TEN BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU

The Ten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Moves Every Cop Should Know
By Brad Parker

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu burst onto the scene in America when a quiet, good-looking Brazilian named Royce Gracie shocked the martial arts world by winning the first Ultimate Fighting Championship in a seemingly effortless fashion. What the rest of the world didn’t know is that the Gracie family had been developing this art for the past 75 years in Rio de Janiero. What’s become known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) proved to be a dominating factor in mixed-martial arts tournaments throughout the 1990s’.

The public safety sector picked up on its success and now agencies such as the FBI, DEA, and LAPD and various elite groups of the military including the Rangers, Delta Force and Marines have included the techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in their curriculum.

"With this you are able to survive long enough for help to get there," says Pat "Hawk" Hardy, long-time law enforcement officer and current assistant district attorney and criminal investigator for Jasper County, Texas. "The thing that makes it great for law enforcement is that it’s easy to learn, you don’t have to be super athletic and it is effective."

Hardy should know what he is talking about – he has 35 years of martial arts experience with a national full-contact karate championship title won in 1975. In 1977 he fought for the world full-contact karate title.

"What I like about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that it’s easy to do," he says. "Most of your criminals out there have plenty of time to workout and get strong, a lot more time than you or me with a family and trying to make a honest living."

BJJ Reduces Injuries, Claims
According to Sgt. Greg Dossey of the Los Angeles Police Department, the adoption of Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu into its arrest and control curriculum is good for LAPD officers, arrestees and the community. LAPD now has a curriculum that consists of ground techniques based on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as the traditional joint locks and "pugilistics" or striking techniques.

In the first two years the techniques were introduced, Dossey says there was a 19 percent reduction in injuries to arrestees and a 8.5 percent reduction in injuries to officers. There was a 13 percent reduction on excessive force claims against the department and a nine percent drop in civil actions filed against the city.

He says 6,400 officers have been through the 40-hour program and they receive continuing training three times a month as well as bi-annual divisional training and an annual recertification. "We don’t try to make them the world’s most skillful grappler," says Dossey, "but we definitely give them enough skills to develop confidence on the ground." He attributes a 24 percent decrease in the use of force reported in all arrests to that increased officer confidence.

Advantages for Public Safety Personnel

The reality-based techniques and the emphasis on controlling the subject makes Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu perfect for public safety personnel. The techniques put you into a position where your opponent cannot strike you, but you could, if you chose to, strike him. This gives officers and public safety workers an option to increase the escalation of force. The techniques also allow a smaller officer to wear out a larger and more aggressive subject. The techniques do not rely on pressure points for pain compliance. The bulk of the techniques center on joint locks and carotid restraints. This means that the officer does not have to be stronger than the suspect, they only have to be stronger than the suspect’s weakest point –usually his elbow, shoulder, ankle or neck.

The techniques are relatively easy to perform and are quickly picked up by students. In fact, we’ve had students with as little as two training sessions report using the techniques successfully in securing an arrest. The responses of opponents to the techniques and strategy of BJJ practitioners are amazingly predictable, allowing skilled practitioners to appear almost magical in their ability to maneuver the subject.

Many martial artists and defensive tactics instructors tell their students to "never go to the ground" with a subject because of the dangers to be found there. However, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners aim for the exact opposite outcome – their goal is to always take the fight to the ground. Both LAPD statistics and the Gracie family assert that between 65 to 85 percent of altercations eventually end up on the ground anyway. The Gracies have made a career of training to live and feel comfortable in the position which has the greatest probability of occurring. Conversely, when you stand up in an altercation, the variables for you concerning distance, weapons, strikes and movement are theoretically infinite. Unfortunately, the momentum of any fight can be reversed instantly by your opponent when he lands a lucky punch or kick, but on the ground everything slows down and the opponent cannot generate much force behind his strikes.

Here are the ten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu techniques you should know:

1. The Clinch

The most dangerous distance in any altercation is kicking and punching range. Unfortunately, most social interaction is done within punching range. The BJJ practitioner wants to either be all the way outside of hitting range or all the way inside of hitting range. Therefore, most often the BJJ practitioner will close the distance between himself and the opponent to the clinch, which controls the subject and limits his punching and kicking ability. Often an attacker is surprised when you close with him instead of backing up which is what most people do when attacked.

To safely close the distance into the clinch, you must get your head against the opponent’s chest which puts you inside of his punching range, effectively negating his punches.

