MILITARY CQC/ LEG LOCKS

 PART-1  “Heel Hooks”

 Author: Odhinn Kohout

I am focusing on some training specific to Military personnel in these next blogs due to the fact that it involves damaging/breaking the foot or knee of the Attacker.

 I am not going to get into the basics of what a heel-hook is or how to apply one (as you can find this information anywhere on line) but there are many different types and positions.

 You can see in this picture that the Soldier is applying the heel hook from a "traditional" position that most people are aware of if you have seen a televised MMA event on TV.

While this is effective, I prefer to teach a "standing or kneeling" position in our courses due to the mobility problems of wearing heavy gear/kit. Using any type of leg lock from standing also gives the Soldier an easy way to break off the attack and transition to a shooting platform if necessary.

I have taken some pictures of a few of the heel hook variations that I teach in our Military classes and will provide an explanation of each one.

HEEL HOOK 1 “Modified Gable”

 

With the position of my hands in the photo you will be attacking the “right leg” of the bad guy. His right foot should be under your right arm pit with only his heel sticking out below you. Your elbows need to be tight against your side and not move. The only thing that you will move once this heel hook is applied is your hips which will rotate to the right or clock wise if 12 o’clock is represented by his heel.

Your left thumb should cut upward on a 90 deg under the bone of the heel prior to using the gable grip. It also helps to pull your left should back (rear deltoid) as hard as possible and then rotate your hips as this will ensure that the foot is tightly trapped against your side and will make the break easier when you rotate.

NOTE OF CAUTION: Never twist your hips faster than your training partner can follow the rotational axis of the lock when practicing. Instructors must realize that the bones will break usually before there is a great deal of pain so you cannot judge when to release it on your training partner by how much discomfort they are in. Perform the lock slowly with attention to detail and you will FEEL when the bones have locked (including the knee) and ensure that you do not go beyond this point of flexion when practicing.

HEEL HOOK 2 “Compression Lock”

  

 

This heel hook will require you to switch your hand positions so that your right hand at the thumb is under his heel bone and locks to your right bicep into a figure-4 configuration. To complete the lock all you need to do is flex your left bicep as hard as you can.

NOTE OF CAUTION: This lock surprises Soldiers when I demonstrate it because of the intense pain and pressure that accompanies it when it is applied correctly. It works the same way as a triangle choke does through compression. The foot is in the middle of the triangle so when you flex your bicep the triangle shrinks causing the vector of force to be placed directly under the heel bone.

 You must practice this lock slowly as it will break the knee, ankle or bones of the foot (metatarsals) very quickly.

HEEL HOOK 3 “Bow Tie”

In this last lock the heel bone of your opponent becomes a fulcrum point to break the bones. The left forearm runs flat against the side of the Attacker’s right foot and presses down towards the ground. Alternately you will use your right hand to pull up on the bone of the heel at the same time. This push/pull will cause severe damage to the many parts of the foot and leg and uses only hip (core) strength to facilitate the lock. You do not use any arm strength whatsoever to perform any of these locks.

FULLKIT: All of these techniques can be done wearing gear in which upward mobility has been restricted do to plates or other ballistic gear, ammo pouches etc.

Train hard guys but don’t hurt your partner.

House/Cell Extractions without riot gear…

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Equipment used for cell extractions (helmets, shields, pepper-ball guns) are not common place or readily available to most Agencies. There are some simple and yet effective ways to remove a violent person under arrest while keeping him and your Officers injury free.

PRONE POSITION:

The prone position is your goal. It offers the easiest way to get the cuffs on and keep the badguy under control before they are moved. But how do we get the inmate to this position?

GUARD:

Inmates who train in some sort of ground fighting will be used to fighting from their back and other transitions from the guard so this is not the place to try and perform arrest/control tactics. Taking them out of their comfort zone will even the playing field and lessen the chance of them countering  your Officer’s extraction tactics.

CRADLE FROM SIDE CONTROL (underhook -1):

If you are working from sidecontrol, underhook his leg closest to you at the ANKLE and not under the KNEE. The reason is that your arms are not as strong as his legs so stay away from the power of his hamstrings and avoid the knee. (I know of an instance in which a friend had his bicep ripped off the bone by violating this. Underhooking at the ankle will prevent him from kicking his leg free and this combined with underhooking his head with your support arm will trap him into a very tight package. I have used this many times with a high percentage of success so I can assure you that it works.

Once you have used a Gable grip to secure both of your hands into a cradle THEN…it is safe to go behind the attacker’s knee to maintain the cradle. Because his body is compressed into a ball it is very difficult to get muscle leverage to kick free. I have posted a picture from one of my Military classes to illustrate this concept.

UNDERHOOK TRANSITIONS TO PRONE:

Entering from the  “Guard” position while using this underhook transition can lead to many different secure ankle locks.  The first picture shows one of my students using a bent ankle lock.

 

These locks can enable “two Officers” to control the suspect by dividing his body into two distinct quadrants. The Bottom half has one Officer sitting on the badguy’s hips (keeping him proned) while the Officer at the top places handcuffs on.

 

Give these positions a try in your next CQC class. Be safe and train for combat!

Takedowns and Throws

 “Breaking the Triangle”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

When it comes to understanding throws and takedowns I have found that an easy way to translate this information to my students is through explaining how the body (biped) forms triangles to maintain balance.

