In the previous post, we discussed how to defend against being grabbed from behind when your arms are free. However, if the attacker has grabbed you and your hands are stuck next to you, you would not be able to bend your arms. Without being able to bend your arms, you would not be able to perform an elbow punch, so that option is no longer viable. So, what would you do? 

The move you need to know for this scenario is called reverse ‘Gum Sau’, meaning ‘pressing hand’. This can be seen at the beginning of Section 4 of Si Nim Tau. In Si Nim Tau, this movement is done by both your hands, in front and then behind the body. The hand attacks with the palms tilted backwards so the base of the hand is what is really being used to hit, channelling the full force of the radius bone (the lower arm bone). This can be seen in the video below at 1:34 :

For this scenario, you would use Gum Sau behind your body. Similar to the elbow punch, you could choose to do this with only one hand, and in this case, this is what you would do. 

Firstly though, to be able to do the Gum Sau, you would need to give yourself a bit of space. This is because if your hands are trapped in front of you, you would not be able to move them behind you without having a bit of space. To create space for your move, all you would have to do is move your hips sideways, pushing their arm outwards, thus leaving more space for yourself. For the sake of the explanation, let us say that you have thrust your hips towards the left-hand side, giving yourself a bit of space to your right. Not only do you give yourself space, but this also uncovers parts of their body, including the groin. 

From here, your right hand would do a backward Gum Sau into the groin, leaving the assaulter in unfathomable pain. If they do not let go the first time, you could do this multiple times, as the pain would be unbearable. This would force them to let go and give you an opportunity to counterattack.

Practise these techniques with the different forms of attacks with a friendly opponent a few times to make sure you begin to train your body to react and move in the right way.