Why Pummel?

Why is the pummeling drill a basic?  Because, in my opinion, it is a basic standup wrestling drill.  While we aren’t a wrestling specific style, we are generalist martial artists and the ability to take someone down is a solid martial skill to study.  Therefore, we should have some basic takedown skills – like the pummeling drill.

The drill gets at two ideas that set up a lot of takedowns – the undertook and taking your partner’s balance.  The underhook is when your arm is under your partner’s arm.  Taking your partner’s balance (in pummeling specifically) means hitting them with your shoulder and getting their weight to go back on their heels.

To show how the drill can lead to a takedown, I included a few clips of us practicing oummeling drill to the front body lock.  You’ll notice how when we practice the takedown we’ve got double under hooks – both arms under our partner’s arms.  While it isn’t a required position to take someone down, it makes it a lot easier to compromise their structure (by bending their spine back).