Trapping...Does it work?

[Ghost]

Hi Bro,

I know you have probably put the answer to this question in other posts/Threads but Ive forgot(getting old) what is your personal defination of a trap or trapping please bro?.

Hi mate
Well the kind of stickiness you see in muay thai which obstructs their movement is present in basically every martial art, forms a large part of aikido and is even present in karate and just about every other martial art.

What you see going on wing chun, direct trapping of the arm is only found in a few martial arts and therefore i think they should be kept seperate.

[Wi Kali Group]

Ghost reported -
"Hi mate, he denies the report and says it is entirely untrue.

you can email him sales@geoffthompson.com to get the same response.

He declined to reply on the thread but im sure he will email you the same reply if you choose to email him.
I had suspected this is the kind of false info that is put about commonly, not your fault, its an easy one to believe which is why i wanted to ask him personally.

will look at the video now mate"

Now I'm just expressing an opinion/observation. I don't know either Mr Young or G. Thompson. I've never heard of Mr Thompson. But just because he denies it doesn't mean it isn't true. I've never met Mr Young. But it seems kind of comic book/urban legend for anyone of his position going around like that (I mean with all the clueless people trashing training when would he sleep). But if he is friends with the guy it possible.

But if someone was training something solid that you said can't work. Then he came in and made it work. I'd say most people would deny it in a private email.

But having said that I'd say the quality of it comes off like an urban legend.

And on the quote someone has on being just like X-men's Rouge with a willy. Does that mean hermaphrodite. Just asking. In this day and age it fine

[fire cobra]

Joe, i see what you are talkign about about and this widely used in thai boxing but doesnt qualify as trapping. restricting and pinning are different, the energy and focus of it are different imo.
also imo it doesnt work against a full onslaught so has little street relevance.

Could you trap a straight blast effectively? i dont know.

Hi Bro,

I know you have probably put the answer to this question in other posts/Threads but Ive forgot(getting old) what is your personal defination of a trap or trapping please bro?.

[Da Pope]

My opinion on trapping is that it is only a temporary solution.....

[Joe Hubbard]

Hi mate, he denies the report and says it is entirely untrue.

you can email him sales@geoffthompson.com to get the same response.

He declined to reply on the thread but im sure he will email you the same reply if you choose to email him.
I had suspected this is the kind of false info that is put about commonly, not your fault, its an easy one to believe which is why i wanted to ask him personally.

will look at the video now mate

Sorry guys! My bad, but that story has been out there; I'm sure I read it in MAI.

Joe

[Ghost]

Joe, i see what you are talkign about about and this widely used in thai boxing but doesnt qualify as trapping. restricting and pinning are different, the energy and focus of it are different imo.
also imo it doesnt work against a full onslaught so has little street relevance.

Could you trap a straight blast effectively? i dont know.

[Ghost]

Hi mate, he denies the report and says it is entirely untrue.

you can email him sales@geoffthompson.com to get the same response.

He declined to reply on the thread but im sure he will email you the same reply if you choose to email him.
I had suspected this is the kind of false info that is put about commonly, not your fault, its an easy one to believe which is why i wanted to ask him personally.

will look at the video now mate

Please let us know what Geoff says about that. I know that Geoff and Rick are the best of friends. I'm pretty sure I read this story in an article Rick wrote for MAI magazine some time ago.

Check out this video clip of Gentleman Jim Corbett utilising a trapping motion to remove an obstruction all the way back in 1894:

James J. Corbett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think one of the common misconceptions is that people are led to believe that real time trapping is going to look like a reference point trapping drill. In reality any pinning, passing, pushing and/or pulling motion to remove an obstruction is trapping.


Joe

[Wi-Stickboxer]

I think one of the common misconceptions is that people are led to believe that real time trapping is going to look like a reference point trapping drill. In reality any pinning, passing, pushing and/or pulling motion to remove an obstruction is trapping.


Joe

Couldn't have said it better myself! I consider most clinching a form of trapping. It goes way beyond "pak sao",which is what most people think.