- Get your hands up to your forehead with your forearms protecting your face like a train’s cowcatcher. Your fists tightly are locked against your forehead and your elbows are leading forward, protecting your face against a punch.

- Move into your opponent by leading with a leg check or a distracting kick to his leg.

- As you close the distance, sweep your hands out like you are swimming the breastroke to block both of his biceps on each arm. Trap his arms by hooking your hands over his triceps and using your forearms to control his arms. You have your forehead tight gainst his chest while hooking over the back of his triceps. By pulling in on his arms and pushing with your head against his chest, you develop isometric tension, which limits his punching and movement.

Now, complete the clinch by reaching around his back with one arm and moving to that side. For LEOs, move to your gun side. Trap his other arm tightly under your armpit and protect your face by burying it in the biceps of his trapped arm. Pinching your thighs on his leg closest to you limits his ability to turn and knee you to the groin.

Now I have control of the subject with one arm around his waist, which I can secure by holding his belt or clothing. This should be my gun arm. I can release my hold to either protect my sidearm or to draw it as needed. With my other arm I am trapping his arm under my armpit and holding the back of his elbow to hold it and use it as a shield for my own face.

Finally, I am controlling his leg closest to me to limit his movement and to protect against a knee to the groin.

2. The Rear Takedown 

Often, the next move from the clinch is the rear takedown, but this takedown can also be effective when used during a standard search with the subject against a wall or vehicle.

- If the suspect begins to resist, clasp him around the waist from behind much like you did in the clinch with your head down to avoid any elbow targeted at your face.

- Move your foot out block his far foot (for example your right foot steps out to the right to block behind his right heel).

- Sit down to drag the suspect to the ground, tripping him over your outstretched leg. He can’t catch his balance because you are blocking his foot from stepping back.

- Roll on top of him for the mount.

3. The Mount

The mount is one of the trademark positions of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The position allows you to control your opponent with a minimum of effort by using your body weight. Opponents often exhaust themselves trying to desperately to escape this position. You also have the advantage of being able to strike your opponent, but they have very little leverage to strike you.

- Sit astride of your opponent’s chest.

- Put both knees on the ground and slide them as high into his armpits as possible.

- Both of your hands should be spread out wide braced on the ground for balance and to counter your opponent’s attempts to roll over. Guard your duty weapon by sliding your gun side hand under the suspect’s arm on that side. Stretch your gun hand high above the suspect’s head to force his arm up and away from your weapon.

- Relax your body and become dead weight on the suspect. You can pin his head to the ground to limit his body movement by pushing your stomach against his face.

4. The Back Mount

This is exactly like the mount with the exception that you are astride the suspect and he is face down You will find yourself in this highly advantageous position a surprising number of times when you start mounted on an opponent as in #3 above. In their effort to escape, almost everyone rolls onto their stomach. Relax the grip you have with your knees when you are mounted and allow them to roll onto heir stomach -- it’s a better position for you to begin cuffing anyway. Wrestlers are especially susceptible to this since they have trained to stay off their backs.

KRAV-MAGA

Krav-Maga: Reality fighting on the ground
By Eyal Yanilov and Jon Hegan

The essence of Israels Krav-Maga is purely tactical self-defence and surviving a real-life violent confrontation. This can be under any conditions in the street, the battle field or any other environment, regardless whether it is during a civil, lawenforcement, terrorist or military type scenario. Our purpose is not to compete with someone who wears tightly fitting lycra pants and fights in a ring or cage for a living. Generally, in most areas of the world, we do not regard or see these people as a principle threat or risk, as they are highly trained and disciplined atheletes who rarley find themselves easily dragged into a common street brawl. Skilled fighters/ground fighters are exceptionally scarce and as a rule will evade such trouble if only to avoid injury. Whereas the common attacker and street hooligan has no such priorities, instead it wouldn't be classed as a good night out unless they had a trip to the local A&E after an altercation. For conflict in the street Krav-Maga has no rules of any sport origin, that means, no referees and includes biting, gouging the eyes, using incidental objects as weapons, breaking small joints and striking effectivly with all available body weapons. This is reality and this is what Krav-Maga is all about.

What can really happen in a fight that goes to the
ground?

