KOTF weekly.

[Tom Yum]

Open Hand techniques

Long time member (huh huh, I said long...member) and part-time contributor here

Nice post, enjoy the topic. What you posted is EXACTLY what I was thinking about using open handed strikes, before reading the excerpt. Hands move marginally faster than boxing gloves and have greater range of motion than MMA gloves, which is important since fingers are not only used for grasping, but for striking, tearing or hold escape/weapon disarm as well. Hell fingers/hands/wrist can be targeted too in grappling and weapons.

A palm heel strike that misses a chin/nose via defensive slip, can still grab an ear (or hair) or penetrate for partial clinch, plumb into full clinch or stay on for strikes. Hands are more important than fists alone; for example hands work together (in push-pull fashion etc) in stand up grappling (a range that is not as frequently exploited in MMA as in more combatives systems from south east asia, Chinese systems of qinna or traditional muaythai). Just my quick 2 pesos.

I'm always going to appreciate the realistic dynamics of MMA/boxing and love to mix it up in the ring when I can but its time to get to the root because martial arts is more than just a sport for me.

Miss you guys (Everyone - including Tim Mousel, Excessive Force, Cake Girl, Tanto, TTE Escrima, KOTF.... even the grappling/sumo/forum jokes of jubs lol ). Great community. When I get into my running or swimming zone, sometimes I'm whisked away to defend.net forum discussion topics.

Later

[kingoftheforest]

Here is a nice article that covers some ideas on open hand strikes, as well as points on other subjects.

I especially like this excerpt :

Open hand techniques can become grabs, finger pokes, or fists faster and easier than fists can become something else. An open hand can also be used to defend against an elbow or knee while a fist would be powerless against such a strike.

The soft open hand molds itself around the hard parts, and the force of the hit is transmitted through the skin and into the hard inner core. Stylists use boards, bricks, hand-held striking pads and heavy bags to check the power, speed, and accuracy of their techniques. They have found out that the small bones in the fist will not stand up to the power that the vast majority of open hand strikes can generate. This is not to say that the fist will always be weak and slow. It is just that all things being equal in the paper- scissors, rock game, the fist looses to the open hand most of the time.

Open Hand Basics - Part 1 Of 2

[kingoftheforest]

I have been training with one of these Hickory Bokken for a few years, so I just ordered one of these

http://www.bladecenter.com/paul-chen...to-SH1016.aspx, because it is the same dimensions.


It'll be while before I actually pick up the sharp one and swing it. Which will give me time to make so wood or possibly G10 handles for it. Re wrapping an ito is a pain in the ass. And G10 is so, so pretty.

[kingoftheforest]

http://www.defend.net/deluxeforums/urban-street-combatives-r-b-m/34194-edged-weapon-tactics-counter-tactics-2.html#post341380

go here for this weeks.

[kingoftheforest]

Very good point my friend. It is a most basic principal of fighting with weapons to know it can be dislodged from your grip with ease. For retention purposes it is wise to understand disarming... Knife hand and hammer fist may be colorful titles but the meaning does not escape those who understand it's intent.

Kudos to KOTF.

Thanks for the update!

Definitely a plus to have stick on stick contact or to have your arm struck while holding any weapon. Shock can dislodge it quickly, a well placed shoulder strike can do the trick.

In The Book of Five Rings" Musashi discusses drawing while shoulder striking the opponent or just plain shoulder striking him to death. He says "These things must be learned in practice."

Just like being hit with a stick is not something you want to feel for the first time in the mix.

[kingoftheforest]

The little one has figured out how to choke up and "stabilize" his wiffle bat. He was blocked and disarmed by the escrima stick a few times and figured it out.

He was also quick to start aiming for the hands.

[kingoftheforest]

I couldn't see that vid. It says private.

There was no vid on this one.

[GQchris]

I couldn't see that vid. It says private.

[kingoftheforest]

Random thought

I'm making this post to help myself as well as anyone else who has ever pondered this idea. It's an old concept and it is alluded to in many classic texts and in some such as Sun Tzu's "The art of war" it is plainly spelled out. This idea is of the mind that empty hand or weapon in hand, the fighting concepts you use don't change.

I think that there is a definite mental aspect when people have a weapon.It seems to make people feel more secure for some reason. The sad fact is if you don't know how to defend yourself empty handed a weapon can possibly put you at a greater disadvantage. False overconfidence may cause you to do foolish things in an altercation. Having a weapon you have never trained with does not make you a better fighter.

Musashi cautioned in The Book of Five Rings that having a favorite weapon was a disadvantge and that the best weapon to use was the one in hand. In my opinion he's advocating learning the concepts he placed down and applying them to whatever you have to use, sword, stick, empty hand, anything. "They are the was of strategy, you must study these dilligently" - Musashi


Take for instance and empty hand vs a stick in hand.
You still have the same angles of attack, you still move through the same space to attack , you still have to defend the same space.
The size and length of the weapon will change the range at which you can attack, other than that even the basic body mechanics are the same.
A downward diagonal strike to the neck would still incorporate the same waist and shoulder movement, you would still follow through and then return with a backfist movement that would drive the stick at the opponents face. If you so choose.

Same concepts just applied with a weapon in hand. But you have to learn the concept empty hand before adding a foreign attachment to it. As with any fighting system, you will have holes somewhere in your defense. How large, how many and how exploitable they are will depend on what, and how you train.

[kingoftheforest]

I feel sorry for his pre-schoolmates...

Actually around other kids he is very quiet and in the background.

[Tant01]

I feel sorry for his pre-schoolmates...

[kingoftheforest]

I found it amusing. He seems like a pretty quiet fellow.

When he's up to no good you know, cause he makes no noise at all.

He gets pretty rambunctious but with the examples of discipline he sees most of the time, I think he understands for the most part what behaviour is accepted and when.

he knows when he goes to Grandma's he can act like a jackass.

To quote "The Cloud" "'ttack!!"

[mellow]

Good eye you passed the awareness test.

I found it amusing. He seems like a pretty quiet fellow.

[kingoftheforest]

In one of the videos he sneaks in and takes and Indian club.

Good eye you passed the awareness test.

[mellow]

"The Cloud" as he has ben nick named could possibly make an apperance. He loves to play with the shinai.

He's good for a sneak attack too.

In one of the videos he sneaks in and takes an Indian club.