Karate Striking

Caveat: Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.

This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding. Oh, and just because I wrote it and just because it sounds reasonable and just because it makes sense, does not mean it is true.)

Striking is considered by most the heart of karate, the strike with the fist. So much so that many karate aficionados go to great lengths to explain how they develop, condition and strike with the fist. What I wonder is, what in those explanations is reality or just theory based on previous teachings that may or may not be derived from experience or just theory.

I have hit a lot of things including human targets. But I have to ask myself that if I were applying self-defense would those strikes or punches stop the threat and get the job done? 

In answer to that I found the information presented in the eBook by Marc MacYoung informative, enlightening and articulable, articulable to the point those explanations simply dwarf all previous attempts to explain hitting, striking or punching - pick your poison. 

In that light I had to revise some of the models I used to explain about hitting as well as how to determine what is a powerful strike vs. what is perceived as a powerful strike. The information and perception at this point became, illuminating and I am a karate-ka, a striking art.

So first, let me address this common misnomer of calling karate a striking art. It is more than a striking art because it does utilize a lot more than striking a person with the fist. Karate is the utilization of the body in a combative way for self-defense. To me that means the use of the hands be they fists or open-handed applications. There are elbows, knees, feet and so on that can be used in self-defense yet most still focus heavily on the actual empty hand application of a fist strike. So much so that in one system the fist position is considered a major trait of that system, it is known by that fist position. That system also tends to lean heavily on the use and validity of its fist for striking. 

Second, as the author of the eBook explains there are better tools the karate-ka, or just about anyone wanting a better tool for self-defense than the fist strike, can use to achieve greater results being the open-hand techniques such as the slap as well as the elbow. 

Third, then the author goes on to explain that many of the concepts the karate world has come to rely on as real and reality tends to be less so as to applying a powerful strike, punch and/or hit. Power is not in the fist itself, power is not in the arms and hands muscle strength and power is not conveyed or transmitted by the arm or hand. Power comes from the movement of the body mass and is enhanced by things such as the slight rotation twist action of the waist/hips girdle then further supported and enhanced by the structure and support of the shoulder, arm and fist through the muscles, tendons, cartilage, and tendons structural support of that arm so power is maintained and not lost in transmission. Finally, power is further enhanced by the proverbial “Snapping” of the strike after it penetrates the target a certain distance then snapping back or retracting the fist back. These enhancers simply add speed to the momentum of the body mass movement. Here lies the power, not the strength of the muscles, the strength does not actually contribute to power except in its stabilizing function to the structure of the body, shoulder, elbow, wrist and arm. 

What all this new perspective in the striking arts resulted in, for me (this is not from the authors eBook but rather my perception and interpretation of that material and I may be wrong here), is the following picture of what I see is a adequate application of a strike. This is a limited perspective since, as you read the eBook, is a complex subject with many variables but this helps me to get it across - better. 

If you see something amiss let me know and after I fact-check, verify and validate I will make changes so be precise please. 

Bibliography:

MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #3: Getting Hit and Hitting.” Amazon Digital Services, inc. NNSD. April 20. 2015. 

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