I can't really picture what the ape did after he freed his arm. Did he close the distance? Did a counter-grasp on Tarzan?The ape was staggered, and what with the mortal wound in his side had almost collapsed, when, with one mighty effort he rallied for an instant—just long enough to enable him to wrest his arm free from Tarzan's grasp and close in a terrific clinch with his wiry opponent.
Source: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs