Self-Defense Class: Palm or Punch

Agree or Disagree....

Only teach the palm heel strikes and NOT punches in a community Self-Defense class?

 

Disagree, but that is only because in a self defense situation the other person will more than likely be using their fists, so it seems only fair that people defending themselves should as well, besides, if you know how to throw punches well, you put yourself at an advantage over someone who is just flailing at you.

 

Untrained people are often timid about punching but can be trained to deliver strong palm strikes fairly quickly. This is both functional and makes them feel like they've achieved something. Palms also reduce the caveman response, so novices are more likely to throw linear strikes with them.

 

How much de-escelation did you teach before you got people to start hitting each other?

 

Well said.... I'd add that Palm strikes are actually just as effective as Punches, but without all the risks of hand injury.


Chadderz, this is not my program. But in my program I do teach a fair amount of de-escalation tactics along with physical tactics. I follow our states LEO academy curriculum which I'm authorize to teach so it makes it fairly simple as opposed to other programs.

 

They are, if you get people comfortable with pulling their fingers back completely and slamming the heel of their palm forward, but it isn't really that helpful for throwing hooks and uppercuts, especially at short ranges, but in my experience I've found it's much harder to get people to focus on connecting with the heel of their palm than it is to get people to learn to align their knuckles correctly with their forearm and connect with the first two, I've tended to find that if you are trying to teach people to use palms principally, when pressure is on, they descend into slapping people.

 

I don't know, i personally would punch, and i don't believe i said that using the palm heel was flailing, i said knowing how to correctly punch was an advantage when fighting someone who was flailing at you, which i previously implied would be more than likely with fists.

 

I apologize if it came across as disjointed.

I tend to agree that if something works for someone they should do it, but i feel the palm heel is a less useful, and much less versatile tool than the punch, and i don't think it should be taught as a replacement for the punch in a large class of people.

I do have probably much more experience with throwing punches than most people, but even still, i tend to find that a punch is much better for delivering power when space has been reduced, it is also much better for transferring power into the body than a palm ever would be, and while i do agree you can angle the strike, you can't get the same range of motion transferring the same amount of power via a palm.

On the subject of Bas though, i always got the idea, while he advocated the palm, he felt it was best mixed with full blooded punches, and only really became a poster boy for the strike due to the odd rules of the Pancrase organization.

Either way, as it stands, i don't advocate just teaching people to use the palm alone.

 

Skills, not tools should be the focus.

I can teach you how to hit and it will make little difference whether it is with an open palm or a closed fist. If you cannot hit me with one the other will be of no use to you either.

 

Worth noting Bas advocates open hand as much as palm heel (which is a specific strike). This encompasses slaps and backhands too

 

Depends on the range and target. Better to teach proper weapon/tool for the task at hand. What targets are you going for?

We teach what targets to attack. For instance, first target is the eyes... palm heel strike to the eyes doesn't work very well, better to teach as a palm slap to the forehead, then rake down with the fingers (taught as ripping the sun glasses off the attacker), then kick them in the groin.

Rather than palm heels, open hand strikes more along the lines of close range slaps and chops. Rather than mid-range punches, more along the lines of hammer fists and knuckle rakes.

IMHO, heel palms and punches make good follow-up strikes once you can target areas like the chin, liver, back of neck, etc.

 

Gaining satisfaction from inflicting pain on another person is somewhat psychopathic, coupled with the seeming lack of either empathy or remorse.

 

It is not anywhere near as pleasant as you imagine

I stress the word IMAGINE with wannabes and paper tigers like you who clearly have never even fought sleep

 

Disagree! There is no difference between sport and self-defense, your fist will meet on your opponent's face exactly the same way.



The

- fist is used to punch on a soft area.
- palm is used to punch on a hard area.

- At the end of one street fight, a friend of mine found out that he had 2 teeth dug deeply into his fist. If the teeth owner had AIDS, that won't be good.
- If you have arthritis during your old age, you may not be able to hold a fist, the palm strike may be the only weapon that you can depend on.
- If you want to strike on the back of your opponent's head (the best knock out target), your forearm (the part with a sharp bone) is even better than your fist.
- If you want to strike on someone's Adam apple or collar bone, the palm edge will be more proper than your fist.

 

Agree with you 100% there. To be kind to your enemy is to be cruel to yourself.

When you are

- fighting, you should act like a "tiger" and eat your enemy alive.
- not fighting, you should act like a "sheep" and be the most friendly person on earth.

You should never treat others bad. But when someone treats you bad, you should let him to regret about it. To "stand on your ground" is the true spirit of MA.

 

In the previous statement however, he spoke on the idea of deriving satisfaction from violence, which to my mind, coupled with the lack of direct threat illustrated in his breakdown of intended target, go beyond the boundaries of mere defense, further more, given his claim he enjoys violence, what makes you think his use of the word deserve is predicated on survival?

 

I'm only talking about to punch someone who desires it (such as someone who tries to rape your daughter). If you just want to protect yourself (self-defenses), you can use that opportunity to test your "defense" skill and you may not even need to hurt your opponent. IMO, MA is not only used to protect yourself, it should also be used to protect your love ones.

 

You had to jump to a number of conclusions given what he said to get to offering support on those terms though.