker to put him on the defensive. Then he’ll be more concerned with avoiding what you’re doing to him than with attacking you.

Photos by Anthony Lubkan

“Jamming” in Real Street Fights

Jamming shouldn’t be confused with blocking, parrying or passing. Jamming entails slamming your forearms or hands into the attacker’s knife arm with the goal of immobilizing it. Jams are preferred because they’re gross-motor movements and can be used on a variety of H2HC attacks in real street fights.

Ideally, one of your hands should jam the biceps of his thrusting arm and the other his wrist. Make sure you drive forward with your whole body. Using only your arms is weak and leaves you overextended and vulnerable.

Moving in to jam the knife might get you cut, but it offers the best chance of controlling the weapon, thus minimizing the overall damage while getting you into position for the shredder from Richard Dimtri’s art of senshido.

The shredder is a spontaneous fusillade of gross-motor attacks such as eye gouges, face rakes, ear and nose rips, bites, hair pulls, neck wrenches and throat crushes. The onslaught also can include elbows, head butts and other close-range assaults, making it perfect for real street fights.

As soon as you pin the knife arm against his body, use one hand to keep it there. With the other one, attack his eyes or throat.

If the knife isn’t within jamming range, Richard Dimitri says, you must attack him as viciously as possible. Your aim is to make him more concerned with defending himself than with stabbing you, thus reversing the predator/prey mentality.

If he’s outside “traffic range” — the distance at which both parties are close enough to hit each other — remain far enough back to force him to telegraph his intentions before he can get to you.

If he’s close but not lunging toward you, Richard Dimitri favors throwing quick, low-line kicks to get him to back off or to distract him before you drive forward with a jamming technique. Kick with the leg that’s closest to him.

H2HC in Real Street Fights Involving Firearms

Against a firearm, remember that you’re facing a projectile weapon that has an extended range, which makes it more dangerous in some respects. However, because the bullet can come out of the barrel only one way, the muzzle must be pointed at you to inflict damage. And since a gun is held steady when it’s used — the attacker doesn’t wave it around like a knife — it’s easier to grab or divert at close range in real street fights.

You must be close to the gunman before you can disarm him. If the firearm isn’t within reach, you’ll need to bridge the gap using dialogue. Say something that will elicit his interest, then distract him and get him to lower his guard. Remain passive; don’t challenge or threaten him.

For example, you might point to your pocket and say, “My spare cash is here; I’ll give it all to you if you want.” Meanwhile, you edge closer to the gunman, making sure to move your hands in a manner that’s consistent with being scared while you offer him the money.

Photos by E. Lawrence

Then grab the gun and direct the muzzle away from you. If you’re near other people, try not to point it in their direction, either. That consideration is often overlooked in the dojo, where disarms may be effected without concern for bystanders that may be present during the H2HC of real street fights.

Although an H2HC knife defense that involves grabbing the attacker’s wrist is permissible because it’s tough for the opponent to stab, such a strategy won’t work for gun defense in real street fights. The reason: Even if you control the wrist, he can probably bend it enough to shoot you. You must seize the hand or the weapon. Once that’s done, explode with counterattacks.

Richard Dimitri knows that when it comes to H2HC weapons defense in real street fights, there are no guarantees. However, if you concentrate on the facets of fighting described above, you’ll be better able to turn the tables on an attacker when you otherwise wouldn’t have stood a chance.

I was studying a “modern” martial art at the time, but like most traditional arts, it was still very structured and technique focused. When my training partners and I increased the intensity and realism of our training to try to replicate real attacks, its techniques often fell short.

In reading the profile on Echanis, it was immediately obvious that he had taken a different approach to his training and the instruction he was providing to the U.S. special-operations community. Based on his own hard-won combat experience in Vietnam, he had developed an uncompromising set of standards as to what constituted practical, realistic, combative tactics. While he readily acknowledged that the classical fighting arts had a lot to offer, he drew a hard line between martial tradition and martial technique that was still viable and relevant in modern warfare. Echanis’ irreverent, results-oriented approach to the fighting arts also embraced the full spectrum of weaponry, favoring the most practical and efficient, which included the knife.

