Strike (attack)
Encyclopedia
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
, 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. An attack with the hand closed into a fist is called a punch
Punch (strike)
A punch is a striking blow with the fist. It is the most commonly used attack in hand to hand combat. It is used in some martial arts and combat sports, most notably boxing where it is the only type of technique allowed...
; an attack with the leg or foot is referred to as a kick
Kick
In combat sports and hand-to-hand combat, a kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This type of attack is used frequently, especially in stand-up fighting...
; and an attack with the head is called a headbutt
Headbutt
A headbutt is a strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the cranium as areas of impact. Effective headbutting revolves around striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area, such as striking the nose of an opponent with the forehead...
. There is also full-body attacks such as Tackling and Body-slammingThere are also other variations employed in martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and combat sports.
Usage
Strikes are the key focus of several sports and arts, including boxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, 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,...
, 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...
, 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"...
and 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...
, some martial arts also use the fingertips, wrists, forearms, shoulders, back and hips to strike an opponent as well as the more conventional fists, palms, elbows, knees and feet that are common in combat sports. Other sports and arts, such as wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
employ no strikes in focusing on grappling
Grappling
Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...
techniques. Pinching is the same as hitting.
Hits
Hitting is the act of striking with some part of the armArm
In human anatomy, the arm is the part of the upper limb between the shoulder and the elbow joints. In other animals, the term arm can also be used for analogous structures, such as one of the paired forelimbs of a four-legged animal or the arms of cephalopods...
. This is usually the elbow, the hand, the forearm, or the back of the wrist.
Punches
A strike utilizing the hand with the fingers closed into a fistFist
Fist may refer to:* In falconry, the hand covered by a heavy glove as in boxing, on which the hawk perches* Fisting, the act of the inserting fingers or the whole hand in a vagina or rectum for sexual pleasure...
and striking with the knuckles (as opposed to the hammer fist described below). There are various methods of punches, including but not limited to the straight lead, the backfist, the jab, and the vertical punch.
Palm Strike
A strike using the palm of the hand. Whether the hand is open or the fingertips are folded against the bottom knuckles, palm strikes hit with the bottom part of the palm, where the hand meets the wrist. The hand is held perpendicular to the wrist to avoid hitting the softer inner wrist tissue against the target.The bottom ridge of the palm is a surprisingly solid striking surface, and can do just as much damage as a closed fist when utilized properly (some studies have shown that a palm strike actually can produce more energy than a punch in most cases), with far less risk of injury to the striker's own hand. Also, it creates a few inches of additional distance between the striker and the target than a regular punch, thus picking up more momentum.
The palm strike is useful as it is thrown in a more relaxed manner than a clenched fist. This is because clenching the fist shortens the extensor muscles of the wrist which counter the action of flexor muscles of the wrist used in punching. Many martial arts teach to keep the fist clench relaxed until impact in order to maximize the speed of the punch.
Targets are numerous and some examples include the nose
Human nose
The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils...
, jaw
Jaw
The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term jaws is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serving to open and close it and is part of the body plan of...
, ear
Ear
The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....
s, back of the head
Human head
In human anatomy, the head is the upper portion of the human body. It supports the face and is maintained by the skull, which itself encloses the brain.-Cultural importance:...
, the groin
Groin
In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...
, the kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
s and abdominal cavity
Abdominal cavity
The abdominal cavity is the body cavity of the human body that holds the bulk of the viscera. It is located below the thoracic cavity, and above the pelvic cavity. Its dome-shaped roof is the thoracic diaphragm , and its oblique floor is the pelvic inlet...
. Some combat sports, such as Pancrase
Pancrase
Pancrase is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. Pancrase is taken from Pankration, a sport in the ancient Olympic games. Suzuki and Funaki are particularly skilled in the art of catch wrestling and based the...
, have forbidden strikes using the clenched fist but permitted strikes using the palm.
Knife hand
A strike using the part of the hand opposite the thumb (from the little finger to the wrist), familiar to many people as a karate chop, Shuto or Tegatana. This refers to strikes performed with the side of the knuckle of the small finger.Suitable targets for the knife hand strike include the mastoid muscles of the neck, the jugular, the throat, the collar bones, the 3rd vertebra (key stone of the spinal column), the upper arm, the wrist (knife hand block), the elbow (outside knife hand block), and the knee cap (leg throw). In many Japanese and Chinese martial arts systems, the knife hand is used to block as well as to strike.
Ridge hand
By tucking the thumb into the palm, a striking surface called the ridge-hand, or reverse knife-hand is formed, extending a few inches along the inside of the hand below the first knuckle of the first finger. Ridge-hand strikes commonly are delivered with a hooking motion, or with a straight arm swingSuitable targets include the mastoid muscles of the neck, the jugular, throat
Throat
In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the anterior part of the neck, in front of the vertebral column. It consists of the pharynx and larynx...
