Palm Strikes or Nah?

Wow, that's unusual.

I did have a period of finding push-ups uncomfortable on my wrist. I switched to knuckle push-ups so I could keep them straight while I was doing them.

 

I trained the police/military version of Sanda/Sanshou briefly and it was big on palm strikes and the strikes were trained by hitting trees and walls. The thought is that it is a very powerful strike that can be done quicker and with less range that aa closed fist punch and it is just as or more powerful that a punch

 

I broke my right wrist years ago, in the "palm strike" position, playing softball . It's been weak and dodgy since then. As such my right hand is more stable and usable as a punch than a palm strike.

 

The fact it didn't make full contact is probably for the best to be honest. Thinking about taking a full palm strike to the face off you makes me queasy.

 

Are you talking about using the heel of the palm as a hinge, rather than using the whole body to drive the end of your radius into someone?

 

Probably hard to miss with mitts your size.

 

What do these strikes look like? My hand doesn't bend back enough to throw any kind of straight punch which leaves some serious potential for a wrist sprain. The only directions I can imagine an open palm strike working is throwing a hook or throwing at an upward angle with the palm facing down. It also seems like an indirect application of force that would be easy to miss/hit at the wrong angle and slide off compared to a closed fist.

 

I like open handed strikes for some situations, especially at a lower level of force (self defense). From an 'interview' type stance (or open handed fence type stance), it's very easy to strike with the open hand (like a palm strike) as well as diminishing the chances of busting open knuckles against bone. An open hand slap (especially an arcing one with a bit of a cup to the hand) does nice concussive damage without necessarily busting someone open. Also, from the point of view of describing what happened, instead of saying you 'punched him', you can say that you just extended your arm to try to keep him away from you as he closed the difference.

That said, at higher levels of force, I do like punches and kicks for their power, speed and damage. Each tool has its use.

 

Watch some nasty Bas Rutten palm strikes.

I have a favourite palm strike. From an odd angle, so it's actually a little impractical lol.

Imagine, a line from the top of my shoulder going downwards to the solar plexus area. The ridgehand is the connecting part as it keeps travelling down/inwards.

Kinda like this move at 3min 45s in

 

I'm proud I imagined your description correctly prior to watching the video!

I know palm strikes can be really devastating. Seen just about every Bas Rutten video out there and definitely remember a few. Unless you're contorting your body in the manner you described, it seems to favor mid range (hook) to short range (downward strike) striking. I've never really favored them and it might be because I'm 6' and I think that takes out upward strikes (palm to the chin/nose) in most situations for me.

I really feel like a downward follow hand hook to the neck on somebody shooting in on you could really mess somebody's game up. Would be a lot harder to do that kind of maneuver with a closed fist.

 

Your lack of "normal" wrist extension ROM may not be a flexibility issue (tissue extensibility of wrist flexor muscles in the forearms) as much as it could be a joint mobility issue (the structure of your bones "blocking" wrist extension). Is your ROM symmetrical on both sides?

To answer @Pretty In Pink's question, I much prefer to side kick someone in the teeth. That said, the quickest finish to a real fight I ever had was a bitch slap to the ear/jaw. Dude just stiffened right up and dropped. Never seen someone go down as fast as that before.

 

Don't sumo wrestlers slap each other up pretty hard? I've heard broken noses aren't uncommon, and it seems like a good way to disrupt someone's balance with perhaps less risk to the hand vs. a punch. Obviously that pertains to the small bones, not the wrist..but I don't know, I'd feel safer giving someone a slap vs. a hook re: wrist.

Also I agree with Ero, post self defence open hands would look better for you if it came to explaining yourself

 

Useful and effective on the street ..IMHO..

 

I have found the opposite, they are easier to hit with an open hand than with a fist. It's all in the angles, though, you can't just bend your wrist all the way back with fingers pointing straight up and try to thrust your wrist bones straight into the bag (particularly as bags tilt so their upper side is closer than their lower side when you hit them, making that particular angle even more problematic vs a diagonal or side-pointing hand). The striking surface obviously needs to be able to resist impact, so it has to be meaty as the actual wrist bones are rather stupid in that regard (EDIT: Bas Rutten disagrees and he is Bas Rutten, so disregard me on this one), whereas the carpal bones and surrounding soft tissue are comparatively pretty hefty. Also, wrist extension needs to be an active part of the impact moment if it's a palm heel strike, and if it's a thrusting one (rather than an inwards, hook-like one) the strike trajectory must not be in line with the forearm, but rather slightly off towards either side, maximizing the speed of the palm heel if you're going "palm-wards", and creating a slightly cupped whole-hand impact surface if you're going the other way (if it's a slap I like to stabilize the wrist in a neutral position and slightly cup the hand). The only bagwork footage I have on hand of it is from 3 years ago and very derpy and cringy, but there're about 10-15 seconds of it here: (starts 1:12-ish)

@Pretty In Pink I'm going on the yay palm strikes wagon too. Aside from Bas Rutten being a monster with them (pretty sure he broke a guy's liver with them once), they can pack pretty much the same power as a punch because hitting power is created by posture and weight shifts, independently of the shape of the striking surface. Regarding effect, as with any strike, it's all in where, when, and how you hit, as we don't have health bars that slowly deplete when we get hit. Palm strikes are good for hitting certain targets, such as the head, while being less useful for others like the throat, and less externally damaging to others. You're unlikely to cut a brow or severely rearrange a face only with impacts from palm strikes (palming a face into a wall is of course an exception ), but you can damn well rattle the brain by hitting the temples or sides of the chin, noses get crushed anyway, and body shots don't really affect any superficial sensitive structures so as long as you have a good angle and get some bodyweight into it you'll hit with proper oomph.

 

Hmmm... I'd have to see it done with force, but I'm not a fan. Looks like a recipe for injury to me.

The reason I don't like bags for palm strikes is because of the large circumference. It's much easier to hit a head without damaging your fingers, due to its shape. For body shots I often find orienting the hand horizontally is better for slotting into targets without damaging the fingers or overextending the wrist.

I'm not sure what you're getting at with "the strike trajectory must not be in line with the forearm, but rather slightly off towards either side".