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Most Common Strikes in American Kenpo POSTED BY ALLEN SANDOVAL ON SEP 25, 2014 IN AMERICAN KENPO, KARATE STRIKES  | 0

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William Kwai Sun Chow created Kenpo, but it was popularized by one of his students, Ed Parker.

Parker added his own techniques and innovations to the martial art form in Hawaii and then in

mainland USA. Ultimately, the system became known as American Kenpo, though its name is

written as chuan fa using Chinese characters, and this is the generic term for martial art in China.

Kenpo training places great emphasis on a more scientific approach to fighting and contains a variety

of techniques influenced by different Hawaiian, Japanese, and Chinese martial arts. Rapid-fire hand

techniques and combinations are regularly used in American Kenpo, and below we look at some of 

the most common strikes in this martial art form.

KickingKenpo practitioners are taught to keep their kicks low because flashy moves, such as a spinning

reverse crescent or roundhouse kicks, take too long to e xecute and leave you open t o a counter-

attack. While you are encouraged to practice high kicks for balance and technique, low kicks are

preferred in combat, and w hen you kick low, you can ensure your opponent is kept off balance.

Typically, strikes with the elbows and fists are preferred, as we show below.

Overview of Basic Strikes

Horizontal Thrust : Punch straight with knuckles up and bring your hand back to your waist for

the “snap” version of this strike.

 Vert ical Thrust : Keep t he knuckles of your fist to the outside of your body while punching

slightly upwards.

Hammerfist : There are several versions of this strike. The basic hammerfist involves striking at

multiple directions and angles using the bottom of your fist. The back hammerfist involves

striking at groin level with the bottom of your fist by swinging your fist in from the front of your

body. The inverted hammerfist is similar to the back hammerfist except you swing your fist in

tow ards you but dow n and away from you.

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Finger Poke: This can be a devastating attack move and involves using your middle and index

fingers, which should be slightly bent. You must ensure your fingers are correctly lined up or else

they could get broken.

Back Knuckle: This is very similar to a slap with a closed fist. You use the back of your hand and

strike with the knuckles. Students are taught to strike in different angles and directions.

Handsword: The inward version of this move uses the blade of your hand to strike on the side

of your attacker’s neck. Your palm must be up and your arm must be bent and coming from

outside the b ody. The outw ard handsword is almost t he same, but you are coming from across

your body.

No Block  Along w ith st riking, Ke npo is unique insofar as it te ache s students to move out of the way of 

incoming strikes instead of blocking them. The belief is that blocking is inefficient because it doesn’t

prevent your oppo nent from using his free hand to strike again. It should be noted that t his form of 

Kenpo is reserved for t hose at brown belt level and above.

We hope t his guide helped you to learn and understand more about the p ractice of striking in

Kenpo.

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