A violent confrontation may eventually go to the ground at some point, whether you like it or not, especially if one person is activly trying to acheive just that. Once on the ground the assailant can continue to attack from in the position they have landed or trade for a superior one (naturally there will be weapons or other people getting themselves involved to consider). As previously mentioned, in the streets today there are few people who are knowledgeable with the complexities of ground fighting, but still an attacker may, as part of the natural behavior found in humans, start to wrestle you resulting in taking you to the floor (a headlock is still probably the most common non-skilled grappling throw/attack) or maybe because they learned some Judo as a child, or worse, a fan of the WWF.

Regarding the common attacker and their methods - we will always assume that they either have friends close by that will interfere and will try to hold or kick and punch you, or they may be able to produce a weapon concealed in their clothing or simply grab a close-by object and use it to hit you. With this in mind, one should never to go to the ground voluntarily (even if this is personal preference). If this was unavoidable, which can often be the case, you should try not to stay there any longer than the absolute minimum time required. In vitually all cases you will be more limited in action and vulnerable to attacks from other assailants that are even more difficult to defend. The solutions are naturally not to go to the ground, if at all possible, for that Krav-Maga has several responses depending on timing and the movement of the attacker. If you cannot avert this then do the best you can do, the stratergy is to get back up as soon as possible, with minimum impairment to yourself and able to inflict as much damage as needed to the assailant/s.

 

Used to ground fighting, with sport restrictions? You may think that you posess the upper hand, but street criminals will invariably have a weapon concealed that they can ''skewer'' you with well before you think you can get them to, ''tap out''!

 

Self-defence on the ground - first steps and preventivemeasures

Krav-Maga self defence (we differ between basic self-defence and fighting situations) on the ground includes similar topics to those that we have already in our standing cirriculum. The first preventive measures the Krav-Maga practitioner learns are how to fall, roll and fall-break, subjects that are to be found in most martial arts and naturally we do it but with our vision and techniques. It is a fact that many people get injured when meeting terra firma at high speed, whether it's because someone sent them there or because they; stumbled, slipped or fell while walking / running/riding etc. A roll is converting the fall into a round motion and the fall-break aims to reduce the shock and absorb the impact of the body with the ground.

The second set of measures are to try and prevent the attacker from taking you to the ground, techniques include distancing, blocking the attackers body from getting close to you and obviously counterattacking with maximum efficiency.

The last phase of preventive measures is how to avert the assailant from reaching you if they are standing and you are on the ground. This is done by tactical moves on the ground, turning with the hips and legs towards the assailant, kicking from the ground, stopping the assailant reaching you and how to get up as fast as possible (to the most suitable direction or exit) whether charging the opponent, avoiding, or retreating from them.

Defending a standing opponent - that kicks, punches, or uses a weapon

As a confrontation can start while you are in any position, the Krav-Maga instructors and curriculum direct the student to constantly operate from a disadvantagous position. As a defender, the moment that you observe the danger, you may find yourself standing, walking, sitting on a chair, in a car, sitting on the ground or laying down. During a scuffle people often fall to the ground or the assailant causes them to fall whilst they are still standing. It is highly likely that the assailant will attack you while they are still standing and you are laying down, this is a very vulnerable and dangerous position to be in. Although in the UK we have a saying ''Never kick a man when he's down'', the street criminal will normally reply, ''Well, can you think of a better time to do it''?

We include defending kicks directed to the head or body, defending punches and naturally defending attacks with weapons such as sticks (and other blunt objects) and edged weapons. Example - you are on the ground and the assailant managed to get close to you and deliver a kick towards your head. You respond with a forearm defence, simultaneously, move the body away and then direct the counterattacks with your leg to groin or knee area. Then get up as soon as possible.

1. The attack - a football type kick at your head
2. Block and defend your head, move around and prepare to counter
3. Strike out with a stomping kick and then get up

Basic defenses and releases when both of you have
ended up on the floor

In the basic self-defence section - The student learns to deal with an opponent who is on the ground, positioned near or on top of them. Krav-Maga basic techniques include dealing with an assailant who may be: choking with the palms (when either sitting on you, or kneeling by your side, or is between your legs); puts you in different types of head locks; Grabs your wrists and pins you down; or is punching to the head or body; (When concerned with self-defence for women on the ground, the main emphasis is on defending grabs and chokes, when the assailant is either sitting on the defender or is between the legs.)

Krav-Maga’s range of solutions against those attacks on the ground are based on techniques and principles of defences and releases that we have already have in the standing positions, as well as on the basics of how to move and change positions on the ground. Naturally there are unique techniques for specific problems when one is on the ground and the attacker executes an attack from the one of the options that were mentioned before.

