Striking Form: Movement No. 2: Back Fist, Knife Hand and Palm Thrust

Hello, everyone!

Welcome back to this week's post.

If you have read the book you would have come across this sequence of movements in the Form. 

I have practiced these movements enough times by now to know what they are and what they do. If you have read the words that go with the pictures you would also know.

But still- photos of a movement don't really tell show us what we need to see, right?

Well... you know by now that I have something to help with that...

If only the animation moved a bit slower... right? :D

What is actually happening in the gif is this:

1. I lead with a horizontal back fist strike to the side of the opponent's head.

He blocks that.

2. In response to the block I take my striking hand around to the other side of the head while covering or trapping the opponent's blocking hand with my non-striking hand. From here I hit the opponent's neck artery or jawbone with an inward knife hand strike.

3. Sweeping with my striking hand in a downwards arc I clear all hands and arms out of the way and shoot an explosive palm thrust to the opponent's chest.

A similar sequence is found elsewhere in the book. It looks like this:

In this sequence with my friend Shairley I was made to block a back fist strike so that my other side could open up for her knife hand strike. Only difference here was the knife hand then held on to my head for a roundhouse elbow to smash into it. The striking arm then straightened to set me up for that knee strike.

During the early years of my researching martial arts techniques on my own I have found that martial arts like Karate and Kung Fu that have been modified for sparring competitions looked a lot different in street fights before the modifications for sports purposes had come in. I was really curious to find out what it would feel like to fight without being limited to only competition techniques.

The first technique that had come to my mind was the knife hand strike.

If you are used to throwing straight punches most of the time this particular strike feels very awkward and impractical. For one- it takes a longer road to its target and for another- you need to get in closer than what you are used to doing with straight punches.

The back fist was the best way for me to engage the opponent's guard so that I can get past it. So- this ended up being a combination that I have practiced a lot. The palm thrust and elbow-knee follow ups just came naturally after that.

In a fight, you only manage to hit a person who is either unaware of your blow or already preoccupied with something else. If the opponent started attacking first you might find him both preoccupied and unaware so that your strike hits with no resistance.

An opponent like the one in the gif who is not attacking first will not give you that chance. In fact- we find a lot of fighters who would rather wait for you to attack than attack first. 

Well... if circumstances dictate for you to overcome this opponent or to score a point (depending on whether you are fighting in a competition or whether you are fighting for your life or that of someone else) you cannot afford to wait. Opponents who like to play the waiting game are very unlikely to give up the position from which they are comfortable.

So- the solution lies in getting them to move.

In the PS2 game Red Ninja- End of Honour (really awesome game) you easily snuck past guards by using the patterns in their patrol movements to move while staying out of their line of sight.

You also had guards that just stood still in one place, though.

There was no way for you to avoid their line of sight, so-

you ended up having to do this...   

 

The back fist at the beginning of the combination does something similar. If the opponent keeps standing still the blow will hit him, so he blocks.

The knife hand strike comes while the opponent is still blocking, so hand speed is very important. That, however, is why we train in the first place, right?

The knife hand strike normally stuns or disorients an opponent. This is what clears the way for follow-up attacks.

Breaking through an opponent's defense often takes a combination of attacks. If the attacks all move in the same direction and come from the same direction you will have a hard time landing a hit, though.

The trick lies in attacking a spot while the opponent's defense is committed elsewhere or- like Bruce Lee used to say- It is better to attack in a line that is opening up than one that is closing. This translates to:
"Hitting an opponent who is ready will get you blocked. Hitting the opening that presents itself as your opponent blocks is much better."

Well... that brings us to the end of today's post.

See you next week! :) 

Train well and have a good week!