“Now,” he said, scanning the room, “let’s try something with a real volunteer, someone who’s never trained a day in their life, because that’s the whole point, isn’t it? This should work for anybody. Let’s start with something simple,” Derek continued. “A wrist grab. This happens more than you’d think. Someone grabs your arm, maybe trying to pull your purse, maybe trying to pull you somewhere you don’t want to go. I’m going to show you how to break free.” He scanned the front row for a volunteer. “How about you, sir?” Derek said, pointing directly at Walt Higgins. “You look like you can handle yourself.”
A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd. Walt hesitated for just a moment, then stood, straightening his flannel shirt, and made his way up to the mat. If nothing else, the man had never backed away from anything in his life. “All right,” Derek said. Once Walt was standing across from him, “I’m going to grab your wrist. Nice and firm like a real attacker would. Then I want you to watch how quickly you can break free.” He reached out and gripped Walt’s right wrist hard.
“Now,” Derek said, addressing the crowd more than Walt at this point. “The instinct most people have is to pull straight back. That’s wrong. That’s the weakest direction. Instead, you want to rotate against the thumb like this.” He twisted Walt’s wrist sharply, demonstrating the motion. Walt winced just slightly, a small hiss of breath escaping through his teeth. The crowd, unaware, applauded the demonstration.
But near the side of the stage, Emily had gone very still. She watched the angle of Derek’s grip, the direction of the twist, the way his forearm had rotated a fraction too far, putting unnecessary pressure directly through Walt’s wrist joint. The kind of joint that at seventy-eight years old likely carried decades of wear and arthritis already. It wasn’t a dangerous technique in itself. But the way Derek was demonstrating it, fast, showy, more concerned with the crowd’s reaction than his volunteer’s comfort, was the kind of thing that could genuinely hurt someone, especially someone Walt’s age.