OPEN HAND

[Art Rabesa]

Uechi ryu is an open hand style . If you really look carefully, you'll see this. Check all kata's, blocks, strikes. Why? Because it is more effective. You are able to move much faster to the target with open hands. Don't be confused with the hitting area of open hand strikes or blocks. Of course, blocks are actually strikes. The bottom part of the hand, the wrist, and lower section of the forearm come into play.I posted a topic on this forum called "Calm Before The Storm". I talk about keeping the hand open just before closing . When punching, the hand should remain open for 98% of the way. This, of course, will take lots of practice. When striking with the hand open, you get to the impact zone very fast. This holds true for back hand strikes as well. Your arm stays in a tight arc right through the hitting zone. CHECK THE WEB SITE. The wrist and forearm play a major role in these open hand strikes. You will take that same strike and use it in your blocks. I do close my hand for certain strikes. However, the majority of my strikes are done with the hand open. Always use the web site for reference.The fingers really do not come into play at all in open hand strikes. When you practice these open hand strikes, be aware of the position of your hand. The fingers are back and away from the striking area. Speed - Speed - Speed- That is what it's all about. --------Happy Trails -----Art

[Art Rabesa]

Pay attention to time on target when practicing your open hand strikes. Notice how your open hand stays on the heavy bag longer than the closed hand. This is really important when you go to the head. The tight arc of a head shot tends to adhere to the upper jaw, ear lobe, area. This will end it pretty quick. This is a really big head strike, and something that you should practice a lot. Your open hand will stay on target all the way through this head shot, making it one of your best bullets. The open hand double thrust, will really explode into the egg shell section of the body. This can be practiced on the heavy bag as well. I demonstrate both these strikes on the web site. Check them out before practicing them. I'm sure you will start to really love the open hand. ------Happy Trails ------Art

[Art Rabesa]

OK - so we all know that keeping the hand open will give you more speed in delivery of the strike. Closing your hand will contract the forearm and bicepts prior to contact, slowing the delivery. This is what needs to be practiced when hitting with your fist. The hand closes just before contact. Keeping the hand open 90% of the way before closing it. Practice this on the heavy bag. Start by having your hand just a few inches from the bag. With a snapping motion of your hand close into a fist as you strike the bag. You'll be hitting pretty easy at first until you have it really coordinated. Do it with both hands. When you feel you have it down, back away from the bag and begin striking again. That hand remains open just before contact. The snapping of the open hand into a fist , and contact, are almost at the same time. You can set up different drills on the heavy bag with this. You'll get pretty good with this open to close drill after awhile. You will notice how hard you are beginning to hit. Keeping in mind, the sanchin thrusting hand does not turn over until over 90% of the way out. If you are doing sanchin this way, it makes this open to close striking method easier. On the web site - check it out. -----Happy Trails -------Art

[Art Rabesa]

If you drop a rock into a strong athletic sock what do you have? A very nasty weapon is what you have. If you begin to swing it around, you will discover that short arcing swings work best. If you strike something with the sock, lets say the brick wall, you'll be surprised at the force it generates. OK -- I think we've got the picture here. So your arm is the sock and your hand is the rock. You deliver strikes in the same manner as you did with the actual sock & rock. This is what you want when you hit with an open hand to the head and neck area. These open hand head strikes are the mainstay of power infighting. They are VERY fast and really explode. Actually, you want to keep your arm in that sock like condition when firing your elbows as well. Speed of the limb, is what makes these strikes so damaging. When you are real close, you want speed and lots of it. So keep the rock in a sock idea in mind when practicing any open hand or elbow strikes. You'll like the results.-----Happy Trails-----Art

[Van Canna]

Most excellent _Art.

