The Complete Book of Wrist Locks

By

Grandmaster
Dr. Ted
Gambordella
Everything you need to know about Wrist Locks.
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF WRIST LOCKS

By

Grandmaster Dr. Ted Gambordella

I have always loved to do wrist locks since I first began my martial arts training
over 35 years ago. From the very beginning I knew that wrist locks were one
of the most effective control techniques of the Martial Arts and one that didn’t
require a lot of strength, speed or stamina. But they did require a lot of
practice. For even the simplest wristlock is very sophisticated and though they
may look very simple to the average observer they are in fact very difficult to
master. It is always very funny to watch a great aikido or jiu-jitsu master doing
some marvelous wristlock, causing great pain and anguish to the student and to
then have the other students try to do the same thing. They never get it right
and never make it look so simple. That is the beauty of wrist locks, they look
so easy, yet they require significant practice to master.

I decided to write this book on wrist locks to teach the beginning student the
correct ways to practice wrist locks and the correct applications of basic and
advanced wrist locks. You will learn the CORRECT way to start and finish all
wrist locks. You will also learn the correct way to practice the wrist locks. And
you will learn to finish the wrist locks, standing up and from the ground. You
will not learn to do unrealistic wrist locks that are too complex for the average
person to do and would in fact require years of hard training. You will be able
to do all the wrist locking techniques found in this book after only a few weeks
of practice and they will all be effective control and self defense technique
against even the largest of opponents.

An important reminder to students while practicing their wrist locks. You must
learn to do the wristlock correctly and this means you MUST CAUSE PAIN to
the wrist when you are applying the wristlock. It does not do the student trying
to learn any good at all to have his partner tap out when they start the wrist
lock, at the first start of feeling any pain. They must feel the pain, and the
student practicing must know what it feels like to cause the pain and how they
started the technique and where and when the pain came in. You must not
intentionally hurt your partner, but you must hurt them a little to learn to do the
wrist locks correctly. This might sound contradictory, when I say you must
hurt them but you must not hurt them intentionally. But you will understand
after you begin your practice. You must learn where and when the pain comes
in and how start and stop the pain. You must learn control. And that takes
practice and patience and a good partner.
 Basic Wrist locking Positions

The human wrist is a marvelous thing. It can bend forward and backwards,
and make circles right and left. It can bend up and down and a little
sideways, but it definitely has it limitations on where and how far it can bend
in any of these directions. And the entire art of wrist locking is in knowing
how and where to over bend and over stretch the wrist to cause severe and
immense pain and disable or control your attacker.

Lets look at the ways to bend a wrist so that pain is caused and one can
begin control techniques.

The Wrist does not like to

fen straight backwards. To
do the backwards wrist lock.
You hold the back of the
hand directly facing you and
push straight backwards.
 The wrist does not like to bend straight to
the side.

The wrist does not like to bend

straight forward.

The wrist does not like to bend

straight backwards.

The wrist hates to bend straight

up and down.
 The wrist does not like to bend
backwards and to the side.
This is the first technique we
will learn.

Start by bending the wrist straight

back with your left wrist. Keep the
thumb on the back of the wrist, and
bring your right hand up to the side
and start pushing backwards and
\ down to the right.

Keep the pressure doing

down and to the right, and
point the fingers of the right
hand towards the ground.
 The continue down and outside pressure will throw him to the ground directly in
front of you, You them hold the wrist and step around across and over his face.

This will force him to roll over to his face and then you pull up on the wrist and lock it
backwards as you apply pressure on the elbow and shoulder.
 Continue to hold pressure on
the elbow and shoulder and
step over the arm to lock you
leg around it.

You may continue to bend the

wrist with the left hand as you
apply pressure on the elbow
joint with your leg.

You can finish the hold by

locking the wrist severely
over and bending the arm
across your leg. Continual
pressure will break the
wrist, the elbow and the
shoulder.
You start by holding the wrist with your thumb and fingers locking around the wrist
bone and bringing your other hand up to start bending the wrist straight up directly
in front of your body.

By continuing the pressure up you will force the man to the ground and then you can
step across and around to his back. Keeping the wrist locked and the elbow locked by
applying pressure to the side.

You can finish by locking the elbow and wrist and pushing
forward to break them both.
 A more painful variation of the side
wristlock is done by applying more
pressure to the wrist by bending the
elbow towards the wrist.

As you start to bend the wrist straight up,

you grab the inside of the elbow and
begin to pull the elbow towards your
body and his wrist.