[wedge21]

Hi all,

this is my first post here. I'm 37 and live in Europe. I've been training in wing-tsun and in RBSD, apart from some boxing and MMA.
Trapping isn't easy to apply in chaotic, ugly real fights, but it can work if you train specifically for it. It must be streamlined, I believe. Basic pak-sao/lop-sao stuff that you use when you attack and your opponent covers. It will allow you to re-open his guard and continue your attack.
Thing is, you should think of it as a very short, quick trapping. Not the endless tactile sensitivity exercises and patterns that you use in the gym to build your reflexes....

More generally, most people think that martial arts drills are of no use. But for example, legendary UK doormen like Trevor Roberts (Traditional Ju-Jitsu and Judo!) made even armbars and armlocks work for them hundreds of times in difficult situations in the street.... There are doormen and VIP protection bodyguards who use Shotokan Karate.

So while I agree that this stuff is not for everyone, we can't just say "it doesn't work". IMHO some trapping skills are useful; but very fine motor-skills are way too difficult to apply.

[Joe Hubbard]

ill email Geoff tonight and ask him about it. see what he says, would be interesting to hear.
I still think this thread is useless without a video.

Please let us know what Geoff says about that. I know that Geoff and Rick are the best of friends. I'm pretty sure I read this story in an article Rick wrote for MAI magazine some time ago.

Check out this video clip of Gentleman Jim Corbett utilising a trapping motion to remove an obstruction all the way back in 1894:

James J. Corbett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think one of the common misconceptions is that people are led to believe that real time trapping is going to look like a reference point trapping drill. In reality any pinning, passing, pushing and/or pulling motion to remove an obstruction is trapping.


Joe

[Crafty Dog]

Why should someone put it for free on youtube?

[Wi Kali Group]

Mike Wright said "Wi Kali Group - I do understand many of the points made in your post and (if you don't mind me saying) now that you've calmed down a little I see much sense and wisdom in your point of view."

Ghost said "lmao, great thread, talk is cheap.
im with mike on this pretty much."

Glad to hear it ghost

I can't find it on you tube but look for Sifu Vunak's old trapping video from panther produtions. It's hard to find its so old. He shows it far better than I could how trapping might look in a fight.

But this is the old straw man argument. If we did go out and video tape it. It still wouldn't do. Then it would be anyone can make it work on their buddy or student. So then your back to making street fighting work in a ring sport with rules & protective equipment.

The only way to satisfy people would be to film a real street fight where you pulled it off. But then you would have legal issues when you posted it on youtube. Sorry not me.

[corwin137]

My three cents added to the fray, I mean discussion.
- I do think that while the general level of much martial art has evolved in recent years, that average human fighting instincts and reactions are the same as they have been since the dawn of something or other. One of those instincts is to try and obstruct strikes (even after they have been successfully delivered), not beautifully by martial art or boxing standards, but an attempt to block or cover nonetheless, and while attacking another line at that point of distraction is a good way to go, a trap is not just a classroom wet-dream fantasy at that point.

Lots of topics in the thread now, but on the title proper, this says what comes to mind for me. As with the counter examples of other ideas (besides trapping)- all things in context.

[John McNabney]

Why does what someone else do threating you?

From reading all of these post, I wonder : Do people really know what the word trapping means..?

Here is just one, if I freez your mind..... Is that not trapping ? This is just one of many ways to trap... If you don't like to trap great, if you like to trap great... So where lies the problem boys? Hmmm?

Something to think about...

Keep "IT" Real,
John McNabney

[Ghost]

This reminds me of a story about Rick Young and Geoff Thompson.

If my memory serves me right, Geoff Thompson had made some comments in a magazine suggesting that trapping would not work against a boxer. Rick Young took exception to this and paid Thompson a visit to demonstrate against any of his guys that he could use the skill of trapping against a boxer. As the story reached it's conclusion, Geoff Thompson opinion was converted.

Joe

ill email Geoff tonight and ask him about it. see what he says, would be interesting to hear.
I still think this thread is useless without a video.