DO NOT Punch in a Street Fight

[@garycleveland6410]

I was taught hard target, soft weapon. Soft target, hard weapon. The head is a hard target so a palm is a better weapon than the fist. The body is softer so, a fist is a good weapon there. So I definitely agree with you.

[@LoveFix2558]

Gary Cleveland body shots are often underrated and can be a game stopper

[@shanemolloy8250]

Elbow is better if you can get it . Stirnum

[@paulrazvan2425]

I sem to see this everywhere. Besides self damage what could happen. I know about body shots. What I always knoen is the palm strikes dizzies the opponent alot more than punches.

[@jhemlock7852]

You're not aiming for the hard part of the skull you are aiming for the jaw which has some movement and you can strike it with your fist. The most important thing is you use whatever technique you've trained to be fastest.

[@rokuremote2397]

Sound so stupid

[@SuperOtter13]

Thank you for posting this. Ive been teaching my sons the same thing. As young men my brothers and I did shoot boxing for a number of years. ( it was before mma was a thing) So our knuckles and shins were fairly tough from conditioning the bones and such. The very first street fight we got in. I SHATTERED my hand punching my oponent in the head. (And we knew how to hit) . It took pins and plates, multiple surgeries and years of physical therapy to put it in working order. Years later in another fight I threw a palmstrike into my oponents ear, the same spot my hand broke in the last fight, and he went down quick and his ears ring to this day 20 yrs later. So I couldnt agree more sir, keep the information coming! Thanks again! If we ever make it across the pond we will definitely check out your school.

[@lake_cooper]

Yes, yes, yes, every word of this is accurate. I'm surprised he didn't also mention, you can hit IMMENSELY FASTER with open hands because making a fist tenses up your arm muscles, and slows you down mechanically. With open hands, you can also transition quicker & more fluidly.

[@jessebradford3900]

Awesome wording!!!

[@Kmasse8]

You are absolutely right. Perhaps it was not mentionned because if a basic punch (knuckles) is executed perfectly one needs to tense the muscles at the very end (just fractions of seconds before landing the target). Always punch with an open palm, it´s quick, it genarates a lot power and perhaps most importantly it protects the bones of your hand and ligaments of you your wrist.

[@MrJackandEmily]

Why have I never thought of that.. ffs

[@tomgreeves9248]

​@Kmasse8 I agree with you. Rather more importantly(!), so does Larry Holmes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2mvn5Vji9t5iKs

[@martialtacticaldefense4739]

I can't agree more! Palm strikes create a fixed skeletal structure of the hand, wrist and forearm which translates to a more powerful strike. Punching in a street fight when you don't have your wrists wrapped is risky since the wrist is free to move and bend. An unstable wrist will lessen the power of the punch.

[@martialtacticaldefense4739]

You can train to strengthen your wrists and technique, but it's still risky for the average person. If Mike Tyson broke his knuckles, what does that say about the "Average Joe". Using palm strikes lets you disguise the strike plus you can use your fingers to rake the eyes after striking. I suggest leading with a palm strike and then possibly following up with knees and hammer fists. Check my self defense videos to see what I'm talking about.

[@martialtacticaldefense4739]

By "average Joe", I was referring to the untrained guy or potentially even novice to intermediate martial artists depending on their skill set. What weight is your heavy bag? If it's 100 lbs or less, you may want to consider getting a heavier bag. I train with a 200 lb Muay Thai bag designed for professional heavy weight boxers in my backyard. You will severely damage your wrists without projection if your wrists bend. My gym has 100 lb bags and you can see what I do to them without gloves...kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnPJeIiqjtesbpY

[@martialtacticaldefense4739]

Elbows are one of my favorite strikes. They are devastating and great for close in fighting (defense).

[@martialtacticaldefense4739]

I suspect the bags don't move for the guys because they stand too far away from the bag. I also have a different mindset for training than most since my main reason is for self defense. My motto is "You fight the way you train.". I try to destroy the bag, not go 10 rounds. Hit'em hard, Patrick!

[@selfpolicing]

Thanks! You are a worldclass instructor! Respect.