Example: In the basic technique to release from a choke from the front (standing), the trainee will pluck (remove) the assailant’s hands from the throat and simultaneously attacks with a knee to the groin, then the defender will finish the “situation” with more countering strikes and/or retreating. When the choke is on the ground - our example is an attacker choking from between the legs of the defender - the same principle and technique apply, using the same plucking motion while moving to send the knee against the assailant’s chest (to push them away) and then kick them strongly in the face.

1. Being choked on the ground with the assailents palms and thumbs
2. Release the pressure on the throat with an eye gouge and push the assailant away
3. Insert and push your knee on the assailents chest, still controlling their wrist
4. Counterattack decisively with a strong kick to the face

 

1. You are caught in a headlock
2. Move your body inwards to releive the pressure onyour chest and gouge the eyes
3. Pull and turn
4. Finish the roll
5. Counterattack
6. Finish the “situation”

Whilst on the ground - Defending an opponent that uses
a weapon

If you end up on the ground, the assailant may also try to use a weapon. Our training includes a variety of exercises, based on principles and techniques from our Krav-Maga standing and basic ground self defense, so the trainee will be able to deal with attacks such as stabs/threats with edged weapons; attacks with blunt instruments and more.

 

For members of the military, specialist agencies, police units and also for our higher-level expert instructors, we also have solutions if an assailant threatens with a firearm. The aim of the system is to solve many types of problems with the same solution, the result of which is a reaction and a decision making process that is non-convoluted, fast to learn and easy to retain, these are important factors in a time of need when a Krav-Maga trainee is placed under traumatic conditions.

Example: Defending a knife threat while standing. There may be various threats from different directions, distances and at several heights (and parts of the body). As an example we take a right-handed assailant who grabs the defender with his left hand and places the knife to the left side of their throat. The basic Krav-Maga technique (sometimes with some small adjustments) naturally manages to deal with many variants of the situation, positions of the knife and of the attacker. In addition, an almost identical technique deals with threats of a pistol and other barreled weapons.

In the solution for a standing threat, the defender starts with a hand movement to remove the weapon from their throat and a body movement to distance them away from the knife further. Subsequently the defender advances diagonally forwards and launches a counter attack. To close the situation, deliver morecounterattacks and then disarm or move away.

On the ground when the knife is at the throat, in the same manner, and the assailant is sitting on the defender, the solution starts the same way. Then the defender enhances the control over the knife while (grabbing with two hands the wrist area of the hand holding the knife) throwing the attacker with a simple bridge, rolling on him and countering. The end is for the defender to move away with or without disarming, as required by the situation.

1. The Treat (assume they will cut your yourthroat)

2. Using a hand and body defence control the weapon

3. Bridge/throw the opponent off you

4. Immediatly launch a counterattack   

5. Deliver repeated hand and head strikes to incapatitate the assailant, then disarm

Defending a knife stab
We demonstrate here how to defend counter, control the attacking hand, counterattack and throw the assailant off you.

1. The threat, which will often be a frenziedattack
2. Defend and control the knife whilst countering to thethroat or face
3. Throwing the opponent and turning on him with a frenzied attack of your own!

Training for the ground

The ground fighting that we teach in Krav-Maga is divided to two parts. One - playing and “having fun” in training, done with relaxed sparring including a variety of pins, sweeps, chokes, arm and leg locks. Two - a very aggressive and brutal approach, to eliminate any danger and stand up in the fastest way possible. This includes all type of strikes, with the hands, feet, elbows, knees and the head, (biting, and even shouting to ear are included) impacting to all sensitive areas, grabbing and pulling at vulnerable zones such as the groin, eyes and the neck. In this section though we only need to have a limited range of fundamental choking and joint manipulations.

 

Attacking and defending without sporting restrictions
Making use of common objects effectivly.

 

appropriate manner.
The objective is to get up quickly before the gang is coming and before the opponent manages to inflict any serious injury. Training also includes specific techniques and drills to deal with
more than one opponent. From a defensive perspective the approach to Krav-Maga ground fighting includes techniques for defending all manner of punches and strikes, securing a dominant position while executing effective attacks.
About the writers
Eyal Yanilov is the Head Instructor of the International Krav- Maga Federation. He was the closest instructor to Imi Sde-Or, founder of Krav-Maga, and carries Krav-Maga's highest grade. Jon Hegan is an Expert level 1 from the UK. He also holds a Judo black belt and is a BJJ blue belt.