Other articles in Soldier of Fortune and Black Belt during that time provided additional insights into Echanis’ fighting methods and the system of hwa rang do on which they were based. However, it was the release of his Special Forces/Ranger-UDT/SEAL Hand-to-Hand Combat/Special Weapons/Special Tactics book series that really revealed the direction of his training. That three-book series was distinctly different from the other martial arts books that had been published before that time in that they actually addressed close-combat situations that were relevant to a military operational environment. They also pulled no punches, presenting hard-core tactics of knife fighting, stick fighting and unarmed combat that would enable real warriors to kill and win on the battlefield. And in the process, they served as both a turning point and a powerful catharsis for countless martial artists seeking to understand the reality of close combat — just as I was.

Using Echanis’ books as a template, I and several like-minded students in my martial arts group drastically changed the direction of our training. We abandoned classical martial arts weapons and focused on practical ones — particularly knives. We increased the intensity and realism of our training and put it into context, practicing in the areas and environments where our skills would most likely come into play. Based on the understanding we gained from that process, we also realized that we’d never again go back to traditional martial arts training.

Years later, I had the privilege of speaking with a number of special-operations veterans who had trained directly with Echanis or experienced the close-combat programs that he created. Through their comments, it was clear that the effects of Echanis’ programs were profound and had indeed set a new standard in realistic, combatives training. Many of these men still used Echanis’ methods as a basis for their personal close-combat tactics and shared the belief that his training represented a distinct turning point in the evolution of modern warfare.

Although his life was cut tragically short, Michael D. Echanis had a profound impact on the martial arts world and the direction of modern military combative training. He combined his personal quest for a comprehensive warrior art with an uncompromising commitment to combative function. And in the process, he gave us an enduring legacy of close-combat philosophy and technique that will continue to inspire us for generations to come.

About the Author:

Michael Janich is a freelance writer based in Longmont, Colorado. He has more than 35 years of martial arts experience and is one of America’s best-known knife-fighting experts.

The Complete Michael D. Echanis Collection: The Special Forces/Hand-to-Hand Combat/Special Tactics Series is a comprehensive compilation of the highly popular three-volume Special Tactics series from legendary soldier Michael D. Echanis. Since the series first hit the martial arts scene in 1977, Echanis’ unique approach to hand-to-hand combat techniques and knife fighting has revolutionized reality-based fighting.

Based on the ancient hwa rang do techniques and the Hwarang warriors, The Complete Michael D. Echanis Collection combines close-quarters combat with lethal knife-fighting strategies, creating a necessary read for the modern-day fighter.

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One thing I was disappointed about, however, was the hand-to-hand combat training — or the lack thereof. We spent a few hours with bayonets mounted on our M16s, running through slash-thrust-buttstroke drills without a target, and that was it. Essentially, we did a bit of kata with no bunkai and definitely no kumite. Preparation for empty-hand combat was nonexistent.

Fast-forward to 2003. The Army has radically changed its training philosophy, and recruits are required to cycle through the MACP, or Modern Army Combatives Program. It’s composed of the most effective and versatile techniques from the Asian arts, as well as battlefield knife fighting and weapon-retention skills. The mechanics are seared into muscle memory during PT, the physical training that takes place every morning of every weekday, and it’s all taught in a way that meshes with the Army culture and lifestyle. The result is a fighting force that’s second to none in both armed and unarmed combat.

A Man With a Mission
The man behind MACP is a 43-year-old warrior-scholar named Matt Larsen. To understand how he wound up being at the nexus when the Army’s light bulb switched on, we need to rewind to 1984. Just 17, Larsen joined the Marine Corps and was sent to the Far East — first stop, Tokyo. “I thought if I spent two years there and didn’t learn martial arts, it would be a wasted opportunity,” he says. “So I trained in judo and shotokan karate. The karate was harsh, but the teacher was great. My next station was Okinawa — that was more like what you see in a karate movie.”

Before departing, Larsen did some research and determined that he wanted to train with Eizo Shimabukuro, the man who taught Joe Lewis. “I went to his house, and he sent me to a dojo,” Larsen says. “Seven days later, he showed up at the school, and afterward, we went to his house to work out. For the next nine months, off and on, I trained at his house on weekends.”

Larsen says “off and on” because duty assignments frequently took him away from the Okinawan base. One such mission sent him to Korea, where he ended up fighting the ROK Marines’ taekwondo champ in a bare-knuckle bout. “I was the only guy in the battalion who was training in martial arts, so they got me to do it,” Larsen says. “When I turned to face him, he kicked me in the stomach and knocked me into the crowd. I got up, and he tried a spinning back thrust kick, but I just charged him.” After some give-and-take, he used his fists to dominate and then defeat the kicker.

