Do hand strikes work in real life?

Like any other strike, it depends on where you hit the other person. Some parts of the body are more vulnerable than others.

Sure. I prefer a back-hand side strike, which is similar, but contact is made with the knuckles. It depends on what your attacker leaves open. These types of strikes have an advantage in that an untrained, street-type fighter has probably never seen them done correctly, so will be unprepared to defend against them.

yes, any strike to the throat, if hard enough, can hurt a lot. depends mostly on your execution. when you train techniques they have to be second nature.

but if I can be honest, elbows are the best weapons. they are very close range, pack quite the punch, can actually cut your opponent severely, and the best part is your elbows wont hurt afterwards.

sorry, i digress.but while it is true it depends on the martial artist whether or not a technique is effective, some techniques shouldn't be used for self defense.

Hello Jay,

Yes, a person with martial arts training that delivers a hand strike as taught will usually

disable his or her opponent. Martial arts training is intended to be able to disable an

opponent quickly and effectively.

If done, timed, and aimed properly they are very effective. especially at certain targets, like parts of the neck, or the dangling ribs. It comes down to training and focus. You wanna make sure that hit right on target. it works because some parts are just more sensitive, like the part of your neck just under the jawbone, or the adams apple, or the nose and temple. when we do hand techniques in self defense, we're told to make sure that we know our targets. So yes it is effective and realistic.

Yes hand strikes work, but not any better than punches.

You can do them if you want...

sure, but your knuckles will often fracture/break from standard punches. Palm strikes and elbows are my preference.

oh yeah that works, creepily well