From a shooting platform it is apparent, if we look at not only the position of the feet in this picture but also the arms in relation to controlling the carbine. The triangles which are formed create a strong structure and offer stability.

 

From the perspective of CQC we want to disrupt the triangle of balance (isosceles) from both feet of the attacker so that we can affect some type of arrest/control in combat. I have drawn some quick gestures of bodies in different poses and illustrated where the triangles form in red so that they are easily visible. 

  

Takedowns:

When taking a person down to the ground (for example with an under-hook off a clinch) you must look at where his foot position is in relation to the point of the triangle (The feet represent the BASE of the triangle) therefore you should be pulling him down onto the point so that his body will not be able to re-form the triangle and remain standing.

Throws:

This is the same general idea only you are either stepping onto the point  (I.E. a hip throw) or you are stepping into the triangle and throwing him before he can step out and reform his base. Many throws in wrestling and Judo starting from inside the thigh of your opponent will use this principle.

Experiment with these in your next class to see what a difference these small changes can make to your teaching of takedowns with your Officers.

Merry Christmas!

Extraction Tactics/ Car, Cell and Street (Part-2)

“Vehicle Extractions / Unarmed Tactics ”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Space is restrictive when dealing with removing a person from a vehicle and because of this it is very difficult to get much leverage. Due to the fact that you are leaning in with your hips back, the Officer also risks injury to his lower back if he is trying to use only brute strength to pull the occupant towards him. Think of it as trying to do a dead lift with the barbell a foot or more away from your shins.

Suspect hand positions:

The far hand may be hidden from view either down by the suspects side or grabbing the back of the seat. As you enter past the door frame to secure the person under arrest anticipate a sucker punch attack or sudden appearance of a weapon from this hidden hand.

Seat Belts:

It may seem obvious but…under stress with an elevated heart-rate causing tunnel vision you may not see that the criminal is wearing a seatbelt. It will be impossible to extract the bad guy unless it has been removed. 

Extraction Technique 1/ Head & Arm Triangle:

Once the seat belt has been removed a very secure way to maintain control over the person to be extracted is to use a gable grip with a head/arm triangle. This will give you control over the head and near arm as a secure “handle” to pull the occupant towards you. Concentrating on the arm alone is not enough as the drive will instinctively pull his body weight away to the passenger side.

   

 

Extraction Technique 1/ Cross Face:

From the same entry we can use our left hand to “cross-face” the driver under his left side “malar bone” (cheek) affecting the nerve and going behind the neck with the right hand securing a gable grip. As we have noted in previous training blogs the reflexive response of the person being cross-faced is to reach up and grab the hands to release the pain. This will maintain the subject’s hands in plain view so that you can clearly see them at all times during the extraction.

These two techniques present minimal risk of any injury and are pain compliance in nature. They are easy to teach and can be performed under stress due to being gross motor skill based. We will look at additional extraction methods from vehicles in future articles.

 

     

Have a safe Christmas!

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Extraction Tactics/ Car, Cell and Street (Part-1)

“The Turtle Position from the Street”

When a person resists arrest they will sometimes go down on all fours with their arms and knees tucked in tight to their body in what is commonly known as the “turtle position.”

This seemingly innocent position can potentially be very dangerous to the Officer as the criminal may use this as a ruse and in fact be hiding weapons which the Officer cannot see. From this position if the bad-guy can roll onto his side he will be able to draw down on the Officer who will be momentarily startled and caught off guard making him an easy target.

How to do you safely control the position?

In previous articles we discussed the “cross-face” techniques and from the position of the turtle it presents a perfect opportunity to use it. Most people will try and pull the suspects arms away from his body but from a bio-mechanical standpoint this is very difficult as when the elbows are tucked into the body it is not arm strength (forearm, bicep and tricep) which holds them taught but rather the core.

When criminals are placed in a crossface you should always be thinking of moving more to the back of the attacker as opposed to the side. The reason for this is when the crossface is performed the reflexive response will be to grab the hands and rise upward to try and alleviate the pain, This is in fact what you want…

·         If the attacker grabs your hands then... he is not able to manipulate a weapon so you now know where his hands are positioned

·         Rising up off the ground should be goal as he is facilitating the extraction from off the street

Cross-Face Position:

Your attack hand should always be thumb up using the first digit bone of your thumb under the cheekbone of the Attacker. Keep your arm tight to your side as you do this so that you are lifting him with the added power of your hips and using minimal arm strength.

Gable Grip:

You can add extra power to the crossface by using your support hand to gable grip directly under the cheekbone. This can also lead to many different neck cranks as well which we will explore in future articles.

Head Locks:

From the turtle you can also perform a headlock away from the attacker which is referred to as a “Bulldog” headlock. In certain types of wrestling this can be worse by performing this headlock with both of your feet planted on the floor also facing in the opposite direction, You can use your feet to push towards the attacker getting traction from the surface.

If he attempts to roll with the headlock you can transition to the head/arm position and many variations of arm triangles

The Hips:

Pulling his hips towards you will not only give you his back but set up the bad guy for a cross-body/side control arm lock finish or maintain side-mount and finish the arrest control with a chicken wing/ figure-4 arm lock from the North/South position. Your kneed from North/South should be on either side of his face which open up “clock-head scissors” and other unique locks using your legs to employ neck cranks.

Be wary of the turtle position so that you remain vigilant to weapons which may be placed inside the front of his pants and are easily accessible.

Train hard, be safe