Taekwon-Do and Ground Fighting

Best Positions in Grappling

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Sanko Lewis

TAEKWON-DO is primarily a s triking art. This me ans that the bulk of our arsenal focuses on strikes and kicks, rather than on gra ppling. Nevertheless, Taekwon-Do does include joint locks, joint breaks and ground fighting techniques. In the ITF Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1, p. 21), in the sectio n discussing the definition of Taekwon -Do, the following is written: Thus taken collectively "Taekwon-Do" indicates the mental training and the techniques of unarmed combat for selfdefence as well as health, involving the skilled application of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges with bare hands and feet to the rapid destruction of the moving opponent or opponents. The emph asis is clearly on pu nches, ki cks, blocks and dod ges and aga inst movingopponents. For this reason, Taekwon-Do spends a lot of time learning how to be swiftfooted. The Taekwon-Doin must be light on the feet and have great (static and dynamic) balance. Through the ma stery of dodging te chniques th e T aekwon-Doin lea rns h ow to keep a safe distance, especially avoiding being taken down to the floor. The rea soning behin d Tae kwon-Dos fo cus on striking and kicking, rather tha n on grappli ng, is that gra ppling usually limi ts your defence to a single opp onent. While grappling it is p ractically impossible to fight more than on e o pponent, be cause groun d fighting seri ously limits your mobility. On the other ha nd, a st and-up fighter is more mo bile, and althou gh it is difficult, a standing fighter has a better chance against multiple opponents than a reclining fighter does. However, fig hts are u npredictable an d the unfore seeable does happ en. Therefo re, it is important to have some knowledge of ground fighting. The ITF Encyclopaedia states (Vol. 4, p. 321): The student of Taekwo n-Do shoul d b e abl e to m eet an op ponent or opponents even in a reclining position. Being primarily stri kers, Taekwon-Doin shoul d fo cus o n using thei r fa miliar weapons while o n t he g round. The ITF Encyclopaedia list s m any st rikes a nd ki cks ( excluding elbowing a nd kne eing) that can be perfo rmed from a reclining position. Taekwon-Dos Theory of Power should be employed a s far as possible even in this clo se ra nge of combat. Students can ask their instructors to cover some of the gro und t echniques (noowo gi sool) fou nd in t he ITF Encyclopaedia.

A fore-knuckle fist punch performed on the ground as shown in the ITF Encyclopaedia.

Some extra knowledge of traditional grappling techniques may also come in handy. Periodically I will supply so me thoughts, theories or techniques for fighting on t he ground. Some of them will be purely Taekwon-Do based, while others may be a fusion of Taekwon-Do principles and other grappling arts, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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As an introduction to ground fighting, I wish to describe the four best positions for grappling.

Rear-mount
Probably the most important rule in fighting is not to show yo ur back to yo ur opponent. Not only d oes this blind you to what your opponent is up to, it also negates most of you r defensive tools. This is even truer on the ground. From this rule, we can deduce that prob ably the best po sition to be in, in grou nd fighting, is to have you r opp onents back fa cing you. The rear-mount 1 position i s con sidered the safe st and most advantageous position in grappling. From the rea r-mount it is very difficult for the enemy to defend hi mself. You shoul d positio n yourself clo se against the b ack of your opponent with you r le gs wrapped a round him. Yo ur h eels (not your to es!) should be h ooked in side the oppon ents leg s. Do not cro ss your ankles as thi s will give you r opponent th e opp ortunity to do an ankle lo ck. To secure the positio n one arm wrap s under the opponents a rmpit, an d th e othe r a rm around th e opponents n eck. The h ands should be cla sped in an opposing thumbs grip 2 with the thumbs tuck ed in. (This gri p will hide away all your fin gers so that the opponent cannot easily break your fingers as a counter-attack defence.)

This position is considered a rear-mount regardless if you are sitting, lying with your back on the floor or if the opponent is raised up on his hands and knees.

From the rear-mount you can ea sily do a rea r naked choke 3 , and quickly re nder your opponent unconscious by cutting off the bl ood flow to his brain usually this does not cau se any serious injury, but be careful nonetheless when training. Many Taekwon-Do striking techniques are possible from the rear-mount position, but they should be train ed with caution, a s they a re all potentially le thal. Leani ng a little back you ca n u se the elbow to strike vital spots such as the occiput and cervix. Other possible attacks from this position includes a mi ddle-knuckle turning punch or a side-fist (ha mmer fist) in ward strike to the temple and angle of mandible, or a knife-hand inward strike for the neck arteries.

