I'm curious, of all the "exotic" hand weapons such as the ones above used in karate, kung fu, kenpo, etc. how many of you can actually pull them off in sparring? How frequently do you manage to hit someone with something other than a closed fist? Personally, the only thing I could ever pull off is the ridge hand of the left. Typically, I would fake in with a backfist, and then kind of loop it around and hit the ridge hand. I don't think it hit very hard, but I seemed to be good at sneaking it on people. Especially other karateka.
I have often used bridge hand in sparring,to the side of the head,hitting with the side of the hand,thumb in.Quite good but you have to kind of whip it in quickly,and it can be tricky with semi contact gloves on.
I've used hammerfists in GnP sessions quite a bit as I find them quite useful if I'm in my opponent's guard and they've got my elbows locked down so I can't posture up enough to work a pass or a better strike Palm strikes I've rarely if ever used in sparring but I have used them in a fight or two when I didn't want to take the risk of messing up my hands. Ridge hands and knife hands I like to work on the bag, but I've never tried them in sparring or in a real situation and almost certainly never will - I think they're a bit high on the risk/ reward scale I would never ever try anything as stupid as a spearhand. I like my fingers too much
The only one I use to any great effect is the ridge hand, into the neck or jawline beneath the ear, it is difficult to get any good momentum into the strength of it mind I prefer to use it in a straight flicking motion as opposed to a swinging one (think reverse roundhouse flick). Again its not a strong technique but its a sneaky one, just gotta make sure you've got your rear arm to protect your nose and to throw the reverse punch as soon as the ridge hand is on its retreat. The only place I would use a hammerfist is onto the chest area (clavicle) but I don't see what it can do a swift strong jab can't. As for the rest of them I don't recall ever having used em.
Spear, knife, and ridge hands strike me as being too risky to use. Especially the spear hand. Backfists and hammerfists can be useful if you can get the timing and position right.
Backfists I find more usefull as set ups, busy the eyes with a high backfist and land a strong punch to the solar plexus.
See, to me that's too "point sparring". Maybe it's why I generally hate backfists, lol. I found myself more inclined to punch or kick, with an occasional palm strike to the face.
Palm strikes, open backhand (no fist), shuto and cupped palms are the only hand strikes I use. I don't like punching with a closed fist. Ridgehands require too wide an arc for my comfort level. The only time I can think of using them would be to the torso/groin. That way they under the radar somewhat. They feel too telegraphed like a haymaker otherwise. On a humorous note, yesterday I was doing some light sparring and I stepped in and did a quick backhand (soft open hand) to my opponent's face. It was meant solely as a distraction to enter for a sweep. He didn't have his hands up and I hit him in the head harder than I intended. It knocked his soft contact out. His reply was "I should have had my hands up." So, I agree that backfists are good at creating openings but, they are also good at their primary purpose, hitting.
i like palm heels as they can quickly follow into a grab with little time wasted,the trouble is, its hard to practice palm heels when sparring as you cant 'pad-up' palm as you can fist,so you'd have to be ungloved,and getting somone to go at it ungloved with you is pretty dificult, with MMA gloves its possible but i find the gloves prevent the full feel of a palm heel hand position thus weakening the main 'pro' of using them which is the apparant reduced risk of hand/wrist damage when striking but then again maybe its my cheap MMA gloves which prevent me fully forming the palm heel. I would never use spear hands or the sort in sparring as again,they too dangerous(to you or your partner) to do ungloved with intent and they dont work with gloves therefore, you cant really get a good practice with them to have them at the ready in sparring/fighting ect. Hammerfists work very well i feel, and i have used them in sparring as A) it is the ugly technique that not many people like to do/use therefore they are generally unexpected and also hard to spot sometimes as the angle of attack is also different from the norm. and B) they can be used with padded sparring gear on so can be practiced with safety. however obviously you have the telegraphing limitations of the strike but when done at an appropriate time they are effective. i do my backfists with more of a swinging than a snapping motion therefe they are more telegraphed,so its more of a powerfull oppotunist strike rather than a main sparrng artillery. as for knife/ridge hands, not really in my style,but they seem popular with some ITF friends ive seen spar.
I've used spear hand befor ...it worked quite well...it hurt me a little but it paid off....i hit to the forehead...maybe not the best place but I have short arms and it helped my reach and gave an opening to come in with a hook
Hammers, backfists(but hammer is preferable,less chance of damaging your hand), palms no problem. snake hand(spear)crane's beak for eyes,(really should only do this when partner has protective eyewear) and ears,you CAN use them for armpit strikes, but you better hit that soft tissue,,ridgehands too wide an arc to get much power,'tho I wouldn't want a good Karate guy to catch me in the temple w/one.Blade hands(shutos) only for neck/throat/and up under the nose blows (yuk yuk). Obviously some of the above don't translate well to sparring, but they do work outside the ring/training hall.
I don't know why, but when I use the ridgehand I feel as though I hyper extend my elbow just a little so I quit using them. A nice open palmed slap works nice though in lieu of a hook and at longer range, if you just want to ring their bell. Basically the same motion as the ridgehand, but I never felt as though I was hyper extending my elbow when using the slap. Weird.
Not that weird, Wun.when you turn your palm down for the ridge, your elbow points out somewhat,making it more conducive to hyperextension on impact. whereas for the palm it's still dropped.So you have to be extra sure your elbow doesn't flex inward on impact of the ridge.
I put palms, knife hands and hammer fists in fairly regularly during sparing and dont have any greater difficulty landing them then a normal fist.
Backfists for set ups, some dorks walk into it. Hammer fist, easy to execute. Palm heels, I find these nice to hide my elbow coming through to their face
I use the hell out of the hammer/backfist. I like it best when you come across the top at a 45 degree angle, usually coming in at the temple or jaw. I haven't really got the chop yet, but my brother makes great use of the chop - usually aimed at the temple, jaw or neck, where he comes inside of your guard and attacks with it.