DRAGON'S TOUCH

DRAGON'S TOUCH

weaknesses of the

human anatomy

Part I

Strikes to the Head and Neck This volume (and the ones to follow) concentrates on the 43 major pressure.

points of the body. Of course, there are quite a few more, but these are the basics. All of the points are classified into 2 catagories :

Numerical

I -brain/skull 

II -sense organs

III-life support, cardiorespiratory, organic damage major organs & tracts

IV -muscular functions & nerves damage

V -mechanical functions, skeletal

Alphabetical

A-immobility from pain

B-immobility from structural or

C-Unconsciousness from nerve or organic

D-death from physiological damage cartilages & joints

The ventral transverse plane consists of the face, the front, top, & sides of the head, the neck, & the upper torso, including the collarbone. There are 15 pressure points in this area as follows:

1. coronal suture I-C

2. trigeminal nerve & frontal bone I-D

3. temple & fossa temporalis I-D

4. eyes II-B

5. ears II-B

6. mastoid II-A

7. septal cartilage II-A or II-D

8. anterior nasal spine I-A

9. temporomandibular joint V-A

10. tip of mandible I-C

11. sternocleidomastoid region III-D

12. anterior neck region III-D

13. brachial plexus & trapezius muscle IV-C

14. suprasternal notch III-D

15. clavicle V-B

1: This region lays on top of the head, more towards the forehead. It is also known as the soft spot on babies. It is the space between the skull bones that is covered with a membrane that close up usually by 18 months, but the coronal structure is still weaker than the rest of the skull. Directly beneath this is the sensory portion of the brain & under that the optic cavity. A downward strike of about 45 degrees depending on the force could cause concussion, temporary blindness, unconsciousness, brain hemorrhage, even death (very powerful blow).

2: This region is located just below the centermost point of the forehead The nerve is on the outside of the skull thus when the bone is struck it will trap the nerve. This could result in jarring the cerebral hemispheres, concussion, unconsciousness, impaired vision, & paralysis. If and only if maximum impact is applied, death could result from brain hemorrhage.

3: I'm sure we all know where the temple is but for those of you that don't know it is located on a horizontal plane across from the top of the ear. It is the recessed part on each side of the head. It is actually the bone tip of the sphenoid. The trigeminal nerve runs through the the temple. This nerve controls several facial functions. Also passing through is the middle meningeal artery which is the largest branch suppling dura matter. A direct hit could break the tip off the sphenoid causing it to enter the brain. The meningeal could burst. Contact to the trigeminal could result in loss of control of facial functions. Compression of the brain, hemorrhage, concussion, shock, & death are likely results of striking the temple with a horizontal blow directed towards the opposite temple.

4: The eyes are located...uh I think you know. The eyes are very sensitive even to the slightest touch. They are held in by fascia bulbi (a soft membrane) and eye muscles. This makes them easy to pop out. They are also very soft, and if a blow reached the vitreous body (center of eye) the eyeball would collapse. Other than causing temporary or permanent loss of sight a deep thrust could puncture the brain causing death.

5: These are located on each side of the head. Air is easily trapped in the external acoustic meatus (the tunnel from the outer ear to the inner ear) and forced into the eardrum causing it to bust. This in turn ruptures the hammer or malleus within the middle ear. Damages would cause severe pain, loss of hearing, bleeding from the mouth and ear, and bleeding into the throat via the internal auditory tube. Also, the inner ear is the center of equilibrium (balance) for the cerebellum. a forceful strike could leave the victim sprawled on the ground with no balance! The blow should be delivered horizontally driving into the ear.

6: The mastoid is located directly behind the earlobe. It is the recessed area where the skull meets the neck. It is filled with air pockets which are used to communicate with the middle ear. A thrust should not be used; rather apply pressure with a nuckle or thumbnail in an upward direction. Prolonged pressure could cause damage to the auditory system.

7: Known more commonly as the nose the septal cartilage is the had substance that makes up the nose. Two strikes are used here for different measures 

II-A : a horizontal strike causing breakage of the septal cartilage and nasal bone which ruptures the angular vein producing a lot of blood along with great pain, however, not enough to stop some attackers

II-D : an upward 45 degree strike forcing the septal cartilage through the internal nasal cavity and crista galli (a small bone formation between the nasal cavity & the brain) into the brain. Death would be instantaneous because of compression of the brain.

