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Karate Fists Types

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Pictures of Karate Fists Types: Hand (Te) Strikes in Karate

Depending on the style of Karate, hand strikes are one of the main components of your artillery. Delivered effectively, a single strike can be enough to disarm, disable, or destroy an opponent. But there is more to a Karateka’s skill-set then a simple straight punch or the “karate-chop” that we see in the movies. Every part of your hand is a potential weapon, and every part of your hand can be used to block or deflect an attack.

Attacks with a Straight Wrist: an Important thing to remember

your wrist will remain on an almost straight plane so that the top of your forearm smoothly runs to the tip of your first knuckle. Your wrist should never be “kinked” and a strong tightening of the wrist should be achieved just prior to the moment of impact.

N.B. Your hand should be flexed ever so slightly downwards and outwards to achieve full power, maximize impact, decrease risk of injury, and to deliver a technically accurate and comfortable strike with the correct part of the hand.

Tsuki (Punch)

Tsuki actually means “thrust” in Japanese, however, most styles use it to describe their thrust punch attacks. These can be to:

  1. head level (jo-dan)
  2. stomach level (chu-dan)
  3. lower/groin level (ge-dan).

The point of impact for this punch should be largely centered on the two largest knuckles on each hand: the first knuckle of the index and middle fingers. The impact is spread across the surface area at the front of your fist. This hand shape is often called seiken.

The damage caused by the bullet- like impact of your knuckles is compounded by the dimensions of your entire fist. This kind of strike is most usually performed with the fist positioned horizontally, however can also be performed vertically (tate-tsuki), however there are occasions where angled attacks are a better option. Slight flexion of the wrist may be needed to angle the strike towards the target and prevent injury. Training and conditioning your body to perform the most common hand strike in Martial Arts is essential.