By Tim McFatridge and Cory Smith

Let us start off by explaining what trapping is. Trapping is just what the name says, trapping. You trap your opponent’s hands or arms to prevent them from hitting you. You do this by pinning his arm against his body and “trapping” it so he is unable to use it. If you are lucky you will be able to trap both arms, either way the point is that your opponent will be at a disadvantage.

There are several factors involved in order to be successful with trapping.

• The first is YOU MUST PIN his arm to his body.
  
  If it is not against his body or if you are not applying forward pressure the entire time then he is more likely to counter you.
  
  
• The second is your footwork.
  
  You need to be moving forward while trapping.  This means you have to move you feet in a forward motion in order to get close enough to pin his arm.  Also, just for the record, you can trap when your opponent is moving in on you forcing you backwards.  We know this and understand it but for the sake of this article we are only dealing with you trapping while moving in a forward direction.
  
  
• The third is timing.
  
  You must have proper timing in order to have a successful trap.  If you try to move in and trap while your opponent is moving back or angling off to one side or the other then you will be less successful and will be more likely to eat a punch.
  
  
• The fourth and final one that we will cover is speed.
  
  You can not afford to be slow or hesitant when trapping.  Also you do not want to telegraph what you are about to do.  You just want to do it.   Everyone has heard the saying “you snooze, you lose,” well this is true with trapping as well.  By this we mean if you are slow and are not 100% committed to what you are doing then it will never work. 
  

Now the way you ensure that you are able to put all of these factors together is very simple… you train them and you train them a lot.  Every martial artist you will ever see who is good at trapping has spent hundreds and hundreds of hours training it.  You have to train it until it becomes what we call muscle memory, second nature or instinct.  You will train it so much that you will literally be able to do it with your eyes closed.  All of this training for some something that will last only a couple of seconds in a real fight.  Some of you may be asking, “Why do I want to train something for so long if it is only going to last one or two seconds in a real fight?”  Well the answer is pretty simple, because one or two seconds in a street fight can mean the difference between life and death. 

So, how do you train your trapping?  Well to start you will need a partner to work with (Oh yeah, try to find someone that actually knows trapping to train with.)  You and your partner will start off in the same lead, for example both of you will be in a right lead.  Now hold out your right arm with your right hand open and touch the back of your partners’ wrist.  Take your left hand also open and place your finger tips very lightly against the inside of your right wrist.  Be sure to keep your shoulders relaxed breather normal, also keep your arms and hands relaxed.  This is called the High Outside Reference Point also called the #1 position.  This is only for training, this does nothing more than give you a reference point or starting point for training your trapping.  There is also a High Inside Reference Point, a Low Outside Reference Point and a Low Inside Reference Point. Listen to the names, “Reference Points.” That is all these positions are. Remember them because you will move through these reference points during your sparring and you may not even realize it, but when you feel them use them. 

Now you are ready to trap. Person “A” traps first, your left hand will move slightly before your right hand.  You will shoot your left hand forward hitting his right forearm with your open hand as your right hand moves forward to strike.  Your left hand will force his right arm into his body trapping it.  As you do this you will take a small step forward toward him, moving your right foot first.  You will need to start out slow until you get the feel of it then speed it up.  After a little while you will be going full speed.  Your opponent will also need to practice defending against the hit by using his left hand to parry or push your right hand off centerline and moving his head the opposite direction (don't just count on the parry to protect an attack to your face). 

Again, this is very basic and we know that everyone can understand what we just explained.  We have had several people ask us to explain the above in detail so we hope this works for you.

About the reference points, these are nothing more than training guides that will help you train your trapping in the beginning.  We know using “reference points” may not be how they teach trapping in Wing Chun but this is how we learned and this is how we teach it.  We figure if Sifu Larry Hartsell and Sifu Dan Inosanto teach it by using these reference points then this is how we will teach it to our students.  You will find these reference points when you are doing Chi Sao, Boxing, Hubid Drills from Kali, Parry/Salute from Panantukan and even when in the Tie Up Position and while grappling on the ground.  You know, grappling that includes striking...

To say this yet another way, "Reference Points" are a vehicle to get you from point "A" to point "B".  Once there, you will discard this vehicle as you no longer need to rely upon it.

So as your trapping skills improve you will train your trapping from a disengaged position.  By this we mean instead of using the reference points as a starting position you will now find them from boxing.  As an example while you are boxing and you throw a straight jab and your opponent parries the punch you will trap and hit.

There are three basic ways to trap, before the punch, during the punch and after the punch. The more you train the better you will become.  Also, dont forget to practice your foot placements.  Your foot positions for trapping is as follows:

1. Foot on his foot (right foot on his right foot).
2. Foot inside his foot (right foot inside his right foot).
3. Foot outside his foot (right foot outside his right foot).

You can also step up changing your lead while trapping.  For example, start in right lead, perform the trap, as you do you will step up with your right foot and then all the way through with your left foot.  Your left foot will now be on the outside of his right foot and you will be in a perfect position for a sweep. 

Remember, when trapping you can still utilize all of your weapons, your knees, your feet, your elbows, your head and your strikes.  You can also go from trapping to locking to grappling. 

We will have a video showing various trapping drills along with going from trapping to locking to grappling to takedowns and sweeps  posted on the site soon.

Train Hard, Train Smart and Never Stop.