As you continue your pressure he

will drop to the ground in front of
you where you can finish him by
breaking the wrist.
 The inner wrist lock is started by holding the wrist of the partner and then
stepping under his arm while pulling up on the wrist and locking it to the side.

Pressure is applied by turning the wrist in towards his body. Keeping the elbow very high.

Finish the move by dropping to the knee and flipping him over to the ground.
The basic backwards wrist lock is done by holding the wrist with both hands and
pushing straight back and down. This locks the wrist and the elbow.

The basic upper wrist lock is done by holding the wrist with both hands,
stepping in and lifting directly up while pushing back on the elbow to keep it
flat and keep the wrist bent.
 PRACTICE FROM THE KNEES

It is very important when learning wrist locks to practice from the knees.
This teaches one balance, power and control. Because you can not use your
body weight or his lack of balance to effect the wris t lock. All the pressure
must be applied by using correct techniques. Here are the basic wrist locks
practiced from the knees.

Your partner holds both your wrists with both his hands. You pull your hands
apart, then quickly together as you reach under and grab his right wrist.

Your hold under the wrist and turn into the wrist like you are turning a wheel
on a car to the right. This will force him to the ground in front of you.
 You are grabbed on the
left wrist by his right
hand. Turn the hand
towards your body and
away from the thumb.

When you get your

hand free reach up and
grab the back of his
wrist with your right
hand.

By applying pressure
to the right and down
you will throw him to
the ground.
You are grabbed on the right wrist by his right wrist. You roll your
wrist over and reach up with your fingers to grab his arm. At the
same time you bring up your left hand to hold the arm.

By applying pressure straight down and pushing towards his body with
yours you will be able to drop him to the ground in front of you.
You are held by You now have him
the right wrist ready for a side wrist
with his right THETHE lock, which you do
hand. Roll yourCOMPLET ECOMPL by pushing down
wrist up and turn with your entire
his wrist straightETE B body, not just the
up and down. wrists towards the
ground.

You can finish him by curling his arm up with pressure on the elbow and continuing to lock
the wrist.
You are held on the right Now press
wrist. Turn your wrist straight down
over until you have his towards the
wrist completely turned ground, this
backwards. His palm will force him
should be facing you. down.
Hold with both hands.

You can continue the pressure by pushing straight up on the arm to lock it out.
 You are held by the right wrist with his right hand. You pull him towards you and
reach up and grab the back of his gi. Begin to pull down and forward to spin his
body around in front of you.

Continue to pull over his head until you make a complete circle, Then you may
pull him to the ground and lock the wrist for control.
 Here you are turning the wrist over and
grabbing his thumb to start the wrist lock.
Apply pressure to the thumb as you bend
the wrist back and down

You are bending the wrist back and

down and also bending the thumb
to really double the pain and
control.
You are held by the right wrist, roll the
wrist back and bring the other hand up
for to grab his wris t.

Bring your other hand up and lock the

wrist and begin to push down and into
his body for pressure.

You finish the move by

applying down ward pressure
on this wrist with both hands.
 ESCAPES

You are held in a front choke. Immediately tighten your neck and reach up
and slap his face very hard. Then continue to reach over to grab his right
wrist with your right hand.

Pull his wrist off your neck and continue to roll your arms over forcing him in a
circle in front of you. Lock his wrist with a down ward wrist lock and then step in
for the finish by breaking his arm.

20
 You are grabbed in a front
choke. Reach up and grab
the index finger with your
left hand on his left index
finger.

Close up of the finger bending

Continue to bend the finger

across his body and down as
don’t forget to smash his
face with your elbow.
 You are held on the shirt and punched at. Block the punch and reach around and
take his arm off and begin to turn the wrist over to lock it.

Hold the wrist straight up and begin to apply pressure to the back as you continue to
turn the wrist towards his body. Keep the elbow up high.

You can continue to lock the wrist and finish the hold by pulling up on his
fingers as you break the wrist.
You are held from
behind in a rear Now reach up and
choke. lock both of his
Immediately reach wrist and pull his
back and hit his body forward while
groin. turning his arms
over to lock the
elbows.

You can continue to pull and finally flip him over your head to the ground.
 Continue to turn
You are held from
and lock his
behind in a choke.
wrist. Keep his
Reach up and smash his
elbow up above
ribs and turn your body
his head. To
into him to excape.
assure your
control.
 Now lift up on the elbow and turn the wrist over. You can break his wrist and his
elbow by continuing to apply pressure.