, nose, jaw, the eyes, and the groin. However, it should be noted that the ridge hand is generally considered obsolete in the martial arts and highly circumstantial. The conditioning required to effectively use it is usually better suited towards basic conditioning of other more natural parts of the body such as punching or kicking. For example, the buckeling that can occur on an unconditioned and sometimes even highly conditioned fighter when using the technique and slightly missing the main targets(eyes, neck, or nose) can do more damage to the striker, even when he hits decent targets instead like the jaw or forehead. As such, it is considered a high level and highly circumstantial technique in the martial arts that still teach the technique, such as most forms of karate, tae kwon do, jujitsu, and kung fu.
Spear hand
Delivered just as with a punch except that the hand is held open like with a knife hand. The intended striking area are the tips of the fingers. The ideal targets are the eyes and throat. This technique is generally unsuitable against most other targets due to the high probability that one might break their fingers. It does have the added advantage of increasing the range of normal hand striking by 3-4 inches or so as opposed to say punching, backfisting, or hammer fisting. It is considered a high level technique requiring enormous conditioning, but even accidental spear fingering can be quite devastating on the eyes such as punching mistakes seen in modern MMA circuits.Hammerfist
A strike with the bottom of a clenched fist, using an action like swinging a hammer, but can also be used horizontally like a backfist strike using the bottom fist.This strike will not damage the bones of the hands as there is no compression of the knuckles or metacarpals, and there is no leverage to bend the wrist.
The hammerfist strikes cricket ball sized areas on the body, hence is particularly effective for striking the Occiput
Occiput
The occiput is the anatomical term for the posterior portion of the head, in insects the posterior part of those head capsule.-Clinical significance:Trauma to the occiput can cause a basilar skull fracture....
, the temples, the nose, the mandible, the wrist (for blocking punches), the sternum, and the ear (although a cupped hand is more effective). The hammerfist is sometimes used during "ground-and-pound" striking in mixed martial arts to avoid damaging the bones of the hand.
Extended knuckle
Hand strikes can be delivered with an extended knuckle, rather than the classic fist configuration used for a traditional punch. One of the fingers is moved forwards so that the impact is made with the knuckle, concentrating force onto a smaller area. This kind of strike is optimized for attacks to pressure pointPressure point
A pressure point in the field of martial arts refers to an area on the human body that may produce significant pain or other effects when manipulated in a specific manner...
s.
Deriving from traditional and ancient Kung Fu, such striking was considered high level technique for advanced students/inheritors of the art. The accuracy required along side the conditioning requirements(similar to the knuckles for traditional punching) put it as a circumstantial technique and not as a standard one.
Some modern martial arts, such as Krav Maga
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a noncompetitive eclectic self-defense system developed in Europe that involves striking techniques, wrestling and grappling. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient, brutal counter-attacks...
, Aikido
Aikido
is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
, Hapkido
Hapkido
Hapkido is a dynamic and also eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, techniques of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks...
, deliver this strike to the back of the hand while being held. It puts pressure on the small bones in the opponent's hand, causing them to loosen up their fingers in the grip. This lets the practitioner transition smoothly into a small joint manipulation
Small joint manipulation
Small joint manipulation, in grappling, refers to twisting, pulling or bending fingers or toes to cause joint locks in the various joints in those appendages...
technique. However, its effectiveness after the opponent is reasonably aware of the fight in occurrence has been disputed with evidence hard to obtain due to the nature of the art and it's disuse in sport combat sparring or matches.
Kicks
A kick is a physical strike using the ball of the foot, heel, shin, or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This attack is often used in hand-to-hand combat, especially in stand-up fighting. Kicks play a significant role in many forms of martial arts, such as Taekwondo, Karate, Kung fu, VovinamVovinam
Vovinam is a Vietnamese martial art.Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of between hard and soft. It includes training of the body as well as the mind. It uses force and reaction of the opponent. Vovinam also includes hand, elbow, kicks, escape- and levering...
, Kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
, Muay Thai, Capoeira
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
, 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 Kalarippayattu
Kalarippayattu
Kalaripayattu is a southern Indian martial art originating in Tamil Nadu but also practiced in contiguous parts of Kerala and Karnataka.Kalari payat includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods...
.