8: This is located beneath the nose and above the lips. It is the area between the 2 lines running from the nose to upper lip. Many of the facial nerves run through this area. A direct hit would cause the sensory fibers to relay the shock to the pons, causing dizziness. A hit would also cause damage to the maxilla bone which holds the gums & teeth. This could cause extensive bleeding posibly scaring the victim about the blood loss. A straight blow in needed to achieve this aiming towards the back of the head.

9: This is the joint that holds the jaw bone in place. It connects with the skull in front of the ear. The joint is really made up of 2 separate joints, thus dislocation can be unilateral or bilateral. With a 45 degree downward strike (preferably with the mouth open) will dislocate the mandible (jaw bone). An easier way to break the bone is to strike the joint itself or anywhere on the jaw bone really while the head is turned to one side or the other. This reduces the absorbtion of the blow by the neck. This method requires the least amount of force.

10: The madible is the jaw bone and of course the tip is located on the very end of the chin. Boxers use this point for a quick K.O. Hitting this area sends a shock snesor to the cerebellum causing unconsciousness. Hit this point with an upward blow.

11: This is the area at the frontal sides of the neck. The sternocleidomastoid muscles run from behind the ear down to the clavicle bones. Beneath these muscles lie the jugular vein and cartoid artery which supply blood to the heart & brain. This are is very sensitive. Try poking yourself there. A medium strike results in dizziness. A more forceful blow could blister, swell, collapse, or burst 1 or both of the blood lines. This could easily cause death because of lack of oxygen to the heart or brain. A strike should be done on an upsloping plane at 45 degrees on either side of the chin in the neck area.

12: Referred to as the windpipe or throat; is located in the center portion of the neck. This is a tubular passage running from the mouth to the stomach & lungs. When a straight on blow is delivered the thyroid cartilage (Adam's apple(the lump in your throat)) and the hyaline cartilage (hold the windpipe in a cylinder shape) are pushed through the larynx and/or trachea resulting in blood drowning or partial or complete obstruction of the vital air passages. The cartilages act as cutting devices.

13: The muscle is the one that runs from the base of the neck to the shoulder. It raises up on most people. The brachial plexus is a nerve center which supplies info about the shoulder & arm down to the wrist. It runs through the trapezius. Striking the trapezius (from either front or back) with a downward 45 degree motion could paralyze the arm & shoulder temporarily. With a maximun blow unconsciousness & paralysis could be attained.

14: This lies between the collarbones; it connects them. A blow here could dislodge the collarbones from the sternum, collapsing the shoulders. But there are better targets behind the sternum. Such as the aorta, the superior vena cava (major blood lines to the brain), and the trachea all these pass directly behind the sternum. A forceful blow would follow these reactions : dislodge both clavicles from the sternum, the sternum would split, the 2 clavicles & sternum would be forced against or puncture the

aorta and vena cava, the cartilages & bones would then be forced against or puncture the trachea. The strike should be delivered at a downward 45 degree angle. The suprasternal notch is a MAJOR death target.

15: This is the bone on each side of the body that runs from the shoulder to the center of the chest. It supports the shoulder so breaking a clavicle (collarbone) would result in the collapse of the shoulder. It is possible for the broken bone to puncture a lung or possibly the heart or one of the things mentioned in #14. A simple break would immobilize the victim due to structural damage & pain. An inward & down motion should be used when attacking also at 45 degrees. That concludes Part I. I hope you have learned from this lesson in human anatomy. Please use this information wisely for I take no responsibilities in the misuse of these facts. This was intended for informational purposes only. That mean I don't really expect you to go out and beat the hell out of someone (unless they need it!). Today's valuable lesson is on the vulnerable spots of the human body. Typically the human body is divided into three killing regions. The head and neck, the trunk, and the limbs. Below is a listing of the most vulnerable parts in each region.

Head and Neck Trunk Limbs

------------- ----- -----

a. eyes a. groin a. instep of foot

b. nose b. solar plexus b. ankle

c. adam's apple c. spine c. knee

d. temple d. kidney d. shoulder

e. side of neck e. collar bone e. elbow

f. nape f. floating ribs f. wrist

g. upper lip g. stomach g. fingers

h. ears h. armpit

i. base of throat

j. chin

All the spots above are extremely sensitive to killing blows. A word of caution these spots should only be attacked if you are intent on doing serious bodily damage. Hell! if your reading this then you want to fuck someone over anyway. Also, when practicing blows to these areas with a training partner be sure to strike lightly until you master the maneuvers. In future articles we will discuss in detail the exact methods of striking the vulnerable areas. Look for our next file on Head and Neck Killing Techniques. Special thanks to Poor Mans James Bond for providing us with countless hours of amusement.

