Whats better palm strike vs punch?

A strike with the Palm is more effective AND is a lot harder. The reason for this is because you're using the muscle which acts as a kind of cushion for you, but when you pull your fingers back, that cushion feels like a stone for the person receiving that force. The strike is more focused than with a punch, so the strike can knock the person back. Punches can rarely do this because they have a wider area effect.

A punch, generates less power than you would want, even if you wind up. The punch also backdrafts greatly, causing pain to your bones and muscles because of that energy going back into your arms. You will damage yourself for doing this.

A palm strike is also more effective because its an open hand and with that, you can grab your attacker/opponent and control them.

Palm strikes are, for all intents and purposes, much more powerful and less risky to your hands/wrists. HOWEVER... there are certain circumstances in which punches may be more effective than attempting a palm strike. You have to bear in mind that the angle from which you strike has a strong bearing on the technique that you're going to want to use. For example, an uppercut with a palm is significantly more difficult than an uppercut with a punch. When dealing with combat situations, it's also important to remember that -contrary to what we all have in our heads- defense is what wins a fight more than anything. So anything that may compromise your comfort in a combative situation (e.g. trying to uppercut with your palm when it's not appropriate to do so) is probably a bad idea.

Palms strikes are better for street fighting, but not because they are faster or stronger. Palm strikes have less of a chances of having severe damage done to the striker from the impact.

The palm has a disadvantage over the fist because the bone is less exposed, the palm has a thick layer of skin and muscle, making for a padding.

However, this disadvantage is more that covered by the advantages. As has already been mentioned, the fist causes tension in the tendons and muscles, slowing the strike. What is more, when you fall, it is natural for you to catch yourself on the heel of your palm, and for this reason, over millions of years, the heal of the palm has evolved to be bulky. In fact, after your teeth and elbows, the carpals are the hardest bones in your body. The palm foucouses force in a smaller area, covering about one square inch of hard contact, as versus three square inches in a similarly sized hand when using a fist. And about wanting to catch yourself on your palm, that means your bodies natural instincts suprot the striking of the palm. Your instincts will actually make you pull punches with your knuckles, because most people break there hands that way, it takes some getting used to to learn to untrain that instinct.

It is true. A palm strike can do much more damage than a hard punch. A hard punch from someone with a muscled frame could do some damage but a palm strike with the right force and the right spot could be deadly.

SIMPLIFICATION

The way your muscular and skeletal structure work means that a palm strike should be more powerful than a punch when delivered correctly. Although it sounds counter intuitive a punch is slower and weaker than a palm strike because the way you make a fist pulls on the tendons and makes the muscles 'tense' which prevents them from imparting the full force or moving at full speed.

I like the different styles of fighting that everybody has even though they all do the same sport. I love seeing great "chess matches" like striker vs. grappler, or wrestler vs. jiu-jitsu ace, or boxer vs. brawler. I love the technical part of the sport, not really the brutality of the sport. I didn't really like the old "no holds barred" UFC, but the new UFC is a lot more strategic and technical. For example, at UFC 68, Drew McFedries was absolutely destroying Martin Kampmann on the feet. Kampmann, realizing he was getting beat in the striking game, took McFedries down, baited him into making a mistake, and submit him with an arm triangle choke. When I watch UFC, I root for my favorite fighter like any football or basketball game. When it's between two fighters I don't really care about, I like to put myself in one guys position and see what I would do in that situation (I train in wrestling and Brazilian Jiujitsu). I especially do this in the ground game, because it is where I specialize.

Using a fist is easier and more intuitive, but with enough practice a palm strike can be much better, mainly because you don't have to worry about hurting your knuckles or your wrist with a palm strike.

I like reasoning of Pekti-Tirsia Kali guys , so im for palm strikes to the head and fist to the trunk .

And details ? If you `d ever break or hurt your almighty knuckles on someones facial bones you will understand ...

the heel of hand cannot be injured when smashing away at someones melon head. The heel of hand can also smash up and under the jawline at any angle