Another assignment sent him to Thailand, where he fought in several muay Thai matches, and to the Philippines. “I met a guy in a tattoo shop, and he said karate weapons fighting was inferior to the Philippine arts,” Larsen remembers. “So I tried it, and he tore me up.”

Although he was a good puncher back then, he wasn’t a great one. “I entered a boxing smoker and lost,” he says. “When it was over, I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to learn that,’ so I studied boxing the rest of the time I was in the Marines.”

That willingness to augment his arsenal with new skills, coupled with an I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude about losing, put Larsen on the path to becoming a well-rounded martial artist with a nose for what works and what doesn’t.

Career Change
After four and a half years in the Corps, Larsen enjoyed civilian life for all of three days, then enlisted in the Army. “I went straight in the 1st Ranger Battalion and stayed for six years,” he says. “Near the base in Savannah, Georgia, training was weak. There was a guy who taught taekwondo and aikido, and there was one who taught ninjutsu, and I studied with them. When I was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, I trained with Bud Toline, who taught yudo, hwa rang do and hapki yusul.”

Larsen’s multi-art experience, which also encompassed kickboxing and judo, would soon serve him well because by the early 1990s, the mixed martial arts had exploded on the scene. “When I transferred to the 2nd Ranger Battalion, the battalion commander was Stanley McChrystal, who went on to become the commanding general in Afghanistan, and he’d given an order to reinvigorate the hand-to-hand combat program,” Larsen says. “They were doing ninjutsu before I showed up, which meant I fit in because I’d done some of that.”

Larsen was tasked — this time officially — with figuring out what worked and what didn’t. “Because I was the most experienced martial artist around, it wasn’t long before I was the combatives honcho in the battalion,” he says. “We had Rorion and Royce Gracie come up, and we realized what we had to do. Brazilian jiu-jitsu wasn’t a perfect fit because it’s oriented toward competition. Nobody there will poke your eye out or punch you in the testicles. Our relationship to Brazilian jiu-jitsu is similar to Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s relationship to what Esai Maeda taught the Gracies. We learned a lot from it, but we saw how it didn’t quite fit what we did, so we added elements from other arts.”

Larsen molded that mixture until it fit the Army culture, and it proved to be a hit at Fort Lewis. “Two years later, Gen. McChrystal took over the Ranger Regiment and brought me down to Fort Benning to honcho the training for the entire regiment, which is about 2,500 to 3,000 guys.” The fledgling fighting system had left the nest.

A Wider Audience
Larsen was transferred to Ranger School, which is run by the Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, to rewrite the field manual on combatives. “They wanted to change the Army’s doctrine to what we were doing,” he says.

From the get-go, he knew his limitations. “The limited amount of time soldiers can devote to formal training means you won’t get very far trying to have them perfect a catalog of techniques,” he says. “Instead, MACP uses its basic techniques as a tool to teach a set of principles and training methods. These are reinforced as more advanced techniques are taught in a series of short courses that, over the soldier’s career, act as a guided path of self-discovery.”

MACP works because it never dictates how to reach a specific goal. “Instead, we teach soldiers to figure out how to accomplish the goal,” Larsen says. “A truck driver delivering food supplies and an airborne Ranger kicking in doors searching for bad guys have very different hand-to-hand combat needs, but that doesn’t change the nature of how to train. Our program is intentionally about training methods and principles. Then, a soldier, whatever his mission may be, can still learn to fight.”

The instruction begins with basics that are similar to what civilian martial artists study: how to punch, kick and knee-strike; how to fight in the clinch; how to integrate takedowns; and how to grapple on the ground. “You must have the techniques to implement the strategies the situation demands,” he says. “Those techniques span the spectrum of combat, from bashing in somebody’s head with your helmet to making sure you don’t hurt an opponent who isn’t your enemy.”

Including techniques and strategies from across that spectrum meant Larsen had to analyze the world’s fighting arts. “While developing the program, we would put two people on their feet and say, ‘You can only go for a takedown,’ and it looked exactly like two wrestlers. Then we would say, ‘Now you can knee each other.’ The first thing that happened was they stood up to defend against knees. So we’d say: ‘Let’s evaluate the way you train for takedowns in wrestling. Is it good? Sure. What’s wrong with it? Well, it gives you bad fighting posture.’ We looked at every training method like that.”

MACP trainers use the same drills to convey that message to soldiers — following the philosophy that showing is better than telling and doing is better than hearing.

