The clinch

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Thai Clinch and Shuai Jiao are my highest recommendations.

Thai clinch is great for structure and striking. Throws and trips. Elbow Defense and Knee Defense.

Shuai Jiao I've experienced also takes into account strike defense while engaging in a more wrestling type clinch.

What is Shuai Jiao?
 

Kung Fu Wang

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What is Shuai Jiao?
Shuai - wrestling
Jiao - horn

During the ancient time when human being saw 2 deers used their horn to twist each other, the idea of wrestling started. It's the oldest MA system on earth.

In this forum, I always use "Chinese wrestling" instead of "Shuai Chiao" or "Shuai Jiao".

 
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Monkey Turned Wolf

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Shuai - wrestling
Jiao - horn

During the ancient time when human being saw 2 deers used their horn to twist each other, the idea of wrestling started. It's the oldest MA system on earth.

In this forum, I always use "Chinese wrestling" instead of "Shuai Chiao" or "Shuai Jiao".

That video is listed unavailable for me
 
OP
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Just so I can grasp it (no pun intended) can you explain what's "outside" about the position? I've always called it "inside", too, and can't figure how it becomes called "outside".

It has to do with whose arms are inside vs. outside. The inside guy has his arms inside the other guy's arms. The outside guy has his arms outside the arms.
 

Danny T

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Clinch is any time something is grabbed or clinched or trapped with:
the fingers
the hand
the wrist
the elbow
the arm
the toes
the foot
the ankle
the lower leg
the knee
the upper leg
 
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Clinch is any time something is grabbed or clinched or trapped with:
the fingers
the hand
the wrist
the elbow
the arm
the toes
the foot
the ankle
the lower leg
the knee
the upper leg

You used the word in the definition.
 

Danny T

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Correct
I used the term clinch as the noun or thing as you did in your original post. The term clinched refers to an action with in the clinch.
 

Kung Fu Wang

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Just so I can grasp it (no pun intended) can you explain what's "outside" about the position? I've always called it "inside", too, and can't figure how it becomes called "outside".
This depend on which door that you are in. If you are in your opponent's

- front door, you want your arm to be inside of his arm. But you have to watch for his other arm.
- right or left side door, you may have your arm to be outside of his arm. This way you can push his leading arm to jam his own back arm.

You can switch between front door and side door depend on your purpose.

Example to switch from front door to side door.

 
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Buka

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Clinching is different in every art or sport. If you're in a clinch in a boxing contest you don't have to worry about take down defense, where you would in MMA. But it's also different within each art - according to who you're clinching with, what you are trying to do and your particular skill set. And skill set is a big factor. Do you have a good instructor? Do you believe he has more options in a clinch than you probably do? Yet, it's the same art.

Strength has a lot to do with the clinch as well. Skills being equal for the sake of discussion - go clinch with an average person and then clinch with a person who can throw cows if he wants to. Again, skill being equal there is going to be a frightening difference.

Clinching is a self defense situation is different too, it will be different based on the relative sizes and heights of the individuals involved, the landscape around you and whether there might be others that might get involved.

Clinching will be different for a guy with superior footwork. Clinching will be different for a counter puncher. For an offensive minded fighter. Clinching will be different if you're trying to control someone, hurt someone or get away from someone. Clinching will be different for a guy with a great clinch game.

My clinch game is weak. And I've been clinching for as long as I can remember.
 

Gerry Seymour

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It has to do with whose arms are inside vs. outside. The inside guy has his arms inside the other guy's arms. The outside guy has his arms outside the arms.
Yeah, that's the usage I'm used to, but KD seemed to be using "outside" where I'd use "inside".
 

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When considering the clinch, I would strongly urge you to read the post Be Careful al little bit down the list.
 

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It's been a long time since I've done a real clinch in an art. In Taekwondo, (at least, WT rules) you're not allowed to grab your opponent at all, and in my Hapkido classes we tend focus on the limbs and not so much on the neck. We clinched in wrestling but that was a few years...uh...18 years ago

So, the clinch is something I know very little about. If you know more about it than I do (which shouldn't be hard), I'd like to hear about it. Things like:
  • How does the clinch work in your art (whatever art that is)
  • How does the clinch differ between arts
  • What art would you recommend I look at for dealing with a clinch
  • What are some special tips and tricks you've learned to gain, control, retain, avoid, escape, or reverse a clinch?

Have you asked you instructor? A 6th Dan (I think you said he was that) in Hapkido should know many defenses against different types of clinches. That way you get to know both. The reason I say it that way is that at least in the Hapkido I learned, we didn't really learn to clinch per se. We learned to defend against many moves that might be called a clinch. I would expect your instructor would know many.
 
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Have you asked you instructor? A 6th Dan (I think you said he was that) in Hapkido should know many defenses against different types of clinches. That way you get to know both. The reason I say it that way is that at least in the Hapkido I learned, we didn't really learn to clinch per se. We learned to defend against many moves that might be called a clinch. I would expect your instructor would know many.

If I said that, I was wrong. 7th Dan.

I've been so busy trying to learn what I need to learn, I haven't felt the need to ask for elective content during class.
 
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If you are a striker, you may want to get out of a clinch so you can continue your striking game. Unfortunately, you have to be good in wrestling to be good at "anti-clinch" game.

This is the thing I think is a big criticism of almost every art. It's hard to train against what your art is weak in, because it's hard to train against what your partners are not good at. For example, World Taekwondo rules emphasize kicks to the point they're the majority of class. So while a TKD guy might have an idea of how to defend against a haymaker, they're generally not ready for combinations. (This is a generalization, folks).

Now, there are some arts that strike and make it against the rules to grab (Taekwondo, Boxing, Kickboxing) and others that grab and make it against the rules to strike (Judo, BJJ, Wrestling). There's also some arts which try to use grabs to isolate limbs in order to set up their strikes (Muay Thai). I've been trying to figure out how to categorize that third type, and I think "clinching" may be the answer, but I'm not sure.
 
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