Martial Arts: Part 1 Knowing your built-in weapons

This is the first in an intended series of posts on Exploration & Explanation. The first set is Martial Arts. I will be detailing my experience and exploration in martial arts and self-defense.

I decided to put on Bourne Supremacy today while I did some things around the house. Only minutes into the movie, I remembered my deep love and near obsession with all things “Spy” (See my favorites list on Spy Movies). If you’re familiar with the Bourne movies you will remember that amongst the secrecy, sniper-shots and fast car chases there is a good amount of close quarters hand-to-hand combat (also see Nathan’s Ten Steps: Being a Spy). Bourne and his Treadstone counter parts are all well versed in using their hands, feet and entire bodies to quickly incapacitate their opponents.

Part 1: Knowing your built-in weapons

The human body has been used since the beginning of time as a weapon potent enough to kill. And through the ages many methods and styles have been developed to hone this ability. Some focus on blunt force requiring great strength or multiple strikes to vulnerable targets. Some take a knowledge of anatomy and use of body mechanics to break bones or dislocate joints using leverage. Then there are still other styles that take the knowledge of anatomy to pinpoint pressure points and exploit weak areas of the body into submission.

Today we will start with the basics, though. Striking. There’s 1001 ways to hit a man, but the ones that are extremely efficient comprise a much shorter list. Here are 6 basic strikes to make your hands more useful in combat:

Strike	Best Target
Foreknuckle Punch	Solar Plexus
Half Fist	Trachea
Knifehand Chop	Brachial Plexus
Reverse Knifehand	Filtrum
Palm (Straight Strike)	Solar Plexus/Pubis
Palm Heel (Downward Strike)	Bridge of the Nose

More to come about Martial Arts exploration. If you have a punching bag at home or want to position a good thick pillow against the wall, you can practice familiarizing yourself with your built-in weapons.