Inevitable Complications
Life would be a lot simpler if, whenever a belligerent invaded your space, you could just punch him in the face and be done with it. Alas, neither military nor civilian life is like that. “Hand-to-hand combat training has to address a variety of situations,” Larsen says. “It might be a guy who wants to kill you, or it might be a person who just doesn’t want to do what you want him to do. It might be a person with Stockholm Syndrome you’re there to save, in which case you don’t even want to hurt them. You have to do the appropriate thing, whatever it happens to be.”

In a martial arts school, a sensei is free to reject students who are deemed unsuitable for learning deadly skills — which makes teaching them to do the appropriate thing a bit easier — but military recruiters aren’t quite so selective. “When trainers get someone off the street, they have no idea what their values are or what their parents are like,” Larsen says. “We have to turn them into the sort of warrior our republic can be proud of, and MACP is a big part of that.”

For more information about Matt Larsen and MACP, visit moderncombatives.org.

About the Author:
Robert W. Young is the executive editor of Black Belt.

Here is what the jujitsu master had to say about it:

“Believe it or not, this was one of the first techniques I learned under Seki and it was for a knife thrust. There are lots of body movement and footwork skills that are learned in the process of executing this throw properly. Does it work? Ask one of my black-belt high-school girls who was attacked with a knife at a bus stop and broke the attacker’s wrist.”

Jujitsu Technique No. 10: Basic Hand Throw

Japanese Translation: TE-NAGE

1.) Assume a ready position as you are threatened with a knife.

2.) Pivot your right foot back, thus moving your body out of the way of the straight knife thrust. (Note the arrow indicating the movement of the right foot.) After his knife hand has passed your left hand, reach for the wrist of his knife hand from behind.

3.) Your left hand grabs the attacker’s right hand on top of his wrist—so he can’t bend his hand— with your thumb between his third and fourth knuckle on the back of his hand. (See inset 3A.) Both thumbs may be put between his third and fourth knuckles, or you could strike his knife hand with your right kneecap to dislodge the knife.

4.) Step forward with your right foot as your right hand strikes the back of his hand with your thumb still in place.

5.) Pivot your left leg back (as indicated by the arrow) in a counterclockwise direction and push his bent hand with your right hand.

6-7.) Turn his hand in a counterclockwise direction while you continue to pivot your left foot back until you bring your opponent down.

8.) For a wrist-snap or elbow-snap submission, place your right instep tight against his right armpit with your foot on the ground and his elbow just below your kneecap. Keep his wrist bent down (and his arm straight) and turn it to the left as you turn to your left. Have your left leg away from the attacker for balance.

9.) If the attacker still has the knife, take it away from him before releasing him. For the submission (see inset 9A), place your left thumb next to your right thumb behind his hand. This hold also can be used for the throw.

George Kirby’s Top 10 Jujitsu Techniques

Technique No. 1: Shoulder-Lock Hip Throw

Technique No. 2: Rear Leg-Left Throw

Technique No. 3: Basic Drop Throw

Technique No. 4: Elbow Lift

Technique No. 5: Shoulder-Lock Come-Along

Technique No. 6: Shoulder-Lock Rear Takedown

Technique No. 7: Sleeve Pivot Throw

Technique No. 8: Outer Rear Sweeping Throw

Technique No. 9: Armbar Rear Throw

(George Kirby is the author of Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art —Expanded Edition. He is also the co-founder of the American Ju-Jitsu Association, an educational foundation, as well as a tactics consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department and organizer of the popular Camp Budoshin in California.)

In his three-disc martial arts DVD collection, Street Fighting Applications of Wing Chun, Grandmaster William Cheung, the longtime friend and wing chun training partner of Bruce Lee (whom Cheung at one point introduced to Ip Man!), recalls some of his most dangerous street fights and deconstructs the techniques he used to survive the encounters.

WING CHUN DVD PREVIEW | William Cheung Shows You How to Deal with Low Kicks in a Street-Fighting Situation

In Street Fighting Applications of Wing Chun Volume 3: Muay Thai Melee, the narrative backdrop takes place in the spring of 1962 in Sydney. A friend of William Cheung’s who is being bullied by a fighter from Thailand asks the wing chun fighter for help. William Cheung confronts the Thai fighters and his partners, and it is a dangerous situation, pitting the traditional wing chun kung fu expert against three opponents with brass knuckles. As the fight went on, William Cheung was injured but still managed to devise some creative solutions to stay alive.

