70: Yoo-Sin closed ready stance C

Source: Liam Broderick Taekwondo

There is a mysterious section in Yoo-Sin where we perform a closed ready stance C mid-form. The following 45-degree upset punch is also mysterious.

Noah Legel of Illinois Practical Karate turned me on to applying this ready stance as a gooseneck wrist lock, which he does at the end of kata Naihanchi.

This lock also appears in the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do as one of three police control techniques

So it's not unreasonable for it to appear somewhere in the ITF curriculum. Gen Choi did say the self-defense techniques were applications of the basic exercises and the patterns. So how might we get into this gooseneck wrist lock?

Ridgehand Side Block

We use the 180-degree turn into the side block to get behind the opponent. We use the "block" to lock the opponent's elbow, pushing out the back of their shoulder as we turn.

This is a common application for the inner-forearm block, as found in Yul-Gok tul for example.

 

But why do this with an open-hand in Yoo-Sin? To set up the gooseneck lock. 

Closed Ready Stance C

We may use the ridgehand is to use our palm to chop into our opponent's elbow as we pull their forearm forward. We need to place their elbow on our ribs so they cannot escape the lock. Then we compress their wrist with both palms, as seen in the pictures below:

 

Standard gooseneck lock setup. Source: Submissions 101

 

I chose this example because we are locking the opponent's left arm, but our arms would be switched. We would begin grasping with our right fist and chopping with our left palm.

Twin upset punch

That leaves the mystery of the 45-degree twin upset punch, but you can see how from this position it may make a little more sense. Rather than striking with both fists at once, your right fist maintains the wrist lock while your left fist strikes the opponent's left kidney. Or it could be your left fist maintaining the lock and your right fist punching.

 

One example of moving the gooseneck lock behind the body. Source: officer.com

 

Striking the kidney

Kidney punches are illegal in both boxing and MMA, not because of their reliability as KO strikes, but for their potential to cause long term damage. I have read, however, that being punched in the kidney feels like a sucker punch and can knock the wind out of you, since the area is not well protected by muscle.

 

There is again, a difference between the form and these images. We also perform a knee strike with our right leg. Presumably, this gives us space to move the opponent's arm behind their back, so may then punch them.