Apparently, Masahiko Kimura (the most legendary Judo practitioner) practiced his spear hand into sand and hit the makiwara to improve his ability to get his hand into a gripping position and then maintain his grip respectively.
Anko Itosu 糸洲 安恒 the pupil of famous Sokon Matsumura had in his Ten Precepts (Tode Jukun) of Karate > 2.The purpose of karate is to make the muscles and bones hard as rock and to use the hands and legs as spears. If children were to begin training in Tang Te while in elementary school, then they will be well suited for military service. Remember the words attributed to the Duke of Wellington after he defeated Napoleon: "The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton."
Not necessarily disagreeing, I'm sure it is great for grappling. But fun story time. This one kid wanted to fight me in middle school. But I didn't wanna scrap and get us both in trouble. So we went somewhere out of view so we could trade punches. I let him go first, put my hands up, and behind my head. He had a pretty solid punch but nothing I hadn't taken before. I did a spear hand with the v angle to the solar plexus. Lifted that dude up like 2-3 inches off the ground, and he didn't wanna go no more. 😂 He was like 6in taller than me and outweighed me by like 20 or 30 pounds 💀
You reminded me of my dad. In the 70s when I was a kid he had a job driving meat trucks to grocery stores, and part of his job was pulling wooden boxes of meat out of the truck. Because the boxes were stacked. he had to use his fingers to pull the crates out of the truck. As a result he could do 2 finger push ups, and when I got older he would jab me with those fingers whenever I was stupid(pretty much every day), and it hurt like Hell. And this was from a man with no martial arts training at all. I can only imagine how he could have been with a couple of decades of training under his belt on top of having that job pulling meat crates out of trucks.
He probably would have been like in these old videos when Oyama World style was established in the states, where they did stupid things like fighting bears, jumping over driving cars, hitting their fingers through the skin and ribs of hung up dead pigs and stuff. I wonder where all these videos have gone nowadays
In Fiore de Liberi's wonderful fighting manuscript from the 14th century, Flos Bellatorum, the nukite is called "Posta Longa", or long stance. And it's used for "Abrazare", i.e wrestling, throws and takedowns. So the use of the movement is universal and can be found all over-. Strangely enough I've never seen a historical book from the era when hand to hand combat reigned supreme recommending striking with the tips of your fingers as a power blow.
it's easily used to the side of the ribs, armpit, kidneyds to break holds. It can be used under the floating ribs as a prelude to a pain- hold, reaching over the shoulders from the side.
@@SonnyCrocket-p6h Side of the ribs, use your fist. Armpit, use the second index finger knuckle and your thumb. Kidneys, use your fist. Pain holds are rarely effective against an assaulter with his system flushed by adrenaline. The nukite as a strike lacks structural integrity and training for years to try to compensate for that is wasted time you could have spent learning to use stronger natural weapons to the same or higher effect.
It was so long ago I can't remember who taught me, but I keep those first three fingers the same length when I use a spear hand to distribute the force.
Reminds me of getting grips in Judo or BJJ-specifically getting that first collar grip while standing or when someone is going for a cross choke on the ground more so than going for underhooks.
I found the bunkai of kata as practical. When I was in primary school, I often used grappling against some bullies and it worked because their energies in punching were wasted while they were in lock position.
that last part, digging through the clothes, was the one i was told. one instructor said it should be able to dig through armor from some opening, then grab whatever inside and do application. including the one that goes to the eyes ,instead of poking the eyes it's to dig through the helmet or mask .
Lovely, it was kinda contradictory when the elder masters summarised the technics, on one hand it helped to teach kata and bunkai faster, on the other, made it so simple that lost meaning. Rediscovering how to use special technics like this one, not so easy to understand, is great
In his book "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles And Secret Techniques," Mark Bishop contrasted the karate of Azato (Matsumura heritage mixed with a swordsmanship perspective) and Itosu: "While Azato believed the hands and feet should be like bladed weapons and that one should avoid all contact of an opponent's strike, Itosu held the idea that the body did not have to be so mobile and should be able to take the hardest of blows. Chosin Chibana (a long time student of Itosu) once said that Itosu indeed have a very powerful punch, but Matsumura had once said to Itosu: 'With your strong punch you can knock anything down, but you can't so much as touch me.'"
