CLEVER JAPANESE WAY OF EXPOSING SHAMMED UNCONSCIOUSNESS

THE SHOULDER PINCH AS A MEANS OF DE­FENCE—A HANDY WAY OF STOPPING A FIGHT IN A SECOND—AN ATTACK FROM BEHIND THAT LEAVES THE VICTIM WITH­OUT DEFENCE, AND ITS APPLICATION TO A BURGLAR OR OTHER INTRUDER

In a system of combat where strategy is as highly developed as it is in jiu-jitsu it is to be expected that the student will have to deal with the problem of shamming by his opponent. Indeed, the jiujitsian never hesitates to sham when by so doing he can gain any advantage.

The only shamming that is regarded as being dishonourable is for one contestant to pretend to surrender, and then to take instant advan­tage of the cessation of his punishment by making an unlooked-for attack upon his adver­sary. But shammed unconsciousness is a trick us in which no surrender has been proclaimed. If the victor in a bout can be deceived into believing that his victim has been rendered un­conscious, and if the victor is bared thus into relaxing his vigilance, it is wholly proper to take advantage of his carelessness.

For this reason it often becomes necessary to know whether an opponent is only pretend­ing to have been deprived of his senses. The method of investigating that is shown in photo­graph No. 26 is an ingenious and effective one, and has the further excuse that it will restore consciousness in light attacks of fainting as (veil as in severe "attacks " of feinting.

The assailant throws himself on the ground beside his adversary. With the tips of one finger the aggressor jabs the suspected preten­der lightly and repeatedly in the solar plexus, while the investigator's other hand is employed in giving the shoulder pinch. The unremitting jabs in the plexus are in themselves enough to fill a shammer with a very lively desire to leap to his feet and thus deliver himself from the nauseating, nerve-wracking prodding. And the pain caused by the shoulder pinch completes the pretender's earnest desire to escape further torment by surrender.

It takes but very little time for the student to make himself master of this shoulder pinch. The thumb is pressed into the front side of the top of the shoulder, while the grip is kept by grasping with the fingers at the back of the shoulder. A very little practice upon his own shoulder will show a jiu-jitsian just where the spot is that is hyper-sensitive to the pinch with the thumb. Bear in mind that the ball of the thumb should dig in at the point where the head of the upper arm joins the scapula.

Having learned this shoulder pinch, it be­hooves the student to experiment for the pur­pose of learning in how many combinations it can be used with effect. It is useful often in a clinch at close quarters, causing the adversary to wriggle out or to draw away from a punish­ment so painful. While the pinch leaves some soreness in its wake the feat is by no means a disabling one, and it may be resorted to as often as it is needed in attack or defence.

Often this pinch can be employed by itself and not in combination. If the assailant secures a good grip in this fashion, keeping his own body as far away from return attack as possible, the victim is often forced to draw back out of striking distance.

In photograph No. 27 a possible complica­tion is shown. Here one of the contestants has bent swiftly forward to the ground in order to strike a sharp edge-of-the-hand blow against his opponent's shin. The latter, divining the intention, has promptly resorted to a shoulder pinch that will destroy the effect of the hand blow. For a little experimenting with severe shoulder pinches will show that this form of attack deprives an opponent's arm of nearly all of its striking power.

Still another value of this shoulder pinch will be suggested to the investigating student. Often, in a throw, the victim will fall upon one side. It is an advantage to the aggressor to have his man lying face downward. In that case the shoulder pinch should be applied roughly to the shoulder on the ground. The pain is so intense that the victim rolls over on his face in order to weaken the force of the pinch. If he does the assailant must take prompt advantage by kneeling with one knee in the back of his opponent and the other knee across the back of one of the upper arms of the prostrate one.

Now, the wrist of the arm that is so pinned must be seized, and the arm forced upward with a strong pull. As the upper portion of the arm is pinned by a knee, and the front side of the arm is downward, the victim's arm is forced through that painful process of which so much has been said, the process of '' bending the wrong way." And the result of this ex­cruciating torment is unconditional and prompt surrender on the part of the now helpless victim.

