Sumo Semar is now less confused. Ian Abernethy Sensei, described in an earlier post, kindly answered Sumo Semar's questions on the vertical vs. horizontal fist question. I'll leave you to guess who's who from the pictures. Abernethy Sensei's answer below.
Iain Abernethy is "Laid Back" on Bare Fist Striking
I've got a rather "laid back" view on striking with the bare fist. I know people can get quite animated about whether it should be vertical or horizontal, front two knuckles or back three, twist or no twist, etc. However, it's my view that the chaotic nature of combat tends to make such discussions a bit academic. Distance and position are ever changing and people are not flat (like a bags, mitts, or makiwara are). The key thing is that we hit them hard! The niceties tend to take care of themselves ;-) For example, if the enemy is close, he will probably get hit with a vertical fist. If they were a little further away, they may get hit with a partially rotated fist. That's not a conscious decision; just a result of the way I punch and at what point in it's travel it contacts with the enemy's body.
I recently read a report on a study that showed that "hand conditioning" did not actually make the bodes any denser. For me, hand conditioning is simply a case of impact training without gloves so people get used to striking with a bare first and don't become reliant on gloves or strapping. I do still make use of gloves though as Newton's laws (every action having an equal and opposite reaction) mean that if your punching with force, then the hands can only take so much. The thousands of punches thrown every week can therefore really mess up the hands if we always trained bare fist. We just need to be sure we take the gloves off a sufficient amount.
Also worth remembering that in a live fight, open hand strikes have the advantage that the hands are far less likely to be damaged. That's why I pre-empt with open hands and flow to fists if needed (fists flowing a little better for me). I'd also consider a few bruised knuckles a good result in a real fight. People forget that injury is almost inevitable (even when we win) and that's one more good reason to avoid fights ;-)
I think your right that striking is generally the way to go in live conflict. However, the grappling is key as it gives you the skills to control the opponent and land shots when things get "messy"; as they almost always do. It also gives you confidence in your striking as you know you have a good "back up". And let's not forget that grappling is loads of fun too! There's loads of stuff I've learnt and practised - both in grappling and striking (i.e. elaborate ground-work, high kicks, etc.) - that I would not use in a live fight. But it can be fun to do in the dojo and hence I keep practising it.
It's nice to hear that you feel I've cut to the heart of things. Endlessly simplifying and always looking for the key principle comes naturally to me. Not just in the martial arts, but almost everything I do. It's really nice to hear you feel that comes across. Thank you for that.
Right then, off to spend Christmas eve with the kids :-)
Speak soon mate.
All the best,
Iain
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