Eric began emphasizing that applying joint locks is not necessarily going to be your primary goal in a self defense situation.  Rather they are a tool, and are often times either accidental or incidental to your achieving your goal, which is to get out of harms’ way.  Eric they went over where people usually fail with their locking techniques, and broke down how you actually put a joint into position where you can actually either damage or lock out the joint.  Outside wrist lock, center lock, a “Z” lock, and an escort/come-along wrist lock were all taught in fine detail.  Eric then showed how to link all of these locks together in a flow by taking advantage of knowing how you partner would realistically try and escape the lock.

We finished the day’s training with how to counter each lock, as well as applying joint locks in a combative situation off of punches and blocks.  By the end of the seminar, all of the students in attendance were able to apply various joint locks from different positions, flow from lock to lock, and successfully escape even the most painful of joint locks.  Special thanks to Eric Mayes for making the trip all the way out to Chicago to share his expertise with us!

You can catch a bit of the excitement in this video clip, where Eric demonstrates a wristlock flow drill: