68: Yoo-Sin and Po-Eun rear bear hug defenses

In this post I want to talk about two rear bear hug defenses from the ITF patterns. It's broadly accepted that Yoo-Sin's opening is a rear bear hug defense, because even the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do shows this application.

The interesting bit is the two sliding over-the-shoulder punches, sampled from Heian Sandan. You can't realistically strike a rear opponent with this punch, but you can elbow strike with your reaction hand while grabbing the opponent's arm. You then use the second "punch" as an arm throw.

 

Application for Yoo-Sin's opening. Source: kuro-obi world

It's tempting to think the set below from Po-Eun is similar

The typical application I see is:

• We start with dropping into a riding stance inner-forearm wedging block, just to prevent the opponent from picking you up
• We perform a rear elbow strike
• We break the opponent's grip with the right "punch", sliding up our left arm to create space
• Perform a second rear elbow strike
• Use the twin horizontal punch ("fork punch") as an arm throw

It seems right, but there are a couple issues I have with this interpretation:

• Why do two rear elbow strikes before the throw? Based on your position relative to the opponent, you cannot elbow strike them on both sides. It seems like a wasted extra step
• As a throw, performing the twin horizontal punch without any body movement is less likely to be effective. Yoo-Sin at least has a slide to aid the throw.

I was also curious about the next movement after this set

It looks like a kotegaeshi, but I didn't see any relevant body movement, so for a long time I dismissed that this movement could be a kotegaeshi.

Playing around with the movements though, I realized that we can interpret the second rear elbow strike not as a "strike", but as twisting the opponent's left arm so that you can place your right hand around their thumb.

The end result is that the fork punch becomes a wrist lock, pulling out the meat of the opponent's thumb with the long arm, while the short arm pushes out their elbow: creating the torque necessary to force the opponent to move in front of you. If you don't believe this can work, I invite you to try with a partner! It won't work if you don't push out their elbow, because then the arm and shoulder has no room to rotate.

From here, since we have their thumb already grabbed, we may perform the kotegaeshi. You may use the front cross step to trap their leg or instep, but the important part is to use your left palm to push the back of the opponent's hand while you pull down the meat of their thumb as you move to the right, completing the throw.

A kotegaeshi throw. Source: Stepan Benca