Punch or Palm?

[Chaz]

I have just recently started to prefere palm over punch, just seems easier to stay relaxed till point of contact. I also feel I can put more power behind them.

[joep]

In boxing, fighters will sometimes blunt an attack by closing the

distance and not allowing the other fighter the distance needed

to get leverage into the punches. In essense, you smother the

punches by closing the gap. Of course, this can leave you open

to an uppercut when in close.

[joep]

Of course certain fighters such as Rocky Marciano and

Jack Dempsey did not need too much distance to get leverage,

so this strategy doesn't always work with everyone.

[bushido_man96]

I have been doing a lot of reading lately, and I have also been doing some Close Quarter Combatives with an LEO friend of mine, and I have to say that I have discovered that the use of the palm is very universal. There are lots of purposes that it serves. I still like the punch, but I definitely respect the uses of the palm heel now, too.

[nine_weapons]

hard to soft, soft to hard.

palm a hard area, punch a soft area.

Of course, under a high stress stimulus, most of us won't remember that and will use one or the other, not both. That said, I prefer the punch.

[Kajukenbopr]

I like the palm both to the torso and the head. but the hits could be fatal if with enough force at the right place.

[shogeri]

I strike with both, switching on the fly without thought many times...so it is just up to the person...

later!

[boyo1991]

well there are many things that come to mind, if the opponent is right in front of me, and too far to use the elbow, i would palm to the forehead, if the opponent is very close, use the elbow, and if the opponent somehow got at a slight angle, i would punch... just my thought..

[Shorin Ryuu]

I'd stick with my punch. We tend to fight in close anyway and I'm not going to bother and over reach from far away. As for not hurting my fist, you can be pretty safe as long as you know how to punch properly. In other words, there are some methods that are better than others to keep a nice fist that's not going to break.

[baronbvp]

I like my elbows and knees, too.