Palm Strike vs. Punching

[Eric Daniel]

I have been reading an old Black Belt Magazing and I read an article by Merideth Gold on Palm strikes vs. punching. The main idea that I gathered from it was that some people mess up there wrsts and fists by punching object such as a punching bag incorrectly. I kind of agree with the article because I think a palm to the nose is just a effective as a punch to the nose and what I don't get is why people punch in the first place if they are not taught how to punch properly.

[OmaPlata]

Watch the old UFC with Keith Hackney and the 600lb Sumo guy, Hackney drops him with an open hand to the temple

[bigred389]

A palm is much less likely to damage your hands.

I know some guys out there like to "condition" their fists so they can hit people in the face and all that, but an open palm strike gets a similar effect, without the broken hand afterwards.

Fists are fine for the torso, but punching in the face...lot of risk from even a properly thrown cross...even if you aimed for the chin, they can move and you might hit cheekbone instead. Ouch.

[EmptyneSs]

with palm strikes there is still the risk of hurting your wrist by accidentally bending your hand back too much.

[danfaggella]

I think that in general a fist hits harder (less surface area) and has a slight lenth advantage (you'll never see a palm jab). But, the palm is less likely to be hurt itself (unless you catch your fingers on something, or your opponent grabs them, but thats why many CMA palms have curled fingers) and can sertainly be effective in hitting someones hard head.

[BoarSpear]

so ....how many of you (that knew what you were doing) ever hurt your wrist palm striking?

HMMMM?

Now how many boxer's fractures have people had?....

i see LOTS of boxer's fracture threads....i havent seen ANY I hurt my wrist threads

Perhaps a poll is in order?...

I think youre gonna find its WAY safer to slap than punch.

[eXcessiveForce]

I think I've jammed my wrist once, but at that was a freak occurance.

I'd say generally injuring your wrist from a palm strike is a low probability.

[danfaggella]

I'm not going to stop punching, sure it might be safer when hitting a bag, but when there is another person hitting back you you are only slapping you likely to get hurt. I don't think punching is a bad thing, I think that in general most martial artists from most diciplines throw clenched fists, not to say that palms don't have a purpose, because they are a safe option for hitting hard surfaces, yet they dont have the same reach and they usually hit with a larger surface area.

[Sensei Saki]

Where will you go instead?And why not?

[kuk sool won]

depends how you form your Palm strike, sometimes the surface area has very little difference and the palm is a hard surface.... unless you have fat hands

[Eric Daniel]

So do most of you agree that it's safer to use a palm strike instead of a punch?

[Sensei Saki]

It goes without saying. I can't tell if it does or not.




That is something I haven't heard of. But not all of them?

[bigred389]

Well for the face, yes. Too much hard bone around.

For the torso, I agree there is probably a greater risk of wrist bendback, and a fist is just fine for working the body.

[danfaggella]

A jab to the chin is cool, but its a good idea to throw palms tot he grill when your in on a guy, less hand injury. Other than that I can't think of any times when a palm is better than another attack. The ribs and back are usually more effectively lit up with the closed hand, from what i know.

[JkD187]

It depends on where your aiming....a punch to someones chin will not hurt your hand in the least bit...but if you throw a fist to the head...you have a big risk of breaking it.Palm strikes are good if you are going to strike the back of the head or sides of the head....if your aiming for the chin then use a punch.Alot of boxers break their hands because they aim for the chin but guys defendd by blocking/evading/ducking/parrying....its usually the duck and the guy gets hit right in the head..it hurts him a bit but your hand is going to be hurting a hella lot more.