I was working on the focus mitts with one of my friends recently who once took a karate class. While he doesn't think that the class was practical enough for him to apply most techniques, he has come away with one or two that he still likes, namely a certain knife hand strike which is very impressive.

The technique he showed me involves holding you striking hand in front of your face in a position kinda like a very low salute, and then rotating it downward so that it ends with your arm extended and the palm facing upward, you strike your opponent with the edge of your hand at the heel. In order to get power into the move, it's important to whip your arm and twist your hips into it as with a hook or similar technique.

I know, it sounds stupid, but I had him do it to the focus mitt and it was very powerful, and was hurting my hand through the mitt (which hooks did not). I was impressed with the power of the move. Unfortunately it is a bit telegraphed and easier to block than a hook, but it can be added on to a 1-2-3 combo very smoothly with a bit of practice, replacing the hook. It seems like a very circumstancial move but it opened my eyes to the possible usefulness of knife hand attacks. (and I am normally the most gung-ho boxing enthusiast around, straight out of some old-timey english self-defense book from 1801).

Anyway, the knife hand I describe can be "trimmed down" to fit into a boxing stance (less rigid hand positions, KEEPING YOUR GUARD UP throughout, etc.) and added into combos (although it is hard to combo off this move). My question is; does anyone with more experience have other knife-hand techniques that are USEFUL (i.e. better at least one way than an equivalent punch) or advice on when/ how to throw knife hands in a fight?

P.S: info on ridge hands is welcome also. And spear hands, if you can give me a use that isn't going to cripple me when I try it. (I hate spear hands)

knife hands and ridge hands are ideal for fucking up your wrists in ways that straight punches can only dream of.

knife hands and ridge hands are ideal for fucking up your wrists in ways that straight punches can only dream of.

I'll keep that in mind ; )

Are you saying that I might not want to work the occasional knife hand into my heavy bag and focus mitt/thai pad workouts?

Judo Chop. End of thread.

Judo Chop. End of thread.

My friend is a Judo BB and he gets screaming mad when he watches Austin Powers. He looks for someone or something to Osoto-Geri when he hears "Judo Chop" or "Judo Kick". He once did a takedown on me with his knee on my 'nads because I said that to him (well, that and we were actually having a wrestling match, *cough*)_

The reason?

Because he doesn't want the secret to get out. It was pretty lame of them to out this stuff in Austin Powers. Now almost everybody knows it. No more super secret weapon.

Was it something like this?

http://www.unsui-dojo.de/Techniken/Uchi-waza/images/Shuto-Uchi.jpg

Was it something like this?

http://www.unsui-dojo.de/Techniken/Uchi-waza/images/Shuto-Uchi.jpg

We call this yokomen-uchi in Yoshinkan aikido term. The strike is aimed at temple or neck.


knife hands and ridge hands are ideal for fucking up your wrists in ways that straight punches can only dream of.
Pauli, why do you say this? Could you explain why? Thank you. In my experience, I have hurt my wrist when I do mune tsuki (front thrust punch), but never when I do these ridge hand nor knife hand strikes.

GMW.

Was it something like this?

http://www.unsui-dojo.de/Techniken/Uchi-waza/images/Shuto-Uchi.jpg
Why yes, I think that's the one. Except my friend is three dimensional and he has more than two colours.

EDIT: And he also has legs.

Shuto gammen uchi is what we call it. It's decent, it can hit pretty hard. I like shuto uchi uchi myself.

http://www.tkj-sarstedt.de/abteilungen/karate/techniken/bilder/shutouchi.jpg

knife hands and ridge hands are ideal for fucking up your wrists in ways that straight punches can only dream of.

You are kidding right?

I train with a ridge hand as part of my heavy bag workout. (2x a week for 30 minutes)
I have never had any problems with my wrist.
I often use my knife hand to break boards at demos and things of that nature. Again I have never hurt my wrist
I have sprained my wrist using a punch on multiple occasions.
Your experience may be different.

So, here's the question: if it's easier to telegraph and block, why do you want to use it? Fine, you get some "power" out of it ... why not just develop a strong hook, or panantukan whipping punch or something? I was trying this strike out at home and it seemed ... well, lame. Silly.

You actually won't telegraph too much with it if you practice with it. I like to treat mine like a hook. It might catch people unexpected too, as not many people use them.

Shuto uchi uchis are nice to use as a follow-up to a straight right. If your opponent jabs at you can bump it out of the way with your forearm which will put you right in position for one. I played around with both of these in sparring, I tend to get a lot more use out of uchi uchi than gammen uchi though. I love my hooks so I'm more biased to use those.

I agree with Viking. Practice more with it.

I usually throw it with 123, ridge hand punching combo. it works great because it generates a lot of power for me and sneaks in there.
I dropped someone out at a testing about 2 years ago with one. He was one of those guys that was trying to hurt you all the time so I had had enough.

So, here's the question: if it's easier to telegraph and block, why do you want to use it? Fine, you get some "power" out of it ... why not just develop a strong hook, or panantukan whipping punch or something? I was trying this strike out at home and it seemed ... well, lame. Silly.

Well, considering that my chop was almost stronger than my hook right off the bat (and I work on my hooks the most after my jab), it seemed like it had a LOT more power and, in some ways, was harder to block in that it comes from an odd stance at an odd angle. The trick is working the setup motion into your normal pattern, as when batting someone's straight punch away, as mentioned by someone above. Yes it does seem silly when you try it out - it helps to have someone who knows it demonstrate on a pad or something.

Also, what's a panantukan whipping punch? that sounds like a fancy drink to me ; )

Shuto gammen uchi is what we call it. It's decent, it can hit pretty hard. I like shuto uchi uchi myself.

http://www.tkj-sarstedt.de/abteilungen/karate/techniken/bilder/shutouchi.jpg

It is called Gyaku yokomen-uchi in my syllabus.

GMW