Why Open Hand Strikes Are Better Than Fists
Many people are under the impression that in a fight, the best thing to do with your hands is to ball them up into fists. This idea is so common that we use the phrase “fist fight.” However, in reality, open hand strikes can be more effective fighting tools than fists in almost any situation. This is why open hands are used in martial arts styles such as Kun Tao, Pentjak Silat, and Combat Tai Chi.
People often use fists because they believe that the fist delivers more force. Without proper training, this might be the case. However, at a certain level, this is no longer true. Martial artists will test the force that they can deliver with targets such as bricks, striking pads, or boards. They have found that when enough force is being delivered, the small bones that are exposed in a fist simply do not hold up against the force conveyed.
In contrast, when open-handed strikes are used, the soft parts of the hand mold themselves around the hard parts of a strike’s object. This has a two-fold effect. First, the hand of the martial artist is protected. There is much less risk that the hand of the striker will be injured. Second, this molding can actually convey more force. When the palm and the fingers come in contact with and mold themselves around a target, they covers much more surface area than could be reached by a fist.
A well-trained martial artist will not simply be using the force of the arm or the hardness of the fist in an attack. Instead, the power of the whole body, from the feet all the way up through the torso and the arms will be put into the strike. The surface area of an open hand strike allows all of that power to be transferred through the hand into the target of the hit.
The power of open-handed strikes is not the only reason they are superior to a fist in a fight. Open hands also offer far more versatility than fists. They transform more easily into other kinds of attacks. This kind of strike can easily become a finger poke to the eye or to another sensitive spot. They can also turn into a grab or even into a fist in the right situation much more easily than a fist can change into anything else. This versatility has benefits on the defensive side of things as well. An open hand can defend against a knee or an elbow strike whereas a fist could do almost nothing against these two kinds of attacks.
Open hand strikes are also a lot faster than fist techniques. More open hand strikes can be delivered per second than is possible with fist attacks. Furthermore, this kind of attack can also be the basis for more powerful strikes. They can be used for destructive Kung Fu techniques such as iron palm, vibrating palm, penetrating palm, poison palm and even dim make, or death touch strikes.
While at first glance the fist might seem like a more practical fighting tool, never underestimate the power of the opened hand.
Sigung Richard Clear has been studying martial arts in both the United States and China for over 30 years. To learn more about Kun Tao and other martial arts that use open hands, visit his website at www.clearsilat.com.
Leave a Reply