What part of the fist do you hit with?

I have been studying Hap Ki Do for 3 years and I have been told to strike with the index and middle knuckles by my teacher. A visiting instructor said to hit with the index (2nd) and middle (3rd) proximal phalanges. I have also been told to hit with the middle knuckle so that the fist doesn't accidentally roll laterally.

How do you strike with a fist? And WHY

 

With the first and second knuckles so I don't get another boxer's fracture.

 

Depends on style,punch, angle etc

using the first two knuckes is what i was always taught and stuck too.

I think if your hand is 45 degrees (palm facing diagonally acrross and down your body) i'd use the first two knuckes (seiken)
If you palm's facing down id use the middle two.

I wrap my hands up in a load of bandages then shove it in a 4/8/10oz glove before i punch things though so why listen to me

 

first two or whole fist.

 

I'm lucky if I can hit with any bits of my fist so am grateful for what I can get.

 

What about bare fist to a jaw or skull? I know it's not recomended but hypothetically...

 

then you want a good angle, not a good striking surface.

 

I would argue that you'd want both, but I understand what you mean.

 

well duh

 

Tiny little finger bones versus large solid skull designed to take damage from the front. You decide the victor.

 

Oh and after having my knuckles ripped open by the person's teeth I was punching, I decided against doing that in the future as well. They never warn you about that stuff when you're wearing gloves.

 

I'd use elbows for somebodies face, personally speaking.

 

Open handed slaps are my personal choice - lots of impact, little injury risk and easy to mitigate

 

Got it. If I ever hit someone's head without a glove I will use a palm or elbow.

 

Watch Bas Rutten's early fights when they didn't wear gloves. He always used open palm strikes because they're equally effective but won't break your hands.

 

pancrase didnt allow closed fist strikes.

 

If you strike with the fist surface area, you can equal distribute your force on the whole fist surface area. You will have less chance to hurt your knuckles.

 

Unfortunately, those that spread the force out are usually teaching watered down striking compared to those that use specific knuckles to strike with.

 

not my old bei shaolin sifu. whole fist striking, HUGE emphasis on effective striking. then again the top guys did internal iron palm (of the legit type). believe me, you do NOT want to get hit by one of them (or maybe you do, but whatever floats your boat :evil.

in any case, there's such a thing as tissue deformation, which means that you'll always hit with the whole fist to most parts of someone's body, anyway, making the knuckle distinction more of a technique thing than anything else (ie how exactly the wrist joint is used during a punch). correct (ie "how not to break your hand") alignment is rather similar no matter what you're punching with. the deviation is only along one axis (wrist adduction & abduction), and it's rarely more than 5-10 degrees in either direction from the natural alignment of a tight fist.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought. I wonder why, seeing as the popular view is that that would be a disadvantage to the puncher...