[2.2.0] Wansu Section-2 Bunkai (Counter to a Wrist Grab)

[Source:] Jujitsu Black-belt

Rating: Difficult

Part-1 Attacker Grabs Your Wrist

Part-2 Defender: Remove Attacker’s Grasp, Wristlock, and Sweep

• Peel the attacker’s hand by placing your hand on top and pull your trapped hand free by applying pressure to the attacker’s thumb.

Note: If the attacker reaches forward to regain control, slap his/her hand away with the forearm of the hand that was just freed.

• Trap the attacker’s hand and peel the attacker’s thumb back.
• Sweep the attacker’s leg. (Osoto-gari)

Note: This is the big sweeping technique in the first portion of the kata.

• Maintain the wristlock and apply pressure downward and snap it backwards quickly.

Note: The turning of the hips and shoulders on a forty-five-degree angle increases the pressure on the lock.

Theory: This move is somewhat circular but has the appearance, in the kata, of a low block. It is not a wholly muscle or power technique. It is a finesse movement and uses speed to cause pain. The sweep is somewhat of a distraction, so the resistance to the lock is reduced. The sweep has a dual purpose and can break the attacker’s balance even though that is not its’ primary purpose.

Rule: Locks are only temporary techniques that set up a larger response. A lock is not an ending attack. It can be used to hold an attacker at bay until help arrives, but it is not wholly designed to end a confrontation.

Part-3 Defender: Wristlock and Punch to the Attacker’s Chin:

Theory: The sweeping of the attacker’s leg is a distraction, but if the technique is delivered with enough force, it can break the attacker’s balance. Mainly you want to take their attention away from the outward wristlock. The wristlock is a distraction to set-up the knockout punch. The wristlock is simply a form of opponent control. Pain can be used to move an adversary into a position that opens a knock-out point.

Theory: You show them one thing while setting up something else. It is all sleight of hand. As the attacker is reacting to having his/her balance broken, rotate your hips and vertical snap punch the attacker.  (Solar plexus, throat, or chin)

Note: The attacker should stagger, fall backwards, or drop to their knees after the impact.

Part-4 Attacker: Regains Balance and Counterpunches:

Part-5 Defender: Low Block and Reverse Punch

• Low Forearm-block the adversary’s punch.
• Snap the second reverse punch to face as your block is withdrawn.

Theory: A block does not stop a strike. A block deflects and redirects and attack. The more the attacker commits to the punch the more their body can be turned or manipulated. This enables you to deliver a block that can position the adversary for your counterattack. To ensure the block is delivered properly, in a real event, you must practice your blocks. In class, the hip rotation, shoulder rotation, and weight transfer are practiced until they stop in one fluid motion.

Theory: The punches in Isshin-ryu karate are shot out quickly and are returned back as fast as they moved forward. Isshin-ryu uses snap punches and not power punches. Snapping techniques are more difficult to redirect. Snapping kicks and punches have a twofold advantage over a powering thrust punch or kick. The first is the impact of pushing an attacker’s body inwards. The second is when the punch is withdrawn quickly and the body snaps back into its’ original position. Remove the hand quick enough and the body returns to its’ original state quickly like elastic snapping back into place.

[End Series]