To grab or not to grab, there is no question

Pr, regarding hooking the ear. I have been trying to do what you describe on my ear and i cant get a good enough grip on my ear to affect my self before my hand slips off. You say lock the palm on the head what do you mean by that?

Unless i drill a hole halfway to the void were my brain should be i dont have enough purchase to hang on to.

 

You should be careful practicing this stuff on yourself. If you start to feel light headed, stop and don't do it again for a few weeks. Or just use the 3 out of 10 rule (practice 3 times with controlled realistic force and seven times with light force, then stop).

I don't know what RP told you but I'm guessing you are pushing your fingers into the ear with constant pressure. That's where I would start. Then the palm over your eye socket, drop the palm down slightly so that you stick to the cheek bone (e.g. your cheek bone fits in your palm like a glove). Place your thumb on your forehead.

Now I'm not telling you what to do, just saying if I did it, how it might be done

Don't hurt yourself

 

LOL

Which hand on what ear? How strong and flexible are the first joints of your fingers? Not sure you are envisioning it right but I just tried it on myself and it works.

 

I can't but wonder how many people are reading this thread, trying to hook their ears.

 

Right hand right ear. Ill admit i have poor grip thanks to carpal tunnel(getting fixed soon though). What i was trying was a clamping motion with my thumb and first finger. My finger in he ear canal and thumb outside behind he lobe on the back were the lobe meets the skull. Were i am running into problems is my as increase the pulling on my ear like im imitating off balancing, my finger starts to slip out of the whole.

 

Since Kframe tricked me into trying it, two at least. I feel so sullied and sinful. I was always taught that these kinds of things should be done with a partner, I hope I'm not going to visit :evil: because of my transgression.

Wrong, right hand left ear or right ear left hand. You're supposed to be thinking about doing it on the other guy. You hook the four fingers behind the ear and the thumb and palm go forward towards the hooking fingers to clamp it in. You wouldn't pull, that's the whole point. The fingers are there to basically keep the ear in place, not to try to grab it. If my hand was in the position you were trying to do it from, I wouldn't even try to get the ear, probably the jaw or cheek.

 

maybe we should all practice like in Turkey so we dont rely on gripping

http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC...stling/ss-140625-turkish-oil-wrestling-03.jpg

http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC...kish-oil-wrestling-02.nbcnews-ux-1360-900.jpg

 

I thought this may be of some relevance.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDOVVBMclEY"]Head Control with Ervin Brandon 9/1/14 Washington Judo Club - YouTube[/ame]

Some perspective: the chief instructor of this club, James Takemori, is a Kodokan 8th dan, and was praised by Donn Draeger in his book about training methods.

(Yes, yes, I know this is being seen by fifteenth dans, but viewing the student of a junior can still be beneficial. )

 

Hey KFrame, since RP gave you direction, I have to let you know that my goal was to find a safer way for you to get the idea of grips and finger holds used for grabbing. The spot below the ear on the back of the jawline is pretty well known, but when using that spot, the thumb tends to go into the eye socket which is dangerous. I just shifted the hand position to inside the ear and the forehead for safety. Since the fingers and thumbs are used in this manner, it is a grab, not a hook. Grabs do not pull or push but they squeeze.

Also if you use jerky motions that can lead to self injury or injury of your partner during training.

If you don't use the thumb, but only the fingers (such as in a Gable grip), this is a stronger more relaxed grip more like a hook. This is applied more like striking since you want to engage extension (the straightening of your arm) for the leverage after you get your hook in, IME.

If you hook (not grab) right hand to below left ear/back of jaw it is like RPs description.

If you hook right hand to below right ear/back of jaw, your right elbow needs to come up as if you were elbowing someone to the side over your right shoulder. This leaves you in a slightly vulnerable position because your elbow is up.

 

The place he was showing on the jawline is very close to the pressure point I was talking about, as was his hand position to the strike we do there(Koto ryu basics).

I wouldn't suggest practicing these kinds of things on yourself or others until you got qualified supervision in person, and never without safety foremost. You can hook your right ear with your right hand, I wouldn't in general though. You can keep your elbow down as you do the second part of the lock(for leverage and protection) and still get a so so hook(so if someone was behind and attacked you and you happened to hook the ear as you reached back) with your palm, but your fingers need to move like you are rotating those Chinese balls I mentioned before.