[@garyowen766]

In 1985 I attended a lecture by Wong Shun Leung in “The Basement” London. Wong was Bruce Lee’s teacher and Ip Man’s most famous student. He said people use their fists because “They have watched too many cowboy films”. He said the palm strike was a much better weapon and a lot safer for you. And not many people would argue with him 😏

[@marklawrence855]

I agree punch to the soft parts of the body. But if the situation is really serious then do everything you can to survive. Great video as always and ive shared it to my group

[@blankblank1813]

Depending on the state, a fist is often considered to be a weapon. It's much easier to defend yourself legally if you use open hands to protect yourself physically.

[@LiberatedMind1]

No cameras

[@SuperOtter13]

I would also like to point out that throwing those punches caused severe arthritis to set in by the time I was 40 and the one small cut on my knuckle from the guys broken tooth caused an infection that made the dr consider removing two of my fingers. Luckily he didnt have to. Thank you for your time.

[@aufifob]

SuperOtter13 one of the worst pains I ever had! Guy bit right into my index finger in a fight in a bar and the pain of the bite was bad, but the resulting infection gave me pain I couldn’t even have imagined.

[@el-seq3032]

Why more people don't know this is a complete mystery to me, its devastating, plus it allows you to appear defensive or even submissive before you unload. I'm no expert but I speak from experience, the palm heel is an awesome weapon.

[@Jimmylenaze]

yes

[@angryprincess5544]

what i love about palm strike is i can say "stay back" and back up a little warning them to stay away with my hands up in a sort of non-threatening way. but that's a perfect position to launch a sudden palm strike if they keep coming and step into you

[@pstamaria]

Thx for another brilliant video dude. No long stories and straight to the point! And the consensus is that you are 100% correct!

[@hard2hurt]

Fighters break their hands WITH gloves and wraps. Punching is ok, you just have to be practiced, controlled and disciplined about it.

[@complexblackness]

Exactly.

[@hard2hurt]

@DoublEE I ALWAYS get the rang. I'm the rang-getter.

[@hard2hurt]

@Meta Man "every" and "always" huh?

[@JB-nn3rz]

I respect your OPINION but facts remain you can easily break your hand by punch I'd rather use my hands and have sore pad no disrespect mate just opinions 🤔

[@JB-nn3rz]

Look iv done a bit of both and when ur in a street fight you have to be on the ball adrenaline pumping people standing by who might decide to hit u with a bottle what ever fact is I'd rather use my palm no disrespect just my OPINION bless ✌❤✌

[@richardschuerger3214]

Great tips. One thing to add - targeting for desired effect. The redirect you showed at the end bringing back into the palm heal. Face/jaw to wear him down (and keep control of hands) behind the ear to try and knock him down. I only learned if this channel recently and I'm really liking what you demonstrate. Cheers.

[@KieronGarcha]

just tested a palm strike on my own face... i have a black eye now

[@JohnLee-lm9ss]

ImGarcha lol

[@veemon]

Congrats!

[@matijabo]

I also tested today my fist on the back of my head. Men, I hit it to hard.

[@highsnburgers4862]

Try the other side to match.

[@OldBadger1]

Best advice on the Net! Hands & fingers get broken. Recovery is a bitch.

[@ConstantinPhillipou]

Master. Wish I lived in the UK to take your courses. So gooooood

[@davidhumphrey1651]

You are a very wise teacher thank you for your time and knowledge.

[@lightfoot413]

thats good and very effective..save our knuckles and keeps us in better position to fight and defend...thanks...

[@boogitybear2283]

Love this man’s accent and voice!

[@jesvans]

i agree, but the bad thing is that the fingers could be bent backwards and be really messed up.

[@jamesphillips496]

Thanks for posting this I have nerves severed on my left hand. I cannot make a proper fist the thumb will not tuck down. This gives me encouragement to know an alternative method. ♧

[@bolsack8902]

The more you train, the more likely you are to break your hand when you punch without gloves. People that don’t box usually can’t generate much power from their hands, and the best boxers literally generate so much power with their punches that their hands can’t handle it without gloves and wraps

[@sandman4068]

"If you can't break your hand by punching then you probably can't punch that hard" hard2hurt said that though not the exact words and can't you break your wrist by palm striking

[@bolsack8902]

@@sandman4068 yeah icy Mike did say something about that. I also like armchair violences opinion on palm strikes but honestly it’s not part of my game so I won’t speak on it much other than that

[@gw10758]

I had not really thought about that technique before, thanks

[@finhyland4270]

Just discovered this channel, a lot of stuff your showing we do in krav maga, very effective strikes your showing..

