While saying, "My hands are lethal weapons," was a popular quip among fighters in the early 1990s, the idea of the hands being lethal is not all that far from the truth. Although most martial arts schools and traditions instruct students in basic open-hand combat with strikes, punches and blocks, a few focus on the hands as more dangerous weapons. By toning the skin of the hands with calluses and strengthening the muscles of the wrists with repetitive punching and strike exercises, a martial artist can create a pair of durable and damaging weapons which, when coupled with training, can quickly become lethal.
History
The use of the hands in punching, striking and grappling with opponents can be said to date back to the beginning of mankind. Considered our first "weapons," or tools for causing harm, the use and manipulation of hands for combat gradually developed into coordinated schools of training. In Asia, fighting techniques from early Chinese and Indian civilizations developed into a pre-kung fu Asian-fighting style emphasizing strikes and blocks with the hands. The famous martial arts instructor Bodhidharma, believed to have lived around the year 550, took part in establishing the Shaolin Monastery during the Northern Wei Dynasty and developing the study of unarmed fighting arts. In Europe, the sports of "pygme," or boxing, and "pale" wrestling were recognized as a significant unarmed martial arts during the Olympic Games of 776 B.C.
Styles
While most martial arts devote some of their curriculum to open-hand combat and unarmed fighting instruction, the most prominent martial arts that utilize the hands as weapons are wing chun, jeet kun do, aikido, northern- and southern-style kung fu, tae kwon do, systema, ninjitsu, karate and hapkido.
Strike Variations
The punches, strikes and locks employed by martial arts schools vary from tradition to tradition, but nearly all schools utilize the basic thrust and jab punch in which the combatant strikes an opponent with the pointer and middle knuckles on the fist. The "ridge hand" strike utilized in Chinese martial arts traditions involves the combatant extending the fingers side-by-side and striking an opponent with the side of the pointer finger in a sweeping "roundhouse" strike. The famous chops employed by karate schools utilize the hands as if they were sword blades in timed, precise strikes. Traditional animal forms found in kung fu styles originating from the Shaolin Monastery involve a number of strikes fashioned after the natural self-defense techniques of animals. Each of these strikes use the hands as weapons.
Famous Fighters
Wing chun master Bruce Lee was famous for breaking 6-inch-thick wooden boards using basic hand strikes and punches, and he also won a number of contests and competitions, including one informal contest in which he knocked out Uechi, a Japanese black belt, in 11 seconds. By devoting an inordinate amount of time to the training and toning of his hands, Lee was able to achieve a striking speed of five-hundredths of a second. Other boxers and martial artists famous for the skilled and dangerous use of their hands are three-time world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and the famed founder of the unarmed aikido school of martial arts, Morihei Ueshiba.
Training
The most effective method for training and toning the hands is to enroll in a martial arts class, there are a number of ways to strengthen the hands at home. Doing a simple set of push-ups on your knuckles can both generate strength and harden the skin. Daily practice with a punching bag (wearing gloves to begin) can also build up calluses along the knuckles, thumbs and sides of your fingers as you practice coordinating strikes.
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