I have seen most MA contain the basic punches that everyone thinks of when theyre talking about MA. Punch pull back - punch pull back etc. You know the drill. i have seen this demonstrated in many MA and in other HKD schools. In our HKD class however, this drill is replaced with a slightly more complex one. The footwork is different and emphasis is placed on bending the punching arm as soon as you punch to get it ready for other attacks. Futher more we learn a great deal of 'unusual' punches that i havent really seen in other MA, but do find very interesting. Strikes to the collar bone, side of the kneck, raising back-fist punches to the bottom of the chin, strikes to the shoulder, forehead etc. Is any of this familiar to anyone else?
you see what you look for I have always looked for new strikes , odd ball targets, and new tips to generate power and Ki . So I have found "unusual" hand techniques in ALL of the martial arts I have taken . In my Hapkido class the white and yellow belt punching techniques involve alot of reverse ( or inverted ) backfists , hammerfists , ridgehands and knifehands . The targets are: the chin and jawline , the front of the shoulder( where it joins the torso ) , the presure points in and around the ear ,the temple ,the neck , solarplexus , clavicle , and sternum, and the groin . Forehead shots I am not sure about I mean if I can tag the forehead I will take the bridge of the nose or eye sockets or temple ,so I dont target the forehead specificly but I am sure there is time and a place for a " karate chop to the forehead " I just cant think of it .... welll there is the stomp .. you could stomp the forehead ... that would work ...:Angel: these are great an very very deceiving . I add this into alot of the forms we do after a lowblock to raise the arm for a chamber ( and add a more circular fluid feel to my form and a Kung Fu look ).In sparring or combat it tends to help control the distance and even the tempo of the match if you keep making him or her think and on the deffensive ....and thats what it usualy ends up being for me just a little something tossed in to make their minds work harder.Not really damaging ( when I do it anyways) but effective at times ...
Strikes to the forehead sound very odd to me. I can see how they would be useful, perhaps to knock them off balance? Is he doing it only in sparing? If so it might be him trying to wake you up. I have been able to get a close to hitting people in the forehead, mostly because they let their guard down, or they don't think about me hitting them there.
Our school teachs the idea that if someone ****es you off and you smack them in the face...youll get in trouble. So alot of the time you hit places that hurt but dont get dammaged. One strike is to hit their forehead with the palm of your hand. You strike and push their head back, it puts them off balance and in a seriously vulnerable position. Strikes like this can be used while simultaneously grabbing them to perform a lock. The momentary loss of control and supprise is enough to alow you to bend them with little resistence. The swing to the side of the neck REALLY hurts.
I like that one !!!! Thanks Kosh ! See I knew there had to be reason I wasnt thinking of to hit the forehead .. and a really creative one at that ... to control your targets movement ( balance ) .The strike now makes more sense , if you control the head you usually control the body too . I would watch the palm heel thrust to the forehead though ... it has the same risks as trying it on the jaw as alot of marines have found out the hard way with a broken wrist . But I guess the palm heel is less dangerous to you ( as the one who is punching/striking ) than a punch to the forehead and you can do it without cutting the face as alot of people's knuckles do so it has the "respect for your opponent" aspect I have come to expect and love from Hapkido .
when we use fisttechniques (kwon bup) where i practise hkd we use a hammerfist when we hook, putting out thumb under our indexfinger and sqeezing it hard, next we hit with the thumbnuckle to the attackers sleepingspot (sleep? dunno the right english word) - about 2thumbs next to your eye
