Ridgehand strike

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Haitō-uchi, the ridgehand strike, superficially resembles the famous “karate chop,” but it uses the other side of the hand. There are three variations of a the ridgehand strike that you should familiarize yourself with, as we will show below:

Haitō

The haitō is the "ridge of the hand," circled in red.

Form the ridgehand (haitō) by touching your thumb to the fleshy part of your palm at the base of the little finger. The strike contacts the target with the ridge of the thumb side of the hand, but not the thumb itself.

Rising ridgehand strike

Rising ridgehand strikes are primarily used to strike an opponent's groin. Rising ridgehand strikes are the first part of the gyaku-sukuite, one of the hallmarks of Goshin-Jutsu.

Starting with your hand at your hip, rotate your arm forward from the shoulder. Do not lock your elbow. When your hand is in front of your shoulder, drop your elbow to snap your hand upward, striking the opponent's groin with your ridge hand.

[Video of rising ridgehands from the front and the side]

Downward ridgehand strike

This technique generates lots of momentum, and it will break something -- either the target, or your arm. For this reason, downward ridgehand strikes are rarely used in Goshin-Jutsu Karate. However, other martial arts (e.g., Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do) will use these, so you must understand these attacks in order to counter against them. The ending of irimi-nage also incorporates a similar motion.

Starting with your hand at your hip, rotate your arm backwards from the shoulder. Do not lock your elbow. Continue for a full 270°, striking the opponent in front of you with your ridgehand from overhead, like an axe or maul splitting a log. The motion is similar to the windmill strums which 80's rockers used to play their power chords, or the forward arm circles used to warm-up stretch before exercising.

[Video of downward ridgehands from the front and the side]

Inside ridgehand strike

Inside ridgehand strikes are sneaky techniques; they appear to be a linear technique, but they turn into a round technique at the last second, as it snaps. This is a fun technique to use during sparring; when the opponent is about to 7-3 outside, throwing one of these into their anticipated path has a great effect.

Inside ridgehand strikes start out like front-foot or reverse punches, except as your hand turns over, it opens into a haitō and cuts across your centerline, and into your opponent's neck, temple, or jaw.

[Video of inside ridgehands from the front and the side]

Keep your hand in front of your shoulder; anything else is flailing, not striking. When the hand is behind the shoulder, the body cannot absorb all of the impact energy, leading to shoulder injuries.