Learn how he did it in this DVD! In Street Fighting Applications of Wing Chun Volume 3: Muay Thai Melee, wing chun kung fu grandmaster William Cheung covers:

• cross-arm drills for close-quarters fighting
• shin-kick drills
• execution of stances and entry techniques
• dealing with elbow and knee strikes
• defenses against low kicks
• dealing with multiple opponents

William Cheung is a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame (Kung Fu Artist of the Year, 1983), who has trained since the age of 10, originally under the legendary Ip Man. William Cheung currently operates a worldwide network of instructors based in Australia. During his decades of studying martial arts and Chinese medicine, William Cheung has also become an expert in meridians, pressure points and meditation dealing with internal energies. Today, William Cheung’s programs for the treatment of sports injuries and stress-related illnesses using ancient Chinese-medicine remedies are highly sought across the globe.

See what the jujitsu master had to say about the armbar rear throw:

There are many variations of this technique. Once you get the concept of this figure-4 lock down it becomes a very forgiving technique although it must be used carefully. It also has great law-enforcement applications as a takedown and come-along control hold.

Jujitsu Technique No. 9: Armbar Rear Throw

Japanese Translation: UDE GURUMA USHIRO

1) Assume a ready position as you face an attacker.

2) If your attacker swings with an overhead club, cross-block in the same manner as the corkscrew technique.

3) Continue to block with your right forearm while your left hand grabs his right wrist and hand. (The first two fingers of your left hand should be on the back of his right hand.)

4) Release the block with your right forearm and use the outer edge of your right hand to strike down on the attacker’s elbow to bend it. Bend his hand at the same time by pushing with your left hand.

5) Move your right arm under his upper arm and clamp your onto the back of his hand. Simultaneously step forward with your right foot.

6) Step forward with your left foot as your bring both your arms down. CAUTION: Execute this phase slowly and go only as fast as your partner can fall. It is quite possible to tear the shoulder out of its socket.

7) If you choose to do a shoulder-lock submission, drop down with the attacker on your right knee. Your left hand should rest on the back of his elbow. Push his elbow away from you as you pull his wrist toward you for submission. NOTE: This is a very traditional way to learn this shoulder lock. There are numerous variations to setting up this very effective lock.

Learn more jujitsu techniques from George Kirby with our FREE guide—Basic Jujitsu Techniques: 4 Budoshin Moves to Improve Your Jujitsu Weapons Training.

George Kirby’s Top 10 Jujitsu Techniques

Technique No. 1: Shoulder-Lock Hip Throw

Technique No. 2: Rear Leg-Left Throw

Technique No. 3: Basic Drop Throw

Technique No. 4: Elbow Lift

Technique No. 5: Shoulder-Lock Come-Along

Technique No. 6: Shoulder-Lock Rear Takedown

Technique No. 7: Sleeve Pivot Throw

Technique No. 8: Outer Rear Sweeping Throw

(To learn more about these and other basic jujitsu techniques, check out Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art Expanded Edition by George Kirby.)

The outer rear sweeping throw is a simple, easy-to-execute jujitsu move that just about anyone can perform, which is why it’s one of George Kirby’s top 10 jujitsu techniques. Here’s what George Kirby, author of Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art, had to say about this throw:

“As long as you get your body in the right place and position, it’s easy to learn and execute. It’s also easy to change from this technique to a variety of other more devastating techniques if you encounter resistance from your attacker.”

Jujitsu Technique No. 8: Outer Rear Sweeping Throw

Japanese Translation: OSOTO GARI

1) Assume a ready position facing your opponent.

2) Block his right punch outward and to your left with your left forearm. Step in slightly with your left foot to keep your balance.

3) Move your left foot to the outside of his right foot so that your left foot is parallel to or slightly behind his right foot but pointed opposite from his direction.

4) Your right hand reaches across and grabs your attacker’s left lapel to help push him off-balance as your leg comes up to sweep his right leg from behind.

5) Sweep his leg up, causing the attacker to fall backward. Be sure to lean forward to protect your own balance.

6) Drop your right knee into the side of his ribs for a finishing blow.

George Kirby’s Top 10 Jujitsu Techniques

Technique No. 1: Shoulder-Lock Hip Throw

Technique No. 2: Rear Leg-Left Throw

Technique No. 3: Basic Drop Throw

Technique No. 4: Elbow Lift

Technique No. 5: Shoulder-Lock Come-Along

Technique No. 6: Shoulder-Lock Rear Takedown

Technique No. 7: Sleeve Pivot Throw

(George Kirby is a 10^th-degree black belt in jujitsu as well as a Black Belt Hall of Fame Instructor of the Year (2007). He has been teaching the art since 1967. His new book, Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art Expanded Edition,  is available at the Black Belt Store.)