Front kick
Delivering a front kick involves raising the kneeKnee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
and foot
Foot
The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws...
of the striking leg to the desired height, also known as chambering, and extending the leg to contact the target, typically with the upper body straight and balanced. The actual strike is usually delivered by the ball of the foot. Thrusting one's hips is a common method of increasing both reach and power of the kick; depending on practitioner's particular needs, a front kick may involve more or less body motion. Front kicks are typically aimed at targets below the chest: abdomen, thighs, groin, knees or lower, however advanced practitioner have the capability of striking head-level targets with the front kick.
Side Kick
The side kick refers to a kick that is delivered sideways in relation to the body of the practitioner. There are two areas that are commonly used as impact points in sidekicks: the heel of the foot and the outer edge of the foot. The heel is more suited to hard targets such as the ribs, stomach, jaw, temple and chest. A sidekick is performed by first chambering the kicking leg diagonally across the body, then extending the leg in a linear fashion toward the target, while flexing the abdominals.Roundhouse kick
Also referred to as a round kick, this is the most commonly used kick in combat sportCombat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...
s due to its power and ease of use. In most traditional martial arts, the instep is used to strike, whereas in Muay Thai, kickboxing and 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...
the shin
Shin
Shin may refer to:* Shinbone, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates* Shin , the twenty-first letter in many Semitic alphabets* Shin , origin of Shin name, which means "new"...
is used. To execute, the attacker swings their leg sideways in a circular motion, kicking the opponent's side with the front of the leg, usually with the instep, ball of the foot, toe, or shin. An important variation is the downward roundhouse kick, nicknamed the Brazilian Kick from recent MMA use: A more pronounced twist of the hips allows for a downward end of the trajectory of the kick that is very deceiving.
Knee Strike
A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area.Butt Strike
In a butt strike, as taught by Impact self-defense and other self-defense systems, the defendant drives his or her hips and butt region backward into an attacker holding them from behind in order to cause the attacker to off-balance and bend forward and possibly cause pain by striking the groin or midsection forcefully. While causing minimal striking damage on average, the attack can serve to develop a superior and/or freed position for the defendant.Headbutt
A headbutt is a strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the cranium as areas of impact. Effective headbutting revolves around striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area, such as striking the nose of an opponent with the forehead. It is known as a risky maneuver: a misplaced headbutt can cause more damage to the person delivering the headbutt than to the person receiving it.Shoulder Strike
A shoulder strike (also referred to as a shoulder butt) is a strike with the anterior part of the shoulder. The shoulder strike can be used against the head of the opponent in close positions such as in a clinch or ground fighting, but is generally not considered to have knockout power. However, as used as a fulcrum for a joint hyperextention, such as an arm lock in classic jujitsu from stand-up or ground positions, can serve well to break said joint either when being the surface that an elbow is slammed upon or as a surface to balance out the break much as the thigh is for the juji-gatame in JudoJudo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
.
Hip and Shoulder Checking
Checking involves striking with the side of your body, at the hip or shoulder, by shifting your balance and pushing with the furthest foot to drive your body into your opponent with force. While these movements are used extensively in ice hockeyHockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, see Checking (ice hockey)
Checking (ice hockey)
Checking in ice hockey is any one of a number of defensive techniques. It is usually not a penalty.- Types :There are various types of checking:...
, they can be performed equally well on dry ground and are part of various self-defense techniques. These strikes rarely cause damage, but are used to off-balance or knock an opponent down. However, when applied with ample power and to a vulnerable region they can cause pain, for example, hitting an opponent with your shoulder to the nose, striking the upper Quadriceps femoris muscle with your hip, or driving your shoulder into your opponent's solar plexus region
Celiac plexus
The celiac plexus or coeliac plexus, also known as the solar plexus, is a complex network of nerves located in the abdomen, where the celiac trunk, superior mesenteric artery, and renal arteries branch from the abdominal aorta...
.
Striking principles
Strikes in Asian martial arts and Western boxing have many of the same principles in common. These principles apply to strikes with most parts of the human body. These principles are typically learned by martial artists through multiple repetitions under the supervision of a qualified instructor. Many martial arts and texts include these principles, such as karate and Jeet Kun Do. This is only a partial list.- Timing of muscular tension: The striker relaxes to the extent possible during the strike, tensing the muscles of much of the body only at the time of impact, then relaxing again to recoil the striking part. Relaxation enables the strike to achieve the greatest possible velocity during travel, while rigidity at impact allows the maximum transfer of force.
- Breath control: Practitioners may include a kiai or shout, to help tense the muscles at impact and distract or frighten the opponent. Strikers generally exhale as the strike nears the target. Breath control is also important to relax the body when not attacking; novice strikers often bleed significant energy because they are tense at inappropriate times.
