Jeet Kune Do's "Disengaging Hand" Technique
The Most Destructive Path to Victory Isn''t Always a Straight Line
By Vincent D'Amore
Jeet kune do's "disengaging hand" maneuver is an excellent entering and striking technique that enables the JKD stylist to follow up with a multitude of body-breaking blows. Part of the attractiveness of the disengaging hand technique, often referred to as jao sao, is its simplicity; it is very easy to learn and execute. Any martial artist, regardless of his style, can benefit from learning the technique.
The disengaging hand maneuver
originates from either a high or low reference point. If, for
example, you jab at your opponent and he responds by blocking the
punch with his lead arm, the two arms will meet and you will be
in the correct reference position. If your opponent does not
block the jab, the strike scores.
It is more realistic to assume,
however, that the opponent will not allow you to hit him without
putting up a defense, and trapping maneuvers such as the
disengaging hand technique will therefore be necessary. Students
will often simply start at this point when learning the
disengaging hand maneuver. Advanced students, however, can assume
a high reference point via some sort of combative motion, which
helps heighten their timing and reflexes.
To execute the disengaging hand
technique after your unsuccessful jab, take the hand that has
just crashed into the opponent's blocking arm, disengage from the
opponent, circle your arm to the outside, and hit your foe on a
line parallel with the ground, yet out of the opponent's field of
peripheral vision. Your rear hand is raised to check the
opponent's lead arm as you disengage from his block. Your lead
leg should be brought to a checking position, protecting against
the opponent's lower weapons; you don't want to lose the fight
because your opponent, falling back from your attack, lifts his
leg and strikes your groin as he retreats. Strike the opponent
not with your fingers, but rather your fist, a ridgehand, or a
cupped palm. The primary targets are the ear, temporomandibular
joint, tem- ple, and side of the neck. A forceful blow to the ear
can rupture the eardrum or tympanic membrane. Even a lighter blow
to the ear will cause disorientation and a prolonged ringing. If
the opponent makes the mistake of blocking your ear strike with
his lead hand, he crosses his centerline, leaving the entire side
of his face open to a rear-hand cross, palm strike, or eye jab.
When practicing this disengaging
maneuver with a partner, simply strike his shoulder, rather than
a more delicate target, to allow him to feel the force that can
be generated. "One should bring up the training intensity
only as high as he wishes to receive the blows himself,"
warns Neil Cauliffe, a New York-based jeet kune do instructor.
Secondary targets from the jao
sao maneuver include a low-line strike to the opponent's groin.
By striking in an upward motion with either a palm, ridgehand or
fist, you can generally deter you opponent from further
aggression. Once the groin strike has landed, any necessary
follow-up blows can be easily executed. If the strike is somehow
thwarted, you can immediately return to a primary target or
employ one of JKD's many limb-destruction techniques. For
training purposes, the palm can be delivered safely to the
opponent's inner-thigh when executing the low-line jao sao
maneuver.
Your hand can also disengage
from the opponent and be moved inside of his arms to strike his
eyes. This technique is known as huen sao.
Even if your opponent responds
successfully to your initial disengaging hand maneuver, you are
prepared to follow up immediately with another technique. If, for
example, he blocks your ear strike with his rear hand, you can
easily follow up with a low-line strike to his groin. Similarly,
if he blocks a groin technique, you can go follow up with a high
strike to his ear.
A popular follow-up technique to
a checked jao sao strike is the jut sao (jerking hand) maneuver.
This is a slapping motion with both hands delivered to the
outside of an opponent's arms. The force of the jut sao blow
generally snaps the opponent's head forward, leaving him
vulnerable to a neck chop and follow-up head butt to the face or
a knee to the groin.
Jeet kune do's disengaging hand
maneuver is a simple yet devastatingly effective technique that
can give you a distinct advantage when fighting from trapping
range. Not only can it be used to gain access to your opponent
for an initial strike, but it paves the way for a variety of
effective follow-up techniques. For street combat, it is
difficult to find a more complete technique than JKD's
disengaging hand maneuver.
Excerpted from BlackBelt Magazine
Designed by Ovidiu Semenea