(Front) Mount
The mount or mounted position is probably the most famous of the grappling positions. To do the mount, sit on your opp onents t orso facing t owards his head. Place your knees as hig h a s possible to your opponents armpits. The position can be kept loosely to allow the opponent to turn if he wants to; in which case he will be opening his back an d you can e asily slip into the rea r-mount position and disable him with a
The rear-mount is also known as the back-mount. To make an opposing thumbs grip place your palms on top of each other so that your thumbs point away from one another. Now curl the fingers of both hands and hook them into each other to make a tight ball. Also tuck your thumbs in so that they cannot easily be grasped and bent over. 3 The rear naked choke (often abbreviated as RNC) is also known as the naked strangle, sleeper hold, hadaka jime (Japanese) or mata leo (Portuguese). We will look at how to perform this technique in a future issue of The Sidekick.
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rear na ked choke. In the mount, it is alway s important to keep good po sture with your bac k straight, keeping your head out of reach from the opponents attack attempts. The m ount i s considered the m ost dominant position because it allows you a variety of strikes and joint attacks, but the opp onent is not necessarily able to effectively count er-strike. From thi s po sition, you can fully use TaekwonDos Theory of Power, a ccelerating y our m ass behind your pun ches and elbow stri kes: posture your body back and then drop your whole weight behind you r tech nique (eg. pu nches or elbo w strikes), getting the greatest amount of downward momentum.

Guard
If ever you find yourself on the bo ttom, then you want to be in th e guard position. Being on the floor is neve r ideal, but at least the gua rd will give you a bit more defence-manoeuvrability, than when you are mounted by your enemy. When your o pponent is in your guard and your fe et are lo cked behind his back, this po sition is called a closed guard (as illustrated in the pictur e below). If your legs are not locked, the positi on is called an open guard. With your opponent this close, it i s preferable to lock yo ur feet tog ether behind your opponents b ack (clo sed guard) to p revent him from simply pushin g your knees do wn and stepping over in order to mount you. With your legs wrapped around your opponent, you have some control over his movement. If your opponent attempts to pu nch you, yo u can push hi m a way with yo ur thi ghs. From th e closed guard you can defend against punches and try arm locks o r othe r self-defen ce and counter-attack techniques.

If you are on the floor and your opp onent is not ye t on top of you , yet he is too clo se for y ou to safely get on your feet, you may a ssume a variatio n of the ope n gua rd, which I term the legguard. While lying on yo ur back raise yourself up on your el bows and lift you r legs as a n atural barrier between yourself and your opponent. When your opponent tries to circle around your legs use you r elb ows to shift you into the d efensive position facing your opponent and usi ng your legs to guard.

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From the l eg-guard ma ny of Taekwon -Dos ground kicking tech niques ( noowo bal gisool) can be used to attack you r opponent if he com es t o clo se. Ob vious targets a re your opponents knees, i nner thigh s, an d genitalia. The pic ture on the left, from the ITF Encyclopaedia, depicts a g round fro nt sn ap ki ck ( noowo apcha busigi), aimed at the solar plexus of an atta cker that closed in to mount the de fender. Fo r b etter thru st, the defend er has raised himself onto his pal ms and stationary leg, pushing more body weight into the technique.

Side-control
The lea st do minant of the favourable g round po sitions is the side-control (aka sid e-mount or cross-mount). Fighters grappling may often find themselve s in such a side-by-side situation. To smother their opponents defensive techniques the side-control is used. Although the side-control is the lea st d ominant g round po sitions, it neverthele ss all ows for con siderable control over the opponent on the bottom. With the leg s free, it is a stable position from wh ere the top fighter (the one that has the side-control) ca n do elbo ws, kne es, some arm -locks and also shift into the mount. To a ssume the si de-control, stretch o ut your to rso diagonally over your opponents chest. Place your elb ow o n the gro und in the hollow formed by your op ponents head and should er (as in the picture) and put your oth er palm on the ground on the near side of the op ponent. Keep y our l eg nearest to th e opp onent straig ht and bent the other leg so that the knee is close to the opponents hip. Lower your hips and drop your weight o nto the ene my, weighing him down like a wet blanket. Keep your head down to avoid knee kicks. From this po sition, it is relatively easy to get up on your feet aga in. In a self-defence situati on, make sure that you have stunned or incapacitated your opponent so that he does not immediately continue his assault, giving you some extra time to retreat to safety.

Conclusion
It is a good idea to spend some time getting use to the feel of these ground-fighting positions and familiarize yourself with the different Ta ekwon-Do strikes and kicks that can b e performed from each. In con clusion, remember t hat a s Tae kwon-Do pra ctitioners we want to spend the le ast amount of time on the ground, because your opponent may have friends. Therefore, when you do find yourself in these more favourable ground positions make ample use of them, however get on your feet as soon as possible thereafter. Please Support us And Visit MartialArtsHeadquarters.net
References: ITF Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1, 3 & 4. Soo Shim Kwan Colour Belt Handbook. 2006, version 2. US Military Combatives Field Manual (FM 3-25.150) Www.Wikipedia.Org Boosabumnim Sanko Lewis is chairman of the SA-ITFs Information Directorate and kwanjangnim of the Soo Shim Kwan. He is currently teaching English and Religion in the Republic of Korea.

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