[@Purwapada]

. This reminds me of GOOD Baguazhang - 'eight palm trigram' - also what you where saying about linking the elbow to the hip, is very similar, again to the idea in Chinese 'internal martial arts' of linking to the 'Diantian' ( 丹田). Also, the stance you did at about 2:47 is very bagua-like, but with that stance the fighter would 'walk'/slip to the side (there is also a kick to the kneecap/shin) as the palm hits the face. Some good Baguazhang fighters are: Erle Montaigue, Hai Yang, and An Jian Qiu

[@bodhisattva99]

so... one video tells you to hit heavy bags with your bare hands to toughen up your hands for street fights... and another says... do not punch people... GOTCHA!

[@davidbrown8763]

I agree. You could also use elbows, which are very effective in close quarter self defence.

[@TwistedSoul2002]

My wife is good at this...

[@davewade2041]

Mine, as well! My wife can knock a body unconscious with the heel of her hand. I'm so proud of her.

[@oneshadowdragon]

Rool with the shot head movement run?

[@davewade2041]

@@lemonzazz122 Nope, you're wrong on that. My wife is 5'3" n 120lbs., lightning speed, kickboxing, mma and wing chun plus she's one hell of a grappler. She's put down more than one dude in her day. HAGD.

[@johnpaddington4791]

😂😂😂Xd

[@YouArentThatImportant]

Too smart to get married

[@berengerdietiker22]

He's a terrific explainer.

[@OldBadger1]

Nice. Helps to go into Wrestling Mode as well.

[@seanhiatt6736]

People damage their hands because they don't understand how to hit someone correctly. Mike Tyson is a sport boxer, who is used to hitting people with gloves on. Bare knuckle fighters were able to fight round after round without messing up their hands. These early fighter knew how to hit, the same is true for traditional Karate. These systems use knuckle conditioning to help improve the hands. All of this is absent in modern MA training.

[@mike393000]

No bare knuckle fighters pretty much hit with their palms too mostly... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmbWlqyFi6h_nJY

[@seanhiatt6736]

@@mike393000 : you should read some books on bare knuckle boxing. Yes they did use the knuckles, there are numerous fighting manuals fron the 18th and 19th centuries.

[@mike393000]

Ok cool...can you show me some?maybe in a modern publication? Link please? I'd like to check that out.

[@seanhiatt6736]

@@mike393000 : yes there are some reprints of Daniel Mendoza's 18th century book I believe "The Art of Boxing", you could also check out Jack Dempsey book on self defense written in the after ww2, he still boxed in a style closer to old school fighting. There are also some KZbin channels showing bare knuckle fighting. "Old Timey boxing" is one I think, but are European Martial Arts channels that show boxing and wrestling techniques taken from fighting manuals that survive.

[@samiruawoniyi2028]

So basically if i don't know some O.G bare knuckle techniques i should opt for the open hand strike.

[@jamesrandal5442]

Outstanding Presentation

[@1ReedsWorld]

U are So smooth love your Fight style👍

[@johnwick1289]

Great advice. You provide great information and useful techniques.

[@garynewis8293]

Open hands great,u showed the right stuff

[@ARABSHAN]

Masha Allah the way you speak its very Easy to understand! & The Demonstrations too!!

[@daniel-zh9nj6yn6y]

The Pancrase MMA promotion used to allow only palm strikes to the face. You can watch those fights on their official channel.

[@patricks1560]

This is the reason oriental martial arts concentrate on body punching, and the reason you don't see hooks in traditional bareknuckle.

[@rodneyhammon1793]

I love your videos! Great common sense stuff!!…

[@rfrancoi]

Hitting somebody in the back of the head can be extremely deadly. Only do this in a life or death situation.

