Knife Hand Strike - Martial Arts Striking Technique

This page provides details on how to do a martial arts "knife hand" strike (i.e. the famous Karate "chop"). This strike is common to many martial arts such as Karate, Taekwondo and Kung Fu.

In this strike, you hit a target with the side of your open hand (versus punch that utilizes a clenched fist). You are hitting with the pinky side of your hand (versus the thumb side utilized in a ridge hand strike). This strike can be done with the palm up or palm down. This technique is used to target areas such as an attacker's neck, collar bone, wrist, etc. Moreover, this open hand technique has an additional benefit because it can be turned into a grab if the strike is ineffective. For different punches and hand/arm strikes (i.e. straight punch and back fist), please visit the main Punches & Strikes section.

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