An elbow strike is a strike

Strike (attack)

A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...

 with the point of the elbow, the part of the forearm nearest to the elbow, or the part of the upper arm nearest to the elbow. Elbows can be thrown sideways similarly to a hook

Hook (boxing)

A hook is a punch in boxing. It is performed by turning the core muscles and back, thereby swinging the arm, which is bent at an angle near or at 90 degrees, in a horizontal arc into the opponent...

, upwards similarly to an uppercut, downwards with the point of the elbow, diagonally or in direct movement and in several other ways like during a jump etc.

Elbowing is a disallowed practice in most combat sports. However, Muay Thai

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

, Pradal Serey

Pradal Serey

Pradal serey is an unarmed martial art from Cambodia. In Khmer the word pradal means fighting or boxing and serey means free. Originally used for warfare, pradal serey is now one of Cambodia's national sports...

 and several mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 (MMA) organizations do allow elbowing, or allow elbowing in a specific manner. The mixed martial arts organizations disallowing it usually do so because elbowing the head increases the risk of lacerations in a fight.

While elbows are mostly disallowed in most modern combat sports, they are common in traditional martial arts. There are few traditional martial arts that don't use elbows though it depends on which martial art it is, if the elbows are primary or secondary weapons and also in which manner, what tactics and how often they are used. Some well known and respected traditional martial arts that use elbows are Karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

, Taekwondo

Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

, Hung Gar

Hung Gar

Hung Ga 洪家, Hung Kuen 洪拳, or Hung Ga Kuen 洪家拳 is a southern Chinese martial art associated with the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, who was a master of Hung Ga....

 Kung Fu, Bajiquan

Bajíquán

Bājíquán is a Chinese martial art that features explosive, short-range power and is famous for its elbow strikes. It originated in Hebei Province in Northern China, but is also well-known in other places today, especially Taiwan...

 Kung Fu, Wing Chun

Wing Chun

Wing Chun , also romanised as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun, ; ; is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat.The alternative characters 永春 "eternal spring" are also...

 Kung Fu, Silat

Silat

Silat Melayu is a blanket term for the types of silat created in peninsular Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Singapore. The silat tradition has deep roots in Malay culture and can trace its origin to the dawn of Malay civilization, 2000 years ago...

 and Muay Boran

Muay Boran

Muay boran is an umbrella term for the unarmed martial arts of Thailand prior to the introduction of modern equipment and rules in the 1930s.It is thus the direct ancestor of modern Muay Thai....

.

In Muay Thai, elbow strikes are most often used while in close range but are also employed while jumping toward the opponent, similar to Muay Thai's flying knee. The hardness of the elbow allows for hitting with considerable force, and experienced fighters can easily knock out, cut, or injure their opponent with a well-placed strike. Elbows are generally most effective when used in combination with punches or kicks to allow the fighter to close the distance.

Elbows are also used in mixed martial arts as part of the ground-and-pound fighting tactic. Participants often use elbow strikes in conjunction with punches while in the full guard, half guard, side mount, or full mount in order to knock out or overwhelm the opponent.

In ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, elbowing an opposing player is considered a rules

Ice hockey rules

The majority of ice hockey around the world is played under the umbrella of three organizations, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the International Ice Hockey Federation, each with their own set of rules...

 infraction, resulting in a two minute penalty

Penalty (ice hockey)

A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,...

 for the offending player, leaving his team short handed. In basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, elbowing a player, or "throwing 'bows, counts as a foul.

Injuries from elbow strikes

An improper elbow strike, or an elbow strike without proper conditioning can partially paralyze the striker's hand. The ulnar nerve

Ulnar nerve

In human anatomy, the ulnar nerve is a nerve which runs near the ulna bone. The ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint is in relation with the ulnar nerve. The nerve is the largest unprotected nerve in the human body , so injury is common...

 runs posterior to the elbow (posterior to medial epicondyle

Medial epicondyle

Medial epicondyle can refer to:* Medial epicondyle of the humerus * Medial epicondyle of the femur...

 of the humerus

Humerus

The humerus is a long bone in the arm or forelimb that runs from the shoulder to the elbow....

 and innervates the medial portion of the arm). For example, after an improper strike, or if the striker is not properly conditioned, the user may not be able to use the 4th and 5th digit temporarily. There may be a chance for permanent damage to the ulnar nerve with an elbow strike.

Conditioning to strike with the elbow

This can be done in several ways, the easiest way is to practice elbow strikes on something like a punching bag/Muay Thai pad/flash pad, after a few weeks of this regularly one will develop thicker, tougher skin on the elbow resulting in it being harder to cut or tear your skin while delivering elbow strikes. These activities will also make the surrounding tissue harder to bruise due to buildup of scar tissue in the striking point of the elbow from elbow strikes. It is not recommended to strike solid objects for conditioning as Micro-fractures in bone or other tissue tend to be a risk factor for repetitive strains or even more acute problems.

12-6 Elbow

A "12-6 elbow" is a strike that is brought from a high position ("12 o'clock") and travels vertically toward the floor ("6 o'clock"), dropping the point of the elbow directly on the target. This type of elbow is illegal in many MMA organizations, including the UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

 and Strikeforce

Strikeforce

Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...

. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones

Jon Jones

Jon Jones is a British television director and screenwriter whose works include the ITV drama series Cold Feet, the Channel 4 drama A Very Social Secretary and the 2007 ITV adaptation of Northanger Abbey. His work on Cold Feet led to a nomination for New Director at the BAFTA Television Craft...

received the only loss of his career after being disqualified due to using a 12-6 elbow.

Main reference

• Løvstad, Jakob. The Mixed Martial Arts Primer. www.idi.ntnu.no. URL last accessed January 31, 2006. (DOC format)