[@mindsurfer101101]

I personally prefer to strike only when facing a capable person. In such cases of physical altercations with strangers, you cannot risk knowing if that person is willing to kill. Best to just eliminate the threat by any means. That is why it is best to strike, only in cases where you have no other option. I prefer to employ a choke if possible. This usually will create time to exit the area or create confusion and a sense of powerlessness in your attacker. Also a good time to check for weapons, since they will wake up.

[@rfrancoi]

@@mindsurfer101101 Great thoughts.

[@garynewis8293]

I train all open hand now,a part from a straight blast,open hand training gives u so much power and confidence,u won’t hurt your self so much

[@phil3038]

If u hit the skull with the fist. Generally the skull wins 😃

[@curtott3396]

Good lesson.. thank you!

[@premier69]

dude, Thank You!. i got junkies after me after i ratted them out. i am a nerd and im now an orange belt ju-jutsu and some MMA, krav-maga, boxing training to boot. this is a valuable detail to know. thank you, i really mean it.

[@fightscience]

Need to avoid the junkies as they won't think straight... be safe my friend.

[@premier69]

its actually worse, normal rules dont even apply! pls make a video of people being high on Valium or whatever, when those dudes are on serious painkillers, normal rules dont apply. i have also heard some nasty stories from my dojo friend who is an ambulance driver. when drunk and high people flip, DANGER!

[@jerogiman]

Avoid the junkies, you may win a fight. But they could burn your house, harm your weaker family or friends or pets.

[@estlhm805]

Great video and information!

[@petersmith2112]

Reminds me of the old technique you used to teach for bridging people with their hands covering their face. Chop down hard onto the arms and they block and stiffen up, then pull down their arms and they were opened up nicely. Thanks Sifu, another good video 👍.

[@DeuceBiggerHo]

This guy really knows his stuff.

[@Gigantor60]

He running out of volunteers. He may have to use dummies pretty soon

[@rooroo9216]

3:40 I can picture how those conversations went: "Hey Mark, what's those strange marks you've got on your knuckles there??" "Oh I met someone who had a problem with a wobbly tooth, so I helped them remove it.." 👊😀

[@cnacks4835]

I tried to throw an open palm during a street fight years ago. Broke my wrist and proceeded to get stomped out by dude and his friends. Luckily I haven't been in a fight since.

[@LiberatedMind1]

Yikes

[@thomasbayer2832]

Excellent advice and information ☝🏻

[@juliodefreitas157]

Awesome tips. Thank you.

[@yamchayaku]

Can confirm that punching the head is the last thing you want to do in a street fight. People like to aim for the head in a fight, and will most likely hit the skull. The thing is, the skull is hard AF and you WILL break your fist on it. Chances are, once you break the knuckles on your hand, that damage is going to be permanent, and it will make your life a LOT more difficult later on. I speak this as someone who has broken his hand in a fight in high school. Now the chronic pain from the arthritis is something I have to live with for the rest of my life.

[@xaviercarson6399]

Welll done as always. Good training

[@TheNakedWombat]

Never have I used a clenched fist outside of training when I was studying TKD/FMA in my early years of practice. Hitting especially hurts me for medical reasons but I had to learn self defence because having movement disorders made me an easy target when I was in my teen/twenties. Plus the reasons you explained which I showed my son.

[@lakbaynirod6471]

Thank you Sir. Very practical.

[@teeman2632]

I’ll do both

[@shujiling213]

Excellent style

[@JB-nn3rz]

Top videos really good protection man hate fighting n don't look for trouble but glad for your videos really easy to follow ✌❤✌🤔

[@richarde1355]

Thank you! Check out Bas Ruttan early mixed martial arts fights; a bad mofo, and one of his favorite strikes. I so appreciate your videos. I’m always struck (pun intended) on your hand speed. How died and what does one do to help improve hand speed?

[@sandman4068]

Didn't bas ruttan palm strike the head cuz punching the head was against the rules

[@rubengenesis100]

I was looking to buy a heavy bag and your video popped up👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@fightscience]

That's good to know. Thanks. 🙏

[@theadaptiveone]

I love the videos that you put out, and I agree with open palm strikes, slaps however. You did punch a few times, haha. Which, leads me ask the question, do you think that its more instinctive for people to clinch their fists instead of palm strikes/slaps?

