Joint Locks Are Useful In Submission Wrestling

Joint Locks Are Useful In Submission Wrestling

A joint lock is one way to make your opponent surrender in submission wrestling because if they don’t, whatever part of the body you focused on will be dislocated.

But what is a joint lock? This happens when you let the opponent’s joint reach its breaking point which in most cases causes extreme pain or injury. In competition, this may mean losing but it is much better than going home with a dislocation or broken bone.

There are literally hundreds of ways to perform a lock to the joint. In competition, one thing you cannot do is apply a lock to the fingers or toes.

Since joint locks are very specific, you have to practice it carefully. The only way to do that is to learn from a coach and then practice this with a sparring partner. You should be aware when your partner says enough because they could get hurt and it will take a long time for this to heal and no one will want to be your next sparring partner.

One part of the body where the joint lock is allowed during competition is the wrist. This is because the wrist is quite flexible so injuries are not that common. The same thing can also be done with the ankles and elbow. By using your hand and body weight, you can cause the person to reverse their movement or submit if this was done efficiently.

Lets try to apply this in an actual scenario. If someone attacks you, chances are they are going to throw a punch at you. When this happens, be ready to take it with a check or block then feed it into an arm bar. Once you achieve this, use your other fist to smash down on the opponent’s outstretch elbow.

This is probably too extreme so let’s try something else. Instead of punching the outstretched arm, you bring that arm to his back. You can stay in that position until help arrives or let go once you tell the person to get on the ground.

But you don’t always have to execute a joint lock to make your opponent submit. You can also do this by focusing on the different pressure points in the body.

Pressure points are areas of the body that have large concentration of nerve endings. When applied, that person will most likely go in the opposite direction similar to what happens when you put your hand on a hot pan.

The only difference here is that your opponent cannot get away so quickly since you are the only in control. This means you can make the person do whatever you want like move in a certain direction.

Joint locks and pressure points are just some of the tactics you can use to defeat an opponent in competition or in real life. During a tournament, you do it not to break their arm but to make them submit so you can win the event. Out in the streets, you do it to survive so you don’t become a victim.

Submission wrestling is adapted from any martial arts which is there are hundreds of techniques from chokes, holds and locks. You may not learn all of them but just enough to win a fight or survive.