Open Hands

I've seen Kenpo as an uninitiated observer for years, first in movies, then in books and instructional videos. But after learning from an instructor for a few months, I realize how much, and how many different ways, open hands are used. (And I'm sure there are many other ways I haven't seen yet.)

Of course, everybody knows about the famous karate chop with the knife edge of the hand. On a side note, I find it quite amusing that Austin Powers always yells "Judo chop!" when lightly tapping a bad guy on the shoulder, causing him to crumble like telephone pole fell on him. Modern forms of judo normally focus on off-balancing (kazushi), throwing (nage), and locks or holds, but not striking (atemi) like jujitsu and aikido. But I guess that is the joke!

On the serious side, using the knife edge of the hand as a weapon can be very effective. The contact area is from the base joint of the pinky finger to the wrist bones. Closing your fingers together and pulling your thumb in protects your fingers and thumb, and also makes this edge of your palm more solid. If you deliver all the force that comes from hip rotation, shoulder muscles, and elbow extension through that narrow strip of flesh and bone, it is penetrating and painful, especially against the neck or collarbone. (A smaller surface of the striking weapon with the same amount of force behind it equals greater penetration.)

Some techniques in Kenpo use a short range, downward and forward cut with the knife edge of the hand to create space, bring the attacker's head forward for the next strike, to off-balance him, and to check his height. When I first saw the move, it looked like a push, and I didn't perceive it as delivering pain or even as being effective. Then my instructor gently delivered it properly down my lower ribs and into my stomach. Very painful and penetrating, even though he was being nice.

Let me get off track for a minute, since this reminds me of another moment of enlightenment. We were practicing a defense for an overhead club attack which involves a quick side-step right to move your head out of the path, a right inward parry, and a left outward block to the forearm holding the club. Being a former jujitsu student, I was puzzled why we were not controlling or grasping the weapon hand. Once you block the arm, the attacker can take that stick anywhere, including follow up strikes to your knee, arms, ribs, etc.! When I made this point to my instructor, rather than explain, he just handed me the stick and said "attack me". I expected he would talk me through technical points as he usually does while demonstrating a technique. But he simply blocked my arm and planted the ball of his foot in my lower stomach with a front thrust kick. The technique calls for a front snap kick to the groin, so he was being nice, but it caused me enough pain to make me double over and cough. And I noticed that my body folded at the hips as I was knocked back, leaving me in no position to execute follow up strikes with my stick. In fact, I nearly dropped the stick. The technique then calls for a side kick to the rear knee and a back knuckle strike to the head immediately following the front kick, so there would be no time to recover.  A completely different approach to dealing with an impact weapon from my previous training, but certainly effective.

Back to open hands: An open hand can also check, and there are different types of checking, or preventing an attacker from using his weapons effectively. There are finger pokes, which are most effective to the eyes. There is the "palm-claw" which begins as a palm strike to the face or groin and ends with a raking claw or a grab and pull. The opposite of a knifehand strike is a ridgehand or reverse knifehand. You strike with the bone at the base of your thumb. Of course, there are inward and outward parrys, which redirect incoming attacks. There is also a "crane" hook, where you point the fingertips and elbow down, creating an arch which can trap and manipulate attacking arms without latching on to your opponent. I noticed Kenpo seems to avoid techniques which bind or tie you to your opponent and might allow a bigger, stronger attacker to fling you around. Not being latched on also allows you to transition quickly to other moves or checks if needed.

When these open hand techniques are used in combination with punches, hammerfists, and back knuckle strikes, it begins to feel like you are constantly opening and clenching your fist. Seems like good training for coordination, and it also helps teach you to relax until the point of impact. A relaxed arm moves faster than a tense, stiff one. But my previous perception that open hand strikes are weaker, and you use them when you want to use less aggressive force, has been shattered.  When you take into consideration things like the "puzzle principle" (your weapons fitting into different targets on an attacker's body), open hand strikes could actually be more effective than a closed fist in certain applications.