journeyjjbluebelt

Have you ever seen a heavy weight boxing match that goes into late rounds where two fighters clinch out of exhaustion?   After a few seconds, the audience would start to boo, a referee would separate the fighters, and then they would do the clinch a few more times.    Sometimes a fighter would get a second wind and go onto a knock out, but more times than not, the win would be called by a judge.  Boxer clinching occurs often in a street fight; thus, the technique of Esqrima  was reviewed this week.

Esgrima means in Portuguese,  fencing.  This was when two fighters were in the clinch,  one arm over over the opponet’s arm grabbing the back of the bicep, and the other through the arm pit grabbing the back of the shoulder tightly.   If the opponent escaped the clinch, there was danger of an elbow strike.  The head should be tight to the opponent’s shoulder.   Esgrima was a drill when two fighters switch position from shoulder to opposite shoulder without losing position hence the analogy of fencing, back and forth.  We practiced switching sides three times then attempted a cinturada, a throw.  The key, was when the opponent’s shoulder holding arm was not held tight.  This would allow the shoulder hand to easily slip down to the lower back and grap the top of the bicip holding hand, then with the head, over the heart area, presses into the chest while pulling.  This would cause the opponet to fall to the floor.  If the opponent hikes the hips out, then Osto Gari, lift one leg and turn.