Here is what George Kirby had to say about this sequence:

“One thing Seki always taught us was never to fight our attacker, but to help him. This throw, which uses the same footwork as the basic hand throw, does an excellent job of illustrating Seki’s concept. If an attacker wants to pull you, go with him and then use his energy to execute this throw.”

Jujitsu Technique No. 7: Sleeve Pivot Throw

Japanese Translation: HIKI YOKO NAGE

1)  Assume a ready position facing your attacker.

2) Your attacker grabs your right wrist and pulls you toward him. Do not resist his pull; you’re going to use his strength.

3) Step with your right foot behind the attacker in the direction of his pull, using his pulling force to give you  momentum.

4) Grab his right sleeve or arm as you pivot to your left.

5) Pivot your left foot back, going back on your left knee, and continue pulling his sleeve.

6) When your opponent falls, do not attempt to release your right hand while this technique is being executed. Your hand can be easily turned out once the throw is completed. This throw can be done quite fast and easily if the attacker keeps hold of your right wrist. The throw can still be done if your attacker lets go as long as you’ve made it to step 4.

George Kirby’s Top 10 Jujitsu Techniques

Technique No. 1: Shoulder-Lock Hip Throw

Technique No. 2: Rear Left-Lift Throw

Technique No. 3: Basic Drop Throw

Technique No. 4: Elbow Lift

Technique No. 5: Shoulder-Lock Come-Along

Technique No. 6: Shoulder-Lock Rear Takedown

(George Kirby is the author of Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art Expanded Edition. He is also the co-founder of the American Ju-Jitsu Association, an educational foundation, as well as a tactics consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department and organizer of the popular Camp Budoshin in California.)

Long before Brazilian jiu-jitsu came to the United States, George Kirby wrote a book that would shape America’s understanding of jujitsu for decades to come. A 10th-degree black belt in jujitsu as well as an internationally recognized martial arts instructor and author, George Kirby is the co-founder of American Ju-jitsu Association (an educational foundation of and amateur athletic organization), a tactics consultant for the LAPD and organizer of the popular Camp Budoshin in California.

The following technique is found in chapter 4 . Here is what George Kirby had to say about it:

“I like this technique because it is one of the fastest “judo” type throws out there. Once you get this throw [and its variation down, you’ll be amazed at how effectively you can use an attacker’s momentum to bring him down with very little effort.”

Jujitsu Technique No. 3: Basic Drop Throw

Japanese Translation: TAI-OTOSHI

1) Assume a ready position as your attacker is about to strike.

2)Block his punch away to your left with your left forearm, then

3) slide your left hand down and to grab your attackers sleeve, stepping across with your left foot.

4) Pivot clockwise (to your left) on the ball of your left foot as your right hand grabs your attacker’s clothing on his right shoulder.

5) Lift your right forearm to strike your attacker under the jaw as your right foot blocks his right leg below his knee, as close to his ankle as possible. Your right knee should be bent slightly against his right leg, with your right foot lined up right next to the outside of his right foot. Ideally, your right big toe should be tight next to his right foot little toe. This will guarantee that he is blocked low at his ankle. Before executing the throw, be sure you are balanced. This is initially done by looking directly forward and down. If you can see your left kneecap and the front of your left foot directly below it, you should be well-balanced for the throw. As you develop a feel for the throw, this will no longer be necessary.

6) Strengthen your right leg sharply as you pull with your left hand and push with your right, turning to your left (all at the same time). Be sure to keep your entire body in a straight line from your right foot to your shoulders.

7-8) Once your opponent is down, slide your left hand so that your fingers are underneath. Bring your right thumb and fingers next to your left hand to grab his wrist as you drop down on his biceps (optional move) with your left kneecap for submission. Dropping fast can break his wrist.

George Kirby’s Top 10 Jujitsu Techniques

Technique No. 1: Shoulder-Lock Hip Throw

Technique No. 2: Rear Leg-Lift Throw

Technique No. 3: Basic Drop Throw

Technique No. 4: Elbow Lift

(To learn more about these and other basic jujitsu techniques,
check out Jujitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art Expanded Edition by George Kirby.)