[Art Rabesa]

Close quarter combat involves mostly open hand strikes. As I have mentioned before, the arm must be supple in delivering the elbow, ulna and radius strikes. To get the destructive section of the arm into the impact zone, this is a must. Keeping the hands at 10 and 2 will enable you to fire these explosive strikes. Shooting the elbow at four zones is not difficult if you keep a few things in mind. The four elbow zones are the horizontal to the body - arcing to the jaw - frontal to the sternum - frontal to the jaw. All elbow strikes are done keeping the hand open, and letting the natural steering wheel motion snap these elbows into the target area. Keep the wrist really loose , dropping the hand down as the tight elbow strike fires into the egg shell area under the nipple. Follow through with all the elbow strikes. Take the strike deep into the hitting zone. With just a slight elevation of the elbow, you can strike the side of the head. Really let this strike get up there near the ear. ( This one is a stopper ). Keep the hand close to your head with the palm actually rubbing your cheek and let it grab the back of your head. This will keep the elbow tight , allowing it to rip upward into the front of the jaw. (This one is real nasty ). Following the same path, you can send the elbow into the sternum with a slight forward movement. These elbow strikes can be delivered on the ground in almost the same way. I'll get into the ulna and radius strikes in a while. Have to get outside to do some more shoveling. I don't think this winter is ever going to end. ----Happy Trails ---Art

[Art Rabesa]

Ulna bone on small finger side and radius bone on the thumb side of the forearm. Two weapons that can be delivered in a blink from nose biting distance. Hand position is key in firing these strikes. Both hands are up and on targets chest in the 10 and 2 position. Grabbing, pushing, pulling, what ever. As long as you have your hands out in front. With your hands on the body, let them slide up with one hand on the cheek and the other slipping slightly over the shoulder. The hand that slides onto the shoulder will turn thumb up and snap hard onto the neck. Snap from thumb up to thumb down as you keep the sickle like arm position into the impact zone. Draw your arm toward you slightly when delivering this strike, in a slicing motion. From this position, you will be able to strike numerous times very quickly. Although, I really don't think you will need to. This baby is a big time stopper. ----The ulna strike comes from the same hand position. Let your hands work together with both these strikes for more explosion. Let one hand grasp the shoulder, or upper arm, as you slide the other hand sharply across the chest to the other side of the neck. Almost like a pushing action, but with a sharp snapping thrust. The ulna will slide under the jaw and slam against the side of the neck causing instant destruction. You can picture these two strikes as I describe them, but I show them on the web site in the close quarter combat section. Hand position is very important in all strikes. It's not always where the hands are, but where they pass through. Knowing the power base and passing through it on the way into the impact zone, is a must. These two forearm bones can really do a lot of damage. Nice to have when you are working super close. -------Happy Trails ------Art

[Van Canna]

Great stuff, Art.

[Art Rabesa]

Yeah! Van likes it when I talk about slamming a strike into the side of the neck. ---Happy Trails ----Art

[Art Rabesa]

Here is a look at the back hand strike. An open hand strike that really explodes to the side of the head. This comes off an elbow strike really well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXDJ9NbAaYg

Happy Trails ----Art

[Art Rabesa]

Here is an open hand strike drill on the heavy bag. This is an overload training drill for infighting head strikes with the open hand. This will result in explosive head strikes from very close range. ----Happy Trails ----Art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8-_15blxvE

[Art Rabesa]

Here is some infighting instruction on the forearm strikes including the elbow. Also the backhand coming off the elbow strike. These are really very destructive strikes that will end badly for the one on the other end of them. Have to be able to deliver these when working in close. These strikes can be delivered on the ground as well.-----Happy Trails -----Art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dYt26jawy8

[Art Rabesa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO-E2TvCVNM
I have this posted in the double thrust section of the forum as well. I want to add it to this open hand post because it hits so damn hard. You can simply step right into this powerful strike. I include it in my in-fighting ammo. This is , of course, right from sanchin. It tends to be overlooked by many. You can put this on the bad guy from real close. Working your hands up from this strike ,puts you in a strong striking position for all the strikes shown in the posts above. These few close quarter strikes are really all you need to get the job done. When you are comfortable and confident with these strikes, you're going to be tough to deal with. These are my "KITCHEN" strikes. When you find yourself in the kitchen, it's really nice to be able to rock and roll with these babies.

[Art Rabesa]

Take a look at some head shots with the open hand from real close. When you are able to deliver these hard strikes to the head, from real close, it really makes it tough for that bad guy. Have a look. ------Happy Trails-----Art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdgA6LS ... e=youtu.be

[Van Canna]

Good stuff Art.