The striking surface is the meaty part of the hand right between the hollow in the palm of your hand and the wrist. The basic movement is similar to a punch, but instead of a closed fist, the hand is open. There are a variety of open-handed martial arts techniques that are useful in various circumstances. Not all hand techniques have to be closed-fisted Karate punches. To pack a truly powerful punch, you need to put your whole body into all martial arts strikes. Regardless, always remember that your body is stronger than your arm by itself. Others may require movement (such as the spinning back fist) to add momentum to the strike. In some cases, this will be a movement with the hip similar to that used in a basic Karate punch. To land powerful blows, you have to put something more behind your strike techniques. That type of strike will be weak and largely ineffective. In general, you will never just strike with your arm. Think about Karate basics - you put your whole body into the movements. The whole idea is to give Karate students an arsenal of options so that no matter the situation they face, they have a technique to match. A straight-on Karate punch won’t always be possible, but you might be able to step into a spinning back fist instead. You can also use different striking surfaces to your advantage as you move about during the fight. But if you don’t want to hurt your opponent, you might choose an open-handed slap instead. Different striking surfaces will have different effects.įor example, a closed hand technique to the temple could end in a knockout. Some of the other forms of kicks are Side Kick (Yoko Geri), Middle Level Roundhouse Kick (Chudan Mawashi Geri), High Roundhouse Kick (Jodan Mawashi Geri), Back Kick (Ushiro Geri), and Stomping Knee Joint Kick (Kasetu Kick).It might surprise you how many different ways you can use your hands to attack your opponent. The tool is helpful in developing powerful kicks. The important forms of kicks are front (Mae Geri), groin (Kin Geri), and knee kick (Hiza Geri). Kicks are also important, along with strikes and blocks.

The 2 forms of palm heel strikes are the Shotei Uchi and Jodan Shotei Uchi. The solar plexus, groin, nose, and head are attacked by using palm strikes. Palm strikes along with clenched fist strikes are commonly used in karate. Different forms of elbow strikes are as follows: Strike Straight Up, Strike Straight Down, High Rear Strike, Back Strike, Rake Strike and Circular Strike. Elbow strikes are also considered to be important in karate. Striking at pressure points helps in attaining the maximum effect and desired result. The strike should be performed in a straight line to make it effective. The clenched fist strike is an important form with the fingers held together tightly an angle of 90° should be formed between the knuckles and front part of the fist. The different forms of wrist blocks include the upper wrist block (Jodan Ko-Uke), side-block (Chuden Ko-Uke), and downwards block (Shotei Uke). Wrist blocks are also the forms of defense used in this technique. Close-handed blocks are classified as upper (Age Uke, Jodan Uke, etc.), middle (Chudan Uke), and lower blocks (Gedan Barai, Gedan Uchi Barai, etc.). There is a double-handed version of the hooking block known as ‘Toraguchi’. There is the hooking block (Hiki Uke) and middle-side block (Chuden Shoton Yoko Uke). The blocks can be mainly classified as open-handed and close handed ones. One has to perform blocks very quickly and strongly. This move is used for protection against attackers. The word, ‘kihon’ is used to denote the basic techniques or fundamentals of karate. This form of martial art is also aimed at developing the attitude, or more appropriately for spiritual development. Karate has however, more depth to it than merely practicing a few techniques (basic and advanced).

Basically a striking art, karate involves kicking, punching, elbow strikes, and knee strikes. A form of martial art which originated in the Ruyuku islands (today’s Okinawa, Japan), developed from two different self defense techniques called ‘Chinese Kenpo’ and ‘Te’.

Karate moves for self defense