You are totally right sir. If it was really a "spear hand" it would've been called 槍手 "YARI-TE" (spear-hand)- but "槍手" is not a word. The word is 貫手 "NUKI-TE". 貫 means "pierce, penetrate, brace". The verb "NUKU" means to pass through, or overrun. For martial purposes, Nukite means: "the shape you want your hand to be, when you want your hand to slip/pass through something. Think slipping your hand through the back of a couch to look for something. Like you said, whenever there is a spearing motion, it is likely a move like an underhook through the armpit and locking out your structure to go for some other move like a lock or takedown. Good video!
Nice. Isshinryu uses the spear hand in some of our kata. Something it’s a thumb to the eye but other times it’s a strike to the solar plexus but I have a hard time buying anyone ever trained their hands to such a degree as to strike that area causing any serious damage. I think some of the other applications you showed are more likely the original intent.
I've always thought of it as a way to get inside a guard or someone's arms as a more modern approach. We don't have the time to train like Shinpan Gusukuma with spearing a bundle of bamboo till your fingernails no longer grew back just to create a spear for soft tissue targets. Good takes on it, glad that I'm not in the weeds when I think of training/oyo bunkai ways, that other people like you have a lot of the same ideas.
i saw jet li use a spear hand technique but not on hard tissue or bones but under the last rib where its soft and he stabbed and then oushed up , like he wanted to hook the rib and break it
I agree, 2 interesting times I saw nukite being used: 1. during a judo randori it was used as a pretty violent entry to a choke with the area between the thumb and forefinger. Aimed right under the side of the jar it wasn't seen as a faul despite having some impact behind it. On a bigger competition it might have been seen as a faul though. But seems like something decent for self defense if the opponent has a good jacket to be choked 2. anime shit- pass the guard with the nukite and then form a fist right past it to strike with knuckles. It sounds fucking stupid, like Bruce Lee showoff one inch punch shit but I had it happened to me during a kyokushin sparring.
That's correct. We call that kakushi ken but it's a different technique which has a far better structure behind it than nukite and can be executed with minimal hand conditioning. I use it often when sparring during Muay Thai as a check after parrying before setting up a stronger technique
Great analysis! Just wanted to add that the word 貫手 (or 抜手), despite being translated as "spear hand," would seem to most literally mean "hand that pierces through" or "hand that slips in/out/beyond," which supports your assertion that it was never really intended to be a strike.
Do you by chance know if you will ever make the shirt again with a karateka punching a tree? I would definitely buy that shirt if it was available again.
Heian Sandan and Nidan's (Pinan Shodan) got that nukite to turn. Trying to really visualize how it can work for me. I'm 6'5 so I'm not sure how low my center of gravity has to be for it to work for me.
As an old school karate practitioner/instructor I am with you about bringing practical karate to as many people as I can. Good video thanks.
Apparently, Masahiko Kimura (the most legendary Judo practitioner) practiced his spear hand into sand and hit the makiwara to improve his ability to get his hand into a gripping position and then maintain his grip respectively.
That's amazing, I've never heard that before but I'm going to remember it from now on lol
Anko Itosu 糸洲 安恒 the pupil of famous Sokon Matsumura had in his Ten Precepts (Tode Jukun) of Karate > 2.The purpose of karate is to make the muscles and bones hard as rock and to use the hands and legs as spears. If children were to begin training in Tang Te while in elementary school, then they will be well suited for military service. Remember the words attributed to the Duke of Wellington after he defeated Napoleon: "The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton."
Not necessarily disagreeing, I'm sure it is great for grappling. But fun story time. This one kid wanted to fight me in middle school. But I didn't wanna scrap and get us both in trouble. So we went somewhere out of view so we could trade punches. I let him go first, put my hands up, and behind my head. He had a pretty solid punch but nothing I hadn't taken before. I did a spear hand with the v angle to the solar plexus. Lifted that dude up like 2-3 inches off the ground, and he didn't wanna go no more. 😂
He was like 6in taller than me and outweighed me by like 20 or 30 pounds 💀
dude that's a crazy story! I believe it, anything to the solar plexus will knock the fight out of anyone
A block is a lock is a blow is a throw.
