The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

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Copyright © 2003-2004 Phil Elmore, all rights
reserved.

Wristlocks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert

A Book Review by Phil Elmore

My wrists are a little sore.

Keith Pascal was kind enough to provide me with a PDF “e-book” copy
of his Wristlocks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert. 
After printing all 200-plus pages of it, I spent an evening reading through it. 
The next day, I took it to my teacher.

Though he has asked me not to name him, my instructor (who is imparting to me
a non-traditional style of Kung Fu that is the result of his own extensive Kung
Fu, Judo, and Ju Jitsu studies) deserves an advisory credit for this review. 
As I type this, I have just spent an afternoon working through the techniques in
Keith’s book.  After a few hours of this, my teacher and I agreed: 
there’s a lot of good material here.

After discussing ground rules and guidelines for safe, effective, and
productive practice, Keith defines his terminology and then jumps right into a
very useful topic:  Getting Out of Unfamiliar Locks by Feeling Where to
Go.  I think I would have preferred to see this section after
the explanation of basic technique, but you could argue that the principles in
this chapter are central to the locks themselves.  Reverses and counters
for the fundamental locks are covered, as is the “point of no return”
— the position at which you’re not likely to escape the lock

The real meat of this book is Chapter 4, which details 13 basic wrist and
joint lock techniques.  It was on this chapter (and the reversals) that my
teacher and I spent the most time, working through the locks sequence by
sequence.  In some cases it was immediately obvious what Keith was
explaining, because the pictures were identical to techniques I know myself and
have used in training.  Other sequences were more difficult to figure out
from the book, but my teacher understood and was able to show me what Keith was
trying to communicate.  Once or twice, he and Keith disagreed on the
appropriate counter to a specific lock, and we spent some time discussing this.

There were times when my teacher disagreed with Keith on basic technique,
too.  For example, Keith included a sequence in which the thumb is used for
a simple lock, and my friend objected.  He prefers using the pinky for the
same technique because it’s much weaker than the thumb, permitting the opponent
less leverage with which to attempt escape.  I asked Keith about this, and
he explained that the thumb-based lock is prevalent in certain martial arts
circles, so he wanted to include that one.  He also said that he
deliberately omitted finger locks from the text because at the time he was
planning a separate treatment on finger locking.  (I’m probably not alone
in thinking that would be a book worth reading, too.)

In one or two cases involving unfamiliar and relatively complex techniques,
we absolutely couldn’t figure out what was supposed to be happening.  This
problem could be eliminated by adding more intermediate illustrations that show
the transitions from one movement  to another.  Also, there were times
when the illustrations for a technique were located a bit far from the text
explaining them.  The writer in me would have liked to see the layout
tightened up — but that’s a minor gripe, considering that each figure is
referenced in the text.

The line drawings used to illustrate the techniques were generally very good. 
I’m willing to bet they’re tracings of photographs (Keith’s beard and large
frame are evident in many of them). The tracings eliminate all confusing details
to focus only on the essentials.  More than once, in explaining to me how
an unfamiliar technique was executed, my teacher pointed to subtle cues in the
illustrations.  “See where his thumb is on the other guy’s hand?”
he would say.  “That’s exactly where you want your thumb.”

The technique I liked seeing most of all was the last one in Chapter 4. 
In it, Keith explains what to do if your attacker doesn’t cooperate with your
training and grabs the “wrong” wrist.   Recovering from a
lock that just doesn’t seem to work is extremely important, and I was glad to
see it here.

With the basics out of the way, Keith spends quite a bit of time discussing
patterns and flow, adapting your lock techniques to different people and
situations, selecting the right lock, and mastering the counters and
reversals for techniques he’s already explained.  One chapter covers
pressure points and using them to enhance your locks.  Another explains how
to experiment and invent your own locks (if you really feel like
“reinventing the wheel”).

Perhaps the most important chapter in this book, however, is When to and
When Not to Use Wrist Locks.  Keith’s advice is most welcome, and even
humorous;  he cautions you not to go about applying your new-found talents
at social gatherings, because wrist-locking everyone you meet is not
going to make you the life of the party.

I would have liked to see more emphasis on the inefficacy of wrist locks and
pain compliance techniques on those high on certain dangerous drugs.  Keith
does mention that locks don’t work well on drunks, and cautions you never to
wrist-lock a lawyer (or anyone else who’ll sue).

“Buried” in the book and presented as a nugget of wisdom is a
critical component to wrist and joint locks:  body positioning. 
Depending on where you are and how you’re facing, you may be vulnerable to
attacks from the opponent’s free limbs, and Keith warns against this.  I
think this information belongs in the basic technique chapter because it is
so important, but Keith explains why he’s chosen to place it later in the text.

The book concludes with some additional material, including references and a
nice write-up on learning through teaching.

Overall, I liked this book. I was very happy to be able to use it as a
training guide.  My primary quibbles with it are editorial in nature. 
I think it could be a better text with layout revisions, the addition of more
illustrations, and some reorganization to group the techniques in a more logical
sequence.  I also think there should be prominent and frequent warnings
repeated throughout the book explaining that some of these techniques can break
limbs or do other serious damage to the opponent.

Keith mentions that a book by itself isn’t going to turn you into an expert,
and he’s right.  I think those who will get the most out of this text are
martial artists with limited wrist and joint lock experience who have some
foundation from which to draw.  Beginners, too, will find this text
extremely useful, provided they use it to accompany hands-on instruction of some
kind.  As a reference text on a subject not covered by itself as often as I
would like, Wristlocks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert is
a worthy edition to any martial library.  But what I liked most about this
book was its author.

Keith wants to help you.  He has to be one of the most genuinely
affable, approachable martial artists I have encountered online, and it shows in
his writing and his treatment of the book. 

You can buy the book in PDF form from him, and he’ll throw in free bonus
texts.  Buy the hardback edition from the publisher, and he’ll still send
the bonuses.  You can even obtain a copy of the book that has been
“pronoun-adjusted,” replacing all the male references with female
ones.

A friendly teacher who takes real joy in the martial arts, Keith is extremely
earnest — and that comes through in his book.  If you’re looking
for a reference text on wrist locks, I suggest you

order
this one.