Hard Hands

Koute [硬手] hard hand

Hitting someone is called “hard hands” and is considered, legally, as a higher level of force.

I head this term, hard-hand, in the video series by Marc MacYoung on COP’s. He talked about LEO’s, first responder, using questions like, “did you hit him” because if you admit you did they escalate the interview to “building a case,” gathering of facts…

My very first thought, karate is all about the development of hard hands, i.e., using the makiwara to condition the fists for that proverbial one strike kill concept of traditional karate 🥋.

If your dojo teaches karate as self-defense, then it goes to karate being the application of hard hands where the level of force may be considered/ perceived as higher than needed to stop the attack/attacker.

It also speaks to what is being taught for defense as related to a legal appropriate acceptable “level of force.” The conundrum here is no one knows how it will be judged in the legal system because… “it depends.”

Doesn’t this make the teachings of karate as defense/protection system appear in a different light 💡? If force applications are not taught with the legal force level appropriate to stopping the violence then hard “empty” hands falls out of the legal self-defense square into evidence of fighting (fighting is illegal) while applying dangerously higher than necessary force. In short, you bad; you go to jail for being a bad boy!

Karate; empty hands; makiwara conditioning; tameshiwara breaking bricks and stone; calloused knuckles; etc., classifies at higher force level as perceived legally in our wonderful legal system!