The open hand (palm heel)

**Shams** · Posted On: 7/11/2005 2:40pm

So anyone out there use any open-hand palm heel striking techniques......I kinda damaged my knuckles and the open hand has been pretty helpful to me during full contact matchs (only with the right hand tho) :adios:

**lawdog** · Posted On: 7/11/2005 3:47pm

I knew a guy in high school who had no training in anything, but he would consistently knock people out with that strike. I probably saw him hit at least 6 people over a 3 year period and he knocked out every single one of them with one hit. Never once hurt his hand either, which is certainly one huge benefit of that strike.

**Shams** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 10:00am

Its certainly a lot faster than a punch cause the hands are more relaxed open.

**Jaguar Wong** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 12:04pm

Originally Posted by Shams

Its certainly a lot faster than a punch cause the hands are more relaxed open.

so how much faster are we talking here? can we radar gun it for those of us who feel that the difference in speed (if there is any) is almost negligible. a proper punch is thrown with a relaxed hand and should only be tightened on or near impact anyway.

As for open hand strikes, I think pimp-slapping fools would be excellent and really shock your opponent. But then you'd really have a fight on your hands if you don't capitalize on it. Bas Rutten had the killer palm heel strike. The part of the hand he uses (from anecdotal evidence) is on the pinky side on that bone closest to the wrist. I've heard it called the "ox jaw" or some other weird name like that.

Open hand strikes I used to use the most were the knife hand and the ridge hand. I'm a fan of the closed fist hook and overhand right/left now, though.

**Quikfeet509** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 12:24pm

I remember watching Bas for the first time when "Kings of Pancrase" was on PPV and being amazed at the number of KOs or knockdowns he had with this strike. I found out later that a number of the Pancrase fights were works (including the best technical fight ever with my man Matt Hume) but I never heard how many of the Bas fights were.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 12:42pm

Originally Posted by Shams

Its certainly a lot faster than a punch cause the hands are more relaxed open.

BS meter rising...

**NSLightsOut** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 12:53pm

How the **** is an open palm heel/slap faster than a closed-fist jab?

BS seconded

**ryanand** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 9:18pm

one of my friends knocked out some vagrant trying to hit him with a brick in a parking lot using a palm heel to his jaw.

i know a dude who works as a border guard guy and he was saying he was taught to knock somebody out like that to avoid knuckle cuts cuz your knuckles get infected easy since blood doesnt get to them as easy to clean them etc.

**lawdog** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 9:31pm

I'm a boxer, so I've never trained or used that strike. However, like I said earlier, I've seen it used with incredible success. I also think that if you have a real powerful punch, you are probably less likely to injure your hand.

I don't get the speed thing though. Why would it be faster? Makes no sense to me. Is there any basis for that idea?

**Bang!** · Posted On: 7/12/2005 10:25pm

Bas actually uses a lot of TMA techniques, but who knows? I've even seen a classical tai chi technique in one of his videos . . .

As for the speed of open vs. closed hand? If you're throwing fists slower than palms because you're tense, it's because you suck at punching. There is no special move that will save you.

Personally, I like palm strikes, train with them on the bag a lot and can hit pretty hard with them, IMO. Unfortunately, I do best when they're at body level, but have more trouble landing them there -- mostly because of their larger surface area.