Small-Surface Strikes

[andym]

We have recently been discussing toe kicks (a small-surface strike) here at KF, and then someone asked me, on YouTube, about another small-surface strike (the extended-single-knuckle fist). It seems to be the in-thing right now! I'm curious as to what types of small-surface strikes you all practice/use, outside of the toe kick, and how to train them?

For a bit of clarity, a "small-surface strike" is pretty much any strike that utilizes a very small striking area. Some examples, other than the ones above, would be oyayubi-uchi (thumb knuckle strike), washide-uchi (beak hand strike), and nukite-tsuki (spear hand thrust). Ryan Parker Sensei wrote a great blog post about small-surface strikes, if you're unfamiliar with them: http://ryukyuma.blogspot.com/2013/04/small-surface-strikes-structurally.html

Some interesting points. A key thing with this form of striking, is what he has done - hit things with them ! I'm really surprised at how at few martial artists I meet who do this. Especially the supposed followers of kyusho. My only issue is with the article is nakadaka ken. I use the 'useless' method, following bag work practice. Nakadaka ken done in the 'useless' manner doesn't collapse - pop open and collapse on impact, like say ippon ken, but the middle finger is just pushed back into the fist for a still semi-effective punch. Also the optimal hand forms shown are like mine, non-text book and slightly untidy. It worried me when attending a kyusho course, I was corrected to use text book hand form. To me , that equals the guy running the course has never practiced striking bags or makiwara etc with these strikes. I found that worrying !