Dude that's so true ,use to do it when I was around 12 to more than one kid and straight down they went.🥋
You reminded me of my dad. In the 70s when I was a kid he had a job driving meat trucks to grocery stores, and part of his job was pulling wooden boxes of meat out of the truck. Because the boxes were stacked. he had to use his fingers to pull the crates out of the truck.
As a result he could do 2 finger push ups, and when I got older he would jab me with those fingers whenever I was stupid(pretty much every day), and it hurt like Hell. And this was from a man with no martial arts training at all. I can only imagine how he could have been with a couple of decades of training under his belt on top of having that job pulling meat crates out of trucks.
Sounds like real Karate Kid training there. :D Wax on, wax off... lift crate...
That's an awesome story, thanks for sharing, glad I could spur up some positive memories
He probably would have been like in these old videos when Oyama World style was established in the states, where they did stupid things like fighting bears, jumping over driving cars, hitting their fingers through the skin and ribs of hung up dead pigs and stuff. I wonder where all these videos have gone nowadays
Great explanation, much better then lots of fantastic interpratations that we see on internet
In Fiore de Liberi's wonderful fighting manuscript from the 14th century, Flos Bellatorum, the nukite is called "Posta Longa", or long stance. And it's used for "Abrazare", i.e wrestling, throws and takedowns. So the use of the movement is universal and can be found all over-. Strangely enough I've never seen a historical book from the era when hand to hand combat reigned supreme recommending striking with the tips of your fingers as a power blow.
it's easily used to the side of the ribs, armpit, kidneyds to break holds. It can be used under the floating ribs as a prelude to a pain- hold, reaching over the shoulders from the side.
@@SonnyCrocket-p6h Side of the ribs, use your fist. Armpit, use the second index finger knuckle and your thumb. Kidneys, use your fist. Pain holds are rarely effective against an assaulter with his system flushed by adrenaline. The nukite as a strike lacks structural integrity and training for years to try to compensate for that is wasted time you could have spent learning to use stronger natural weapons to the same or higher effect.
Your breadth and depth of Martial Knowledge is truly respectable. Great explanations and illustrations. Superb video.
Since you brought up the topic of a nukite, could you please do a segment on hojo undo?
Most Karate techniques don't work without Hojo Undo.
It was so long ago I can't remember who taught me, but I keep those first three fingers the same length when I use a spear hand to distribute the force.
Reminds me of getting grips in Judo or BJJ-specifically getting that first collar grip while standing or when someone is going for a cross choke on the ground more so than going for underhooks.
I found the bunkai of kata as practical. When I was in primary school, I often used grappling against some bullies and it worked because their energies in punching were wasted while they were in lock position.
that last part, digging through the clothes, was the one i was told. one instructor said it should be able to dig through armor from some opening, then grab whatever inside and do application.
including the one that goes to the eyes ,instead of poking the eyes it's to dig through the helmet or mask .
Lovely, it was kinda contradictory when the elder masters summarised the technics, on one hand it helped to teach kata and bunkai faster, on the other, made it so simple that lost meaning. Rediscovering how to use special technics like this one, not so easy to understand, is great
I used to enjoy the 'karate culture channel' then it vanished. Nice to have found you guys again.
thanks for the support all these years!
Nobody believed me when I told them nukite is a grappling technique - and an aggressive one to seize and grab or redirect.
In his book "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles And Secret Techniques," Mark Bishop contrasted the karate of Azato (Matsumura heritage mixed with a swordsmanship perspective) and Itosu:
"While Azato believed the hands and feet should be like bladed weapons and that one should avoid all contact of an opponent's strike, Itosu held the idea that the body did not have to be so mobile and should be able to take the hardest of blows. Chosin Chibana (a long time student of Itosu) once said that Itosu indeed have a very powerful punch, but Matsumura had once said to Itosu: 'With your strong punch you can knock anything down, but you can't so much as touch me.'"
