Opinion on this?

There are elements of it in some kata that have to do with the breaking or dislocation of limbs like the upper arm and shoulder of your adversary. You usually don't see this type of technique taught and in kata until the very upper levels of some Japanese and Okinawan martial arts. It can be a very effective technique and I have used it once in a street situation to gain the upper hand on someone who had grabbed one of my wrists.

Also some of what is being demonstrated in the video is not the striking aspect but instead the brushing aspect and how a person can use the upper arm, shoulder, or lower on their body, their hip and even their thigh sometimes to brush an attacking technique to the side before it actually makes direct contact and impact. Good fighters learn to do this instead of trying to block or parry everything with their hands and arms because it is a shorter, quicker motion, requires less energy, and helps keep you from totally committing to blocking or parrying something and tying up your hands and arms for that all the time.

Brushing is an important skill and sometimes people ask how they can fight a faster opponent and this is one of the skills necessary really in order to be able to do that. You are using a much shorter motion to defend and only just before it hits you rather than further out in front of you and getting your arms and hands extended.

hurting someone and ending the threat are completely different. You can use any part of your body to hurt someone. But not every type of strike can be used to injure/kill the attacker. The shoulder can be used as a strike. But you must be in very close. Most people are no that comfortable being that close. In kata it is much easier to find the strikes to the shoulder like a spear hand. If you look at pinan sandan you could interpret those chicken wing strikes as shoulder strikes. But I would use it more as 3 different throws instead of striking. As you know already there are many applications for each technique. Therefore it can be a shoulder strike. On an elementary level I would teach it as a strike/block as that is exactly what it looks like. But the application not seen by the untrained I teach as throws.

http://youtu.be/xTkB4SWQJpI

Edit:

Also keep in mind the student is the video are partners with the instructor. They only pretend to resist. They are fully compliant with the instructor. Using the shoulder is great for off balancing, distractions and creating a little distance. It is used to even throw.That is more difficult unless you spend a considerable amount of time training for that. Most don;t. Mainly this is done in aiki. But it works.

As a ex soccer player I can they cam drop a bigger man easily I used to drop 100 plus kg striker position players by faking an attack at the ball and then launching my shoulder into the person's mid section/sternum I had to practice abit to make shure I didn't ko myself but once I got it I could make twice my size sit off for 20-30 mins and usually spew. This was probably the only reason I got drafted to the statr an oceanic teams.

It is considered as a basic technique of most traditional Kung Fu styles. If you watch the old Jet Li movies and even Donnie Yen's old movies, you'll see alot of it being used in their fight scenes. I believe the only reason it isn't considered a useful technique in the west is because since most of the martial arts taught in the west are geared for competition, shoulder checks aren't considered because they don't gain a fighter points during competition. Only punches and kicks gain points.

I have come from a reversed path from you. I was first taught the technique more as a strike, but because it wasn't strong enough to start crippling(temporarily like a leg kick) and it wasn't going to knock anyone out so I reserved it as a push.

I don't understand. Isn't martial arts about protecting yourself and being able to efficiently beat up the enemy? I don't understand what people expect realistically. If an assailant is attacking you full force and speed it simply isn't possible for it to end with both sides being safe...Especially if you are not a grappler.

check out the opening move of Passai of Matsubayashi Ryu, there are also some forms of Tai Chi which use it (I don't mean the popular slow versions) still if done wrong you can end up breaking your clavicle

I have used them quite a bit, as already stated its in several kata as well. shoulder and body checks can work out great as both defensive and offense techniques. it can be a good way to off balance your opponent as well, when you have the timing down properly for it.

The Pinan Kata have them and also our Kusanku Kata that I can think of right off the bat. In Karate we generally use them against an opponent coming in for a throw.

But even more than Karate these strikes are used and practiced as a basic technique just like you would practice your kicks and punches in Karate in Taiji. In Taiji, they come out of relaxation with the same explosive power as a punch and they are definitely meant to hurt. It is a martial art after all.

We also use them in Randori in Aikijutsu but there they are more to unbalance an opponent rather than injure them with this strike. If you have ever spent some serious time on them practicing them, yes, they are really cool. They got even cooler to me when some guy that I have known for years and who is a real moron got his @$$ handed to him with one of those when he challenged a Chinese Wushu practitioner. He was sore for a few months after that but still proclaims that the Wushu practitioner doesn't know martial art even though he was the one on the floor and hurt. It was the funniest not to mention most satisfactory thing to see and he still is the butt of our jokes for that.

What do you think of the video?