THE PHYSICS OF KARATE STRIKES

THE PHYSICS OF KARATE STRIKES

JON CHANANIE

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903

1 Introduction

In recent years, the ancient eastern art of Karate-Do (a Japanese word, literally translated as “the way of the empty hand”) has become popular in the western world. Karateka—practitioners of Karate—often break boards, cinderblocks, and other solid materials in order to demonstrate the strength that their training develops. Much can be said of the history and culture associated with the expansion of martial training, but this essay—it is, after all, a physics paper—will examine the collision mechanics of a hand strike to a solid target like a board.

2 Force, Momentum, and Deformation Energy

That large objects moving at high speeds hit harder than smaller objects moving more slowly goes without saying. In attempting to break a board, a karateka seeks to hit the board as hard as possible. It therefore follows that the karateka should move his or her weapon (for the purpose of this paper, the hand) as quickly as possible in order to hit as hard as possible. But what makes for a “hard” strike? Two ways exist to answer this question, both equally accurate. The first looks at the collision in terms of force and momentum; the second looks at the collision in terms of energy.

Force (F) is acceleration (a) times mass (m): F = m· a. Momentum (p) is mass times velocity (v): p = m· v. 

Since acceleration measures change in velocity over time (t) (put another way, acceleration is the derivative of velocity with respect to time), force is the derivative of momentum with respect to time. Equivalently, force times time equals change in momentum, or impulse (Δp): Δp=F· t. This is significant because momentum is a conserved quantity. It can be neither created nor destroyed, but is passed from one object (the hand) to another (the board). The reason for this conservation is Newton’s third law of motion, which states that if an object exerts a force on another object for a given time, the second object exerts a force equal in magnitude but opposite in direction (force being a vector quantity) on the first object for the same amount of time so the second object gains exactly the amount of momentum the first object loses. Momentum is thus transferred. With Δp a fixed quantity, F and t are necessarily inversely proportional. One can deliver a given amount of momentum by transferring a large force for a short time or by transferring small amounts of force continuously for a longer time. Why, then, move should the karateka swing his or her hand with as much velocity as possible? Because if the hand is moving quickly, it is likely to decelerate (strictly speaking, accelerate in the direction opposite to its direction of travel) more quickly in response to the force the board exerts on it upon collision, as per Newton’s third law.

If the amount of time involved in the transfer of momentum is therefore small, the amount of force that will be transferred to the target all at once will be large. This sudden transfer of a lot of force causes the part of the board that is struck and which therefore experiences that force to accelerate. If that part of the board accelerates enough relative to other parts of the board (which are generally held still by the cinderblocks on which the boards are placed), breakage occurs. This same phenomenon can be analyzed in terms of energy transfer and resulting deformation damage. Given and object with mass m1 at rest (the board) and another object of mass m2 (the karateka’s hand) moving at velocity v upon impact and ignoring the negligible amount of energy lost as thermal energy (heat), the amount of energy in the system lost to deformation damage (ΔE) is given by the following:

where e is the coefficient of restitution, which measures how elastic the collision is. It is a function of the hardness or softness of the colliding objects, which along with velocity determines impulse. If hard objects collide (for a perfectly inelastic collision, e=0), they will accelerate one another quickly, transferring a large amount of force in a small amount of time while soft objects colliding (for a perfectly elastic collision, e=1) transfer smaller amounts of energy to one another for longer periods of time. Difference in how long momentum takes to transfer and therefore in force at a given instant is why hitting a pillow with the fleshy part of the hand hurts much less than hitting a brick with the knuckles. As ΔE is proportional to the square of velocity, the more velocity the hand has, the more energy will be transferred into the board. In the simplest possible terms, if the board is infused with more energy than its structure can handle, it breaks. More rigorously analyzed, energy transfer causes the board to dent. This process of transferring energy is work (W). Work is force times distance (d): W=F· d. If the area of the board that is struck dents a sufficient distance, it will break. Since the distance it dents depends on the energy transferred to it and the amount of energy transferred depends on the velocity of the karateka’s hand, a high-speed strike is most likely to break the board. 3 Striking Surface Any martial artist who has ever struck a board with improper hand technique can attest to the physical pain associated with such impact. The human had is a complex system of bones connected by tissue, and much can be said about the importance of proper hand alignment in breaking. From the standpoint of physical science, however, what is crucial about hand position upon impact is that all formulae for force, momentum, and deformation energy are for a given unit of area. By minimizing the amount of striking surface on the hand involved in collision with the board, a karateka minimizes the area of the target to which force and energy are transferred and therefore maximizes the amount of force and energy transferred per unit area. Consider a martial artist capable of striking with 190 joules (J) of energy. A typical human hand is about 6 inches long including the fingers and 4 inches across, which means that a strike with the entire hand disperses those 190 J over 24 square inches, about 7.92 J per square inch. If, however, the karateka strikes with only the fleshy part of the palm, about 2 inches across and 1.5 inches long, the 190 J will be dispersed over only 3 square inches. That strike will deliver about 63.3 J per square inch, inflicting many times the amount of damage the whole hand could—the same amount of energy dispersed over a smaller area delivers more energy per unit area. This is why martial artists seek to use as tiny a striking surface as possible in not only hand techniques, but also kicks, elbows, and other strikes as well.

4 Point of Focus 

Karate black belts often advise white belts before their first attempt at breaking not to try to break the board, but to break the floor under the board. This is to ensure that the hand does not decelerate prior to contact with the target, a mistake that beginners, fearful of injury and therefore mentally hesitant, often make. High velocity of the hand is critical to successful breaking, and data taken from high-speed movies of karateka show that maximum hand velocity is achieved when the arm reaches approximately 75% of extension. Intuitively, this makes sense. Since the hand cannot move forward a distance greater than the length of the arm, it must have a velocity of 0 at full arm’s length extension. It follows that the hand must decelerate well before the arm is fully extended. Advising beginners to attempt to hit an imaginary target 25% of their arms’ length on the far side of their targets would therefore be more precise than the typical encouragement to aim for the floor, but the physical principle is the same: maximum hand  elocity is achieved when the point of focus of the strike is well beyond the surface of the target.

5 Use of Body Mass 

Note that mass is a co-efficient in the formulae for force, momentum, and energy transfer alike: all three are directly proportional to mass. Since a human being’s mass for the time it takes to deliver a strike is constant—a karateka with a body mass of 70 kilograms before a strike will have a body mass of 70 kilograms after the strike—mass is often and erroneously dismissed as a constant in the equations for force, momentum, and impulse. What matters is not the karateka’s body mass, but how much of that mass is involved in the strike. A body mass of 70 kilograms is beyond the karateka’s immediate control; how many of those 70 kilograms contribute to the strike is very much within the karateka’s control. It is therefore crucial not to use the arm alone to extend the weapon and hope for sufficient force and energy to break the target. The entire body should be used by snapping the hips and pushing with the legs in the direction of the target. This explains why boxers are seldom knocked unconscious by jabs, where little more than the mass of the arm contributes to the punch, but are frequently knocked out by hook punches where the entire mass of the body is thrown behind the punch. The same principle of using the entire body mass to deliver a blow applies in breaking techniques as well.

6 Specifics of Impact

Consider now the breaking process from the perspective of the target. When the force of the strike is applied to the board or cinderblock, it accelerates in response to that force. The key is that it does not accelerate uniformly—those areas where the force is applied (the center of the target, if the strike is properly aimed) accelerate much more than the outer regions of the target which are held in place by large cinderblocks. This localized strain, the response to influence of stress imposed by the strike, initiates the rupture. Strain is functionally the loss of height of the target that occurs when the top surface is compressed and the bottom surface stretched. Because of their molecular compositions, materials such as wood and cinderblocks withstand compression better than stretching. This is why the target begins to split at the bottom. A clean break occurs when the crack reaches the upper surface of the target.

Works Consulted:

1. Bardosi, Z., “Kintematical Movement Evaluation of the Straight-line Karate

Techniques.” Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium of the Society of

Biomechanicsin Sports, July 3–9, 1990, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 23-30 (1990).

2. Bloomfield, Louis A., How Things Work: the Physics of Everyday Life. New

York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1977).

3. Walker, Jearl D., “Karate Strikes.” American Journal of Physics 43, 845-849

(1975).

4. Wilk, S.R. et al., “The Physics of Karate.” American Journal of Physics 51, 783-

790 (1983).