Joint locking - Self Defense (Why I am not a hug fan)

Anyone who has been around martial arts has probably seen a number of standing joint locking xercises designed to deal with aggression. Usually, these drills involve a person grabbing you and then you deal with his grab by performing some form of joint lock.

These techniques have been met with scorn for YEARS by traditionalists and non-traditionalists alike. Honestly, I have to throw in with the critics although I due so with somewhat less contempt than they do.

Here is my opinion: I am not a fan of these techniques when they are employed exclusively. That is, locking at the EXCLUSION of hitting, throwing, running away, etc is foolish because it simply limits your offense. Plus, if the purpose of locking someone is to control them, why bother with small joints that are difficult to grans when using far easier wrestling based clinching/gripping is easier? (Yes, I know there are certain 'secret' applications of traditional locks such as using a finger or wrist lock as a throw, but let's not delve into secrets at this point, shall we) Also, why did you let him gran you? Why didn't you stop him before he grabs. BTW - 99% of the time people grab you is so they can hold you while they hit you. How do you expect to deal with the punches when you are perforning the move? For that matter, how do you expect to deal with ANY of the resistance that is provided to your standing lock?

Seems there are more questions here than answers. Let me provide a simple answer: you can't rely on a stand up joint locking game that revolves exclusively on locking. It is a bad idea.