Still another way of taking this shoulder pinch is for the assailant to approach from be­hind and to seize both his opponent's shoul­ders, this time'placing the thumbs at the backs of the shoulders and digging with the fingers into the sensitive spot at the front of the shoulder. It is a torturing form of punish­ment that prompts the victim, instinctively, to kick backward with his heels, and the aggressor must be on the alert to prevent damage to his own shins. If this backward kick with the heel is attempted the aggressor must promptly accomplish either a trip or a knee jab in one of the victim's kidneys.

Again, when this spot on the front of the shoulder has been located so that the jiu-jitsu student can strike it unerringly, it is to be borne in mind that it offers an excellent point of attack for an edge-of-the-hand blow. The effect of this blow is to lame the arm so much that the victim's desire to continue the contest in greatly lessened.

If ever troubled, in a crowd or in a narrow passage-way, by an obstinate fellow who can, but who will not, give you an opportunity to go forward, try the effect of the shoulder pinch from behind on both shoulders, at the same time pushing him ahead of you. He will go in the desired direction. And the same ap­plies to any one who is to be ejected from the premises.

With a good-natured friend the shoulder pinch, lightly applied from behind on one shoulder, is an amusing way of forcing him to turn and face you. In actual combat, of course, it is never an advantage to make an opponent face you, as the attack, if it can be begun from behind, is much better finished in that position.

No. 30. AN U3LY BACK-OF-THE-NECK BLOW.

No. 31. A POSSIBLE COMPLICATION IN SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK.

In the feat illustrated by photograph No. 28 we come to a trick that may be played upon an opponent from a position at his side. This is another application of "bending the arm the wrong way." Seize his nearer wrist with both hands. At the same time thrust your nearer foot in front of his nearer foot, hooking it. His wrist must be held with the inside forward. When seizing the wrist a pressure downward on his arm forces him to bend forward. Pull the arm across your nearer leg, and with the pressure at his captured wrist bend the arm backward. If it is wished the attack can be ended in a throw, tripping his engaged foot and completing the work with a wrench on his captured arm. If the victim be taken properly he cannot offer any saving counter, and, even without the throw, he is reduced to prompt surrender.

This same principle may be applied in a slightly different fashion. Seize his wrist as before, but do not attempt to make the victim bend forward. Instead, raise your nearer knee, planting it firmly against the back of his upper arm. And the hold is much more firmly taken if one hand only is employed in seizing the enemy's wrist, the other hand gripping at his shoulder. Some of the effect of the shoulder pinch may be had in gripping the shoulder.

All thought of further fight will leave the victim who is severely attacked after the method that is illustrated by photograph No. 29. This trick may be practised safely enough between friends, employing light blows, but it is hardly to be recommended in actual combat save where the circumstances justify ugly attack.

Both arms of the aggressor are used simul­taneously, but in order to enable the student to get at the idea piece-meal the work of the arms will be described separately. One hand is jabbed fairly over the kidney, in the soft part just below the last rib. This attack on the kidney is delivered with great severity when actual combat calls for it. The jab may be delivered with the finger tips, or with the clenched fist. Or it may be given very effec­tively with the middle knuckle of the second finger projecting from the clenched fist. It is highly important that the blow be struck just at the most sensitive point. The effect is to make the victim feel'' sick all over." It" takes ambition out " of him. In any style of attack a severe kidney blow has the same effect, utterly weakening the man who receives it.
The fore-arm of the other arm is struck back smartly upon the jugular. Some practice must be undertaken in order to make this blow effective to its utmost. If the "Adam's apple" be struck, instead of the jugular, the effect is that much the more disastrous to the victim, but it is easier to land with full force on the jugular.

The effect of this attack is, of course, to throw the victim backward. Thus, at the moment of the double striking, the assailant should spring backward and allow his man to strike the ground. The victim will be so weak that the assailant will not be called upon to use the utmost nimbleness in following up the attack by reducing his opponent to complete submission.

The illustration shows with exactness the relative positions of the two contestants.

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