You are totally right sir. If it was really a "spear hand" it would've been called 槍手 "YARI-TE" (spear-hand)- but "槍手" is not a word. The word is 貫手 "NUKI-TE".
貫 means "pierce, penetrate, brace". The verb "NUKU" means to pass through, or overrun.
For martial purposes, Nukite means: "the shape you want your hand to be, when you want your hand to slip/pass through something.
Think slipping your hand through the back of a couch to look for something. Like you said, whenever there is a spearing motion, it is likely a move like an underhook through the armpit and locking out your structure to go for some other move like a lock or takedown. Good video!
Nice. Isshinryu uses the spear hand in some of our kata. Something it’s a thumb to the eye but other times it’s a strike to the solar plexus but I have a hard time buying anyone ever trained their hands to such a degree as to strike that area causing any serious damage. I think some of the other applications you showed are more likely the original intent.
Most of karate is grappling.
Finally somebody says it! Thank you!❤
Good stuff.
Yo this is cool I do okinawan karate mixed with westren boxing and shindo jutsu but love your stuff
I've always thought of it as a way to get inside a guard or someone's arms as a more modern approach. We don't have the time to train like Shinpan Gusukuma with spearing a bundle of bamboo till your fingernails no longer grew back just to create a spear for soft tissue targets. Good takes on it, glad that I'm not in the weeds when I think of training/oyo bunkai ways, that other people like you have a lot of the same ideas.
We only use it for grappling ❤
i saw jet li use a spear hand technique but not on hard tissue or bones but under the last rib where its soft and he stabbed and then oushed up , like he wanted to hook the rib and break it
I agree, 2 interesting times I saw nukite being used:
1. during a judo randori it was used as a pretty violent entry to a choke with the area between the thumb and forefinger. Aimed right under the side of the jar it wasn't seen as a faul despite having some impact behind it. On a bigger competition it might have been seen as a faul though. But seems like something decent for self defense if the opponent has a good jacket to be choked
2. anime shit- pass the guard with the nukite and then form a fist right past it to strike with knuckles. It sounds fucking stupid, like Bruce Lee showoff one inch punch shit but I had it happened to me during a kyokushin sparring.
Interesting- I had an Instructor who said it was like a Crow's Beak- Pecking at an attacker in a downward ark with your fingwrs bent.
That's correct. We call that kakushi ken but it's a different technique which has a far better structure behind it than nukite and can be executed with minimal hand conditioning.
I use it often when sparring during Muay Thai as a check after parrying before setting up a stronger technique
Great analysis! Just wanted to add that the word 貫手 (or 抜手), despite being translated as "spear hand," would seem to most literally mean "hand that pierces through" or "hand that slips in/out/beyond," which supports your assertion that it was never really intended to be a strike.
wow that's super insightful, thanks for sharing!
@@KarateBreakdown Yup! Gotta use that college degree for something...
Would you ever be interested in teaching a seminar in Chicago?
for sure! send me the details karatebreakdown@gmail.com
properly-applied strikes can MAKE people let go of you and want nothing more to do with grappling with you.
I guess instead of a spear hand you could call it a lego brick separator hand?
That’s a good visual, a wedge
OSS- please take the Equipment from foyer or front door side… it has inspirational affect later.
Thank you for listening.
Surprised you didn't mention it as a simple open hand push (or release upon pushing). But good ideas
It's a slip or fingers to the throat
OSS... Wonderful ...
Excelent!!
Nukite is an interesting question
Do you by chance know if you will ever make the shirt again with a karateka punching a tree? I would definitely buy that shirt if it was available again.
I’ll add it to the list 🤙
Truth
Heian Sandan and Nidan's (Pinan Shodan) got that nukite to turn. Trying to really visualize how it can work for me. I'm 6'5 so I'm not sure how low my center of gravity has to be for it to work for me.
Lost karate techniques 😮
and there's Kuroki Gensai from Kengan Ashura who's literally called "Devil Lance". His nukite able to pierce skin and muscle 😂
Great video, as always. Osu.
Is it for nuking? (As the name suggests)
Makes total sense.
Согласен.
That doesn’t exist in Aïkido... Sorry, but you find yourself in confusion, by these unpleasant senseless comparisons.