- Penetration: Strikes should aim for a point 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) behind the target surface, to impart the most energy into the target. The striker in combat should attempt to strike through the target area, not just contact the surface. An example of increase penetration is in turning the fist as it is thrown, a very natural punching technique that the amount of turn depends on the position be it either as an attack, defense, or counter. Instinctive punching, boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, along with most martial arts uses this type of punching aside from Wing ChunWing ChunWing 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...
and CapoeiraCapoeiraCapoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
who favor adding slightly more speed at the cost of moderate power loss. - Focus: Strikes should channel force through a small area of the attacker's body. For example, this is the knuckles of the middle finger and index finger during a karateKarateis 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,...
reverse punch, or the crescent/blade of the foot in a Tae Kwon Do side kick technique. Focus helps in achieving proper penetration and in maximizing the damage at the point of impact. - Kinetic linkage / Summation of force: Muscles are activated in a precise sequence to maximize the force generated. Strikes should generally be thrown with some measure of shifting body weight supporting the blow, as opposed to just the striking arm or leg. For example, the traditional boxing jab is made more forceful by driving off the rear leg and shifting body weight into the blow, while twisting the trunk and shoulder to further enhance the striking force.
- Footwork: Proper footwork is used to enable the proper balancing of the body, to support combinations of strikes and launch strikes from the proper angle or distance. This is among the most complex elements of striking, as power ultimately flows from the legs in striking and optimizing the ability to throw combinations involves precise footwork.
- Gravity: Strikes that go from high to low like hammerfists, downwards elbows, and stomp kicks see their force enhanced by gravity.
Striking strategies
Besides applying the mechanical elements described above, strikers use particular strategies to help ensure their strikes are effective. Among these strategies are:- Combinations: Strikers may combine techniques in a series to ensure one or more strikes impact their opponents. These attacks are thrown at various targets on the body, with the greatest force typically thrown with a particular technique in the sequence.
- Level of attack: The height of attack is often varied, such as a jab to the head followed by a kick to the ribs. By varying the level of attack, strikers open the guard of their opponent.
- Timing and Rhythm: Experienced strikers learn through repetition and muscle memory when (not just how) to launch particular strikes, based on the circumstances they are facing. Fights and fighters may have ebbs and flows in momentum and action that become predictable. Disrupting this flow may give the striker an advantage.
- Direct line: "Telegraphing" refers to moving the striking body part prior to actually launching the blow. Telegraphing signals the intent to the opponent and increases the likelihood the strike will not be effective. In general, the striking weapon should move first, with the body driving behind it. This requires proper distancing and footwork.
- Deception: Strikers use feints or distractions to disguise the timing or direction of their attacks. Stomping the foot, noise, frequent hand movement, head movement, switching the guard position, etc. are common feints. Using feints, then attacking at multiple levels and with various techniques may help deceive the opponent, defeating their guard.
- Dominant angle of attack: Achieving a positional advantage relative to your opponent. UFC champion Anderson SilvaAnderson SilvaAnderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history...
wrote: "The ultimate goal in fighting is to utilize footwork to acquire a dominant angle of attack." He defines this as "...a position from which you can strike your opponent, and your opponent is out of position to hit you with a strike...you want your hips facing your opponent and your opponents hips facing away from yours."
The dangers of fist strikes
The human hand is made up of many small bones which may be damaged by heavy impact. If a hard part of the opponent's body or other hard object is inadvertently struck, the metacarpals may splay on impact and break. BoxersBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
tape their hands so as to hold the metacarpals together and keep them from splaying. One can toughen one's bones by striking objects to induce osteoclast
Osteoclast
An osteoclast is a type of bone cell that removes bone tissue by removing its mineralized matrix and breaking up the organic bone . This process is known as bone resorption. Osteoclasts were discovered by Kolliker in 1873...
s (cells which remove bone) and osteoblast
Osteoblast
Osteoblasts are mononucleate cells that are responsible for bone formation; in essence, osteoblasts are specialized fibroblasts that in addition to fibroblastic products, express bone sialoprotein and osteocalcin.Osteoblasts produce a matrix of osteoid, which is composed mainly of Type I collagen...
s (which form bone) to remodel the bone over the struck area increasing the density of bone at the striking surface. For more information on bone remodeling, see Wolff's law
Wolff's law
Wolff's law is a theory developed by the German Anatomist/Surgeon Julius Wolff in the 19th century that states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger...
.
The wrist
Wrist
In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as 1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand;...
must also be kept in proper alignment during a fist strike. If the wrist bends on impact, it can easily be sprained, dislocated or broken. Boxers tape their wrists to reduce wrist flex.
Video examples
- Highlights - 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist Myung Sam Jang - Examples of Footwork and Kicking
- Anderson Silva - Examples of Basic Striking and Combinations
Krav Maga techniques