When executing a number 3 disarm, I’ve always told my students to snake around the hand to get it to the disarming position. In general terms, snaking usually refers to the twisting around an appendage, generally the arm/hand.  However, for the #3 disarm, snaking is perhaps the right term, but the traditional technique is perhaps not the optimal technique.  For this specific technique I want to differentiate between snaking and what I call pythoning.  Pythons coil and circle the appendages or their prey.  Snakes do this too, but they more often strike, moving straight in and straight out.    While coiling can be effective in executing the # 3 disarm, it is not an efficient movement.  In the video below I demonstrate “pythoning”.

You can see how the hand makes a big circle around my partner’s arm wasting a lot of movement and time.

The technique is more effective if pursued as a snake striking rather than a python coiling.  In the video below, the disarming hand goes straight out and then comes straight back in turning as it returns.

This is much more direct, effective and quicker.