[@nicholassharratt1774]

He punched to the body. Softer target. Palm strikes to the head: hard target. See comment above.

[@hakansukur1627]

This is absolutely spot on! However, only thing i personally would do is cup my hand, as it be heavier, and you won't potentially get your finger bitten off! Hammerrfist to to the jaw would work a treat too! Fantastic instructor this lad he really is 🙌👏👏

[@mrscratch3475]

And theirs no knuckle damage so free from police charges😂

[@demiurgoyinyang3485]

there's

[@demiurgoyinyang3485]

and who after a fight would stay in that place waiting for the police to charge you? id bouce right after

[@mrscratch3475]

@@demiurgoyinyang3485 they might want another drink..

[@demiurgoyinyang3485]

well id be up for that :)

[@Dmoe2600]

Not to mention most peoples egos might be a bit resistant to telling anyone let alone the cops, that they just got the holy hell slapped out of them. Most times you see anyone slapping in fights, it’s more a form of hot dogging or showboating. Thus the term getting “b*+ch slapped”. Someone basically proclaiming that I can beat your arse without even using a closed fist.

[@duncanrock2249]

Big mistake most street fighters make,it's a good way to know they have no clue what they are doing.The bigger you are the power behind the fist more chance it would break.

[@TimRHillard]

You're the man Doc👍👍. Just, y'all be careful about punching in the back of the head, especially at the base. Its illegal in boxing and mma because you can paralyze or kill someone pretty easily. If its a life or death thing though... Thats your call.

[@GetwithTone]

makes sense not to punch, especially since people just put their head down and throw punches in a street fight

[@Gameking92888]

Only people who can't fight throw punches with their head, That when you dodge and upper cut them to sleep.

[@ironmindsz9257]

Agree! I broke my right fist knuckle in a street fight then my finger won't go further up, it was a very stressful situation untill a man that I barely know got my fingers fixed without any surgery I got very lucky, it's been more than a year now and I still feel pain when I do Puchups on my fists.

[@stevehammel2939]

Never had a problem using my fists because they have been toughened by by punching a steel I beam or concrete wall and doing wrist exercises with dumbbells'. Heavy bag work is the main cause of the boxers fracture which is really unnecessary because the body is soft, your better off using pulleys and dumbells to mimic the technique you are using to build speed and power.

[@markuscamenzind5510]

Years ago they had the no fist to the head rule in the ufc Needless to say they got rid of that rule fast as it didn't lead to KOs Learn how to fight or don't fight Bare knuckle fights also show little evidence of bone or teath being stuck in your knuckles.

[@mrorbit2u]

At first I thought, don't punch in a street fight? WTH you talking about? Now I get it. Give'm the ol' Stockton slap. I'll try it on the next bully. LOL

[@Ilovethebush]

nice, very cool.

[@99Davidcool]

Quality

[@dirtpoorchris]

Good point with the open hand strike also = a free wrist grapple. But you coudl probably also just land yoru wrist on their defense arm and open up your hand into a C clamp and grab you just have to remember to do it. But the "wet towel" effect with a wrapping slap could be useful for clinch fighting and buy you a split second. I do alot of open hand punches and close them AT THE LAST SECOND just to see how my enemy flinches and gain control from their.

[@AT-qu2bz]

3:12 lmao that escalated quickly

[@jakobw135]

Great advice! :-)

[@conordia6906]

Cool video thanks, it would be helpful if the camera operator stepped right back out as you demonstrated connection between the turning of the foot, rotation of the hip, as you teach where to generate the force from. He/she almost did it there but then they came back in. As a visual learner, to see the movement in a wide shot would be great! Thanks again

[@miked.7722]

total agreement, but an improvement in the vid would be to show where exactly (ideally) what part of the palm you should be using. It is an egg shaped area that for example on your right hand it would be on the lower right quadrant of the palm(or right side of the lower palm) not the thumb side. The reason being it is very easy to injure your thumb and it is not very rigid on the thumb side which drastically decreases power in the strike. Of course you cannot always guarantee you will strike with this area perfectly but if you practice for it, it will pretty much make sure you will at the least not strike with the thumb side. In the video he does indicate this area several times but never actually talks about it so the inexperienced would not pick up on this.

