NUKITE - HO
THE RELEASING TECHNIQUES OF KEMPO AND JUJUTSU
by
Dr. William Durbin


Fundamentally, martial arts are concerned with self defense, yet with the emphasis on sport training today many aspects of self defense are being overlooked as teachers try to figure out ways to make their students punch faster and kick higher in order to score points in a tournament. There are some techniques taught in the martial arts for self defense which will never have an application for tournament play, among those being the set of skills referred to as Nukite Ho, the releasing hand techniques.


In the arts of Aikijujutsu, Kempo, and Jujutsu, these skills are taught and maintained, and many of the older martial artists of some of the Aikido, Karate, and Judo, styles were taught and are familiar with these skills. Yet in the teaching of these techniques, many senior artists have been negligent, in their emphasis to train their students for basic tournament play or even full contact fighting.


Grabs in most martial arts tournaments are not allowed, and thus this essential skill for people who might be attacked on the street is becoming all but lost. However, these skills can actually be traced back to Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, which is the ancient Oshikiuchi of the Minamoto family. This has since influenced the development of Motobu Ryu Bujutsu of Okinawa, as well as, Kodokan Judo, Hakko Ryu Jujutsu, and Nippon Shorinji Kempo.
If the skills were looked at as important in this ancient art and the more modern styles that are derived from it, then they should be considered worthy of serious study and consideration by the modern martial artist who is concerned with actual self defense. It would not be too much to say that if an instructor of the martial arts is not familiar with these skills, then they have not developed their self defense skills to their highest level.


In the preservation of these arts it is important to realize that Judo has only been an Olympic sport since 1964, and that up until that time, and for many years after, some Judo masters continued to teach release techniques, especially those who were connected with police training. Daito Ryu and many of the Aiki derivatives especially maintained close contact with police departments and continued to teach this most basic of skills. Many of the Kempo styles of both Japan and Okinawa also taught this skill, and it is many times still taught under the name of Tuite or Gyakute by Karate practitioners.


Basically speaking there are two main grabs of the wrists that a person will have to deal with in basic self defense, and these can then have many different variations. In most Aiki skills, these are called Katate Tori, or simply put, one hand taking. Sometimes in order to differentiate between the straight grab and the cross grab, in other words when the right hand takes the left wrist and when the right hand takes the right wrist, then the basic term Katate Tori is used to mean the straight grab with right hand taking left wrist, and Katate Tori Yokogiru Mochi, meaning literally, one hand taking cross grab, refers to the right hand taking the opponent's right wrist.


There are two basic responses which can then be used to release the defenders wrist from such a grab. They can be thought of as the long range releases and the short range releases. In the long range release from a straight grab, the defender steps back with the opposite foot from the wrist being held, and turns their palm down, thus twisting the Radius bone of the arm between the thumb and fingers of the restraining hand. Then the defender using the weight of stepping back, along with the pull of the Biceps muscles of the upper arm and the Pectoral muscles in the chest, pulls their arm free from the grip.


When faced with the Katate Tori Yokogiru Mochi, the defender once again begins to step back and turn their palm down, making sure it moves over the wrist of the attacker, this allows a great deal of pressure, through superior leverage, to be applied to the thumb of the gripping hand. Once again the weight of the body along with the muscles of the Biceps and the Pectoral, allows the defender to pull the arm free.


In the short range release from the straight grab, the defender moves into the attacker, as if to strike the person with their elbow, once again directing the Radius against the area between the thumb and the fingers, which creates a great deal of leverage, to pop the hand out from the grip. Literally in this situation, the entire weight of the defender's body is brought into play against the attacker's hand, making the release quite easy to accomplish.
In the application against the cross grab, the defender once again moves the elbow forward towards the body of the attacker, bringing the hand over the arm, once again causing the wrist to snap out of the attacker's grip, by bringing a lot of leverage against the assailant's thumb.


It is important to remember that a release is not a complete self defense technique, but rather should be thought of as an intermediate technique which can be used to set up any type of advanced response. In a few cases, especially those involving a person trying to establish dominance over a smaller person, or possibly some macho jerk who is trying to intimidate a woman, once the release is accomplished, the situation may be disarmed. But it is important to anticipate further aggression. If it does not happen, then it does not matter, but if you are unprepared and it happens, then you are taken unprepared and can be taken out by a determined assailant.


Many of the original Judo masters used to teach an immediate Atemi, strike to the body, to be followed instantly by a throw. According to how the attacker reacted to the release, determined what kind of throw would be appropriate. Thus it was necessary for the Judoka to be able to adapt any of the throws to whatever situation presented itself.


In Aikido and Aikijujutsu, the idea is to be able to move from the release immediately into one of the momentum throws or the immobilizations. In these arts, many times the release is not fully performed, but is rather used to lead a person into position for the throw or immobilization.


Most styles of Karate would use the position achieved by the release to strike at a Kyusho, or vital point, on the attacker. In the case of long range releases, kicks were the specialty, and would be directed to breaking ribs or damaging knees. When a short range release was used, in-fighting techniques would be used, such as elbows, or close in hand techniques and potentially knee kicks.


Kempo styles with their tendency to be comprehensive and complete, would use any of the above techniques, and in many cases, combinations of them. Due to the adaptable nature of Kempo, when the situation is simply one of escape, the Kempoka would use the release to breakout of the grip, and then leave the area. When more severe, yet not lethal, skills were required, then a throw or jointlock would be applied, in the hopes that pain compliance would make the attacker give up. It should be noted that any counterjoint technique can have potentially serious injurious results. All the techniques of Aikijujutsu, and most Aikido derivatives, were created to damage the arm of a feudal swordsman, so that they could not wield a sword. When a joint technique is applied, and cooperated with, no injury is acquired. But when an attacker violently resists the movement, then an injury is sure to result. The more resistance an assailant is generating, the more damage happens to the locked limb.


Finally when the situation is one of life and death, or potential rape, or one of possible serious injury, then strikes to vital points would be in order. A well trained Kempoka would attempt to deliver damaging strikes to joints, or vital points that would not be lethal, but according to the situation, even deadly responses are possible.


In the study of self protection, it is important to realize that there are many skills which are not suitable for tournament play, but are extremely important for proper self defense skills. Among these are the Nukite Ho, release hand methods, of the ancient Kempo and Jujutsu styles, which have been preserved in the ancient Ryu and many of the modern schools of self defense. If you want to have complete self defense skills, it is important to master these ancient and effective techniques of grip escape.