Bend his wrist while chopping down

on his elbow. Lock the wrist and drop
him to the ground in front of you
where you secure the wrist lock by
locking your knees around his elbow.

Continue your down ward

pressure on his wrist and his
elbow.
For more pain you can reach up and
grab his elbow and push forward to
dislocate his shoulder.

You can also continue your

pressure on his wrist and
turn the elbow over to
break it and the wrist.
You are held from Pull his right wrist out
behind in a bear hug. in front of your body
Reach up and smash and lock it, and then
the back of his hand take your right elbow
with your knuckles. and smash the side of
To loosen his grip. his head
while continuing the
wrist pain.
You are held
from behind in Now come up
a bear hug. and grab his
Reach behind left wrist and
and strike the turn it out.
groin to
loosen the grip
Continue to turn the wrist and step around and under. Lock the wrist up and keep
the elbow high for control.
You are held by the Now lock the
hair. Reach up and wrist with a
grab his wrist to stop downward wrist
the pressure and turn lock and push
his wrist straight your body weight
over. The little finger into the lock for
should be pointing more pain.
up.

You can kick him in the chest of face to finish him.

You are held by the collar.
Reach up and grab the top of his
wrist and the middle of the arm.
Pull his hand off and turn the
arm over using the elbow for
leverage.

Continue the pressure on the wrist

and elbow joint for control.
GROUND TECHNIQUES
You are in the
mount position. Once the arm
Take both on gets to the
your hands a ground, lock the
press on his wrist wrist and pull
and forearm to back towards
push his arm to your body and
the ground. to the side

You continue to apply wrist pressure and elbow joint pressure to secure the hold.
You are on top. Reach over and grab his right wrist and begin to bend it inward.

Continue to turn the wrist inward until it locks for control.

You are on top. Press his arms together and then hold the wrist of the right arm and
pull the arm up straight. Sit on the shoulder to secure the hold.

Lock the wrist and lock both legs around the arm. Pull both arms back and fall to
the floor, locking the wrist and the elbow joint.
 To add more pain I like to sit
back up and twist the wrist over
and down.

Lock the wrist over and down

and begin to push the wrist into
the face area and down towards
his body.

Finish by twisting
the wrist across your
body and locking it.
A great wrist lock done from
the back. The arm is bent
and the wrist is also locked
across the body.
 From the back lift the arm and lock
the wrist over

Step over the arm with

your right leg.

Sit down to lock the arm and lock the

wrist. This is very powerful; do not
use too much force when trying it.
From the back, reach down and pull up the left arm, locking the wrist. You apply
pressure by bending the wrist and leaning forward.

To double the pain, reach over and grab the other arm and bring it up for a
double painful hold down.
 You are on the bottom in the guard, and he reaches down, and you grab
his wrist and begin to lock it over and backwards.

Wrap your leg over his head and continue to apply wrist pressure, you can also choke
with the legs, and lock the elbow.
 Combinations using many different wrist locks

Block the punch and grab the right wrist.

Roll the wrist over, lock it up, and point the fingers towards
the ground to throw him to the ground under your legs.
 \

Hold up on the wrist and stomp him in the chest. Drop your knee in his chest and bend
the wrist and elbow backwards over his head.

Come down to one knee and push the arm to the ground,
keeping pressure on the wrist to effect the hold.
 Lift back up on the arm, and pull the elbow up. Bend over and grab the arm
and lock the wrist and elbow to your side, while pulling up hard.

Continue to pull up and then lift the elbow up and place the arm on your leg, while locking the
wrist across the leg.
 Put the leg under the arm and turn the elbow hard to lock it more. You can pull
the leg back and put more pressure on the elbow.

Lock the legs around the head while continuing to bend the wrist. Then you can lift the arm up
and begin a arm bar and wrist lock
 While keeping the legs wrapped around the head. Lock the wrist and break
it You can let go of the head.

Finish by locking the wrist over to break it and then back to break the elbow.
 Exercises to loosen and strengthen the wrists

It is important to keep the wrist loose and strong. The following exercises
should be done each time you practice your wrist locks.
Take each wrist and bend it
backwards until you feel pressure. Put the backs of the wrists together
Do this at least 5 times each wris t. and press very hard to loosen them.

Hold the wrists out and shake them

around in circles.
Take the wrists and put the palms together, press them
straight down until they stretch, and then put them forwards
and press them straight back.

Lock the fingers together and then roll the wrists in a complete circle.
This is very hard, but very good for stretching and strengthening the
wrists.