My senior student Bruce couldn’t make it this morning so we didn’t have the mats, and I showed up about ten minutes late – sorry, I overslept!

But it was sunny and quickly warmed up, and there was plenty to work on that did not involve falls. Two people (Leo and Kim) showed up that I have met before but have worked very little with. So I took the opportunity to cover some basic material.

Turns out Leo has done jujitsu and is familiar with the basic concepts. Kim has studied only weapons arts but she works hard and does not complain, which is great.

We worked on a basic Hapkido punch defense that involves a parry and counter punch to the side/stomach. Later we followed that up with an arm bar, elbow strike to the chin, and a take down with a ridge hand to the throat.

I wanted to experiment with a punch defense involving the same basic parry along with a roundhouse kick, then an elbow arm bar. But I realized that I had not taught the elbow arm bar, so we worked on that for a while.

Later we had some fun with two defenses against a double wrist grab from behind. One employs an elevated wrist lock, and the other a cross arm bar.

Lastly we worked on a defense against a sleeve grab at the elbow. The same defense can be used against a hook punch, or a side belt grab (someone who might be going for your knife, baton, gun, mace or even just your cell phone). Essentially it involves trapping the attacker’s hand, palm strike to the chin with a claw hand that digs into the facial acupoints, and an outer reap of the attacker’s leg, followed by a throw.

The defense against a grab to one shoulder from behind uses a very similar response, in which you turn into the attacker, wrap a hand around his waist while employing the chin strike, then as he is unbalanced you release him and let him fall.

Next class is Monday at 6:30 pm and we should have the mats. All are welcome, whether you have attended before or not.

Hapki! (harmonious energy)

Wael