[@chriswalker7632]

I can use this for when someone steps on my grave: pure metaphysics.

[@turinthalion8784]

One time I broke my pinky knuckle even though it was the knuckle that received the least impact from hitting what I was hitting. Everyone even said that I was punching wrong, that is incorrect; years of micro-fractures came to a head basically. You never know what a punch is going to do to your hand even if you are doing it right.

[@alexcisotto3007]

That's great!

[@joemo1033]

There is another advantage to palm strikes... Like pointing a finger, grabbing for something is a natural motion. Most people will be much more accurate turning a "grab" motion into a strike then throwing fists and trying to gauge distance. Palm strikes are fucking brutal and give you a much higher probability of inflicting damage then punching under stress.

[@alltimechiller]

That boy's face at the end: WTF man...that wasn't in the script LMAO

[@moorphyus]

In the heat of the moment It's possible to break ones fingers though.

[@DarkGhostHacker]

When I practice front palm strikes on my heavy bag, the forward push motion instead of the side slap like in this video, my head shakes and brain hurts. How do you prevent This?

[@isaiahpavlik1430]

He's not wrong but he's leaving out details that you need to have the knowledge of how to hit like that with an open palm. Because if you don't it's a quick way to break your wrist. Especially the way he's instructing which again IT'S NOT WRONG but he's leaving out little things that can cost you big time in a fight. In ring/cage or in the street.

[@Dmoe2600]

What is it he’s leaving out? I realize he’s basically giving a “short overview” lesson here and he may not be able to cover all bases here, for my own information if you wouldn’t mind, I would definitely like to know, thanks..

[@isaiahpavlik1430]

@@Dmoe2600 .......No prob moe. The simple things as I was referring to is tighting at the point of impact, not a full cup but having the fingers slightly curve can help reduce the risk of breaks or sprains and last but not least this is great in close but NOT an attack more of a counter. But I think that's more my advice. 🤣 anyway, Thank you for the question and Hope I answered well enough.

[@Dmoe2600]

@@isaiahpavlik1430 thank you for the input, makes sense to me. I’ve heard it preached on many occasions about striking with an open fist but rarely do you see it implemented. I did see a video here on KZbin where a guy KO’d someone with an open fist. Goes to show the effectiveness of that technique.

[@shinskoala7072]

This is the exact body mechanic baseball players learn to hit with.

[@SonsOfDeForest]

good body mechanics are pretty universal

[@DixonLu]

Was taught not to hit mouth coz teeth in hand leads to infections.

[@kbkesq]

Power from the golf hip move love it. Bottom line do 100 of these today on the Bob fill each hand you’ll be automatic.

[@davidwayne9982]

I LOVE open hand strikes ONLY--- 1- is' safer for ME-- 2- MORE effective than fists that can get crushed 3- leave my hand loose for other needed maneuvers and takedown techniques 4- feels better and 5 lends to more speed... and much better response times. I was ranger- have high ranking black belts in 5 arts (pretty much USELESS anywhere except in ring or dojo) and 40 years anti-terrorist/bodyguard tactics team commander.. and more. AND with over 1000+ documented encounters and only 2 losses- I must be doing SOMETHING right..

[@John-ob7dh]

Agee palm strikes can really hurt ,especially if over a ear.I use palm strike on my Makiwara board. You can really hit it hard.

[@mrsaturdaynightspecial3055]

Thank you. I'm watching your video in Idaho.

[@tomgreeves9248]

This seems very persuasive. It must also be quicker for transitioning into grappling to strike with open hands.

[@keepmoving1185]

Palm strikes without tucked fingers are an invitation for broken fingers

[@macnchesse5206]

As well as when your going to slap don’t throw your elbow behind to your back keep it centered in front of your body so you can do it very fast

[@dimulaidari]

You can mixed with the Knife/Spare Palm and do it some drills that called as The Iron Seed Palm.

[@inditsnotdenon922]

I would like to see live commentary of sparring sessions from your students etc where possible

[@apostleace7841]

Also, what is the difference between a fight and self defense ?Please reply me.

[@shaerobins4530]

Nice hand wrk