It’s been called the edge of hand, axe hand, shuto (sword hand), thousand hand strike to the judo chop. It can be found in every martial art from jujutsu to karate and Kung fu. You can find it in every form, every kata from the Kodokan to the Shao Lin Temple. So how did this universal technique go from martial arts main line to martial arts punch line? How did the technique found in every established martial arts system go from secret technique to something your grandfather did?

Sure the technique is “campy”. This was solidified when Austin Powers effectively executed it in Gold Member. It’s been called out dated, and only good for kata. But there are a group of steadfast practitioners who know the full story and who know the secret of how to effectively apply this devastating technique.

Damian Ross, President of The Self Defense Company, a worldwide organization with real world self defense training systems and a network of instructors whose purpose is to teach only authentic, proven self defense, says that this technique is a staple of their program. “It’s awesomely effective and it’s incredibly versatile. First the edge of the hand is one of only two places on the hand that can take a lot of punishment with out a lot of training. Second, the motion of the strike, especially from the horizontal axis, acts like a cover and proves very effective in close combat”.

Sure, but how come you don’t see it today? “We’re a boxing society” comments Ross “we turned karate into kick boxing, wrestling, judo and jujutsu into MMA. We are a boxing culture where the edge of hand is considered passé. But is it?

King of the Street…
The edge of hand is the most universal, effective striking technique for the street. You can strike virtually anywhere on the human body without doing any significant damage to your hand, even without training or conditioning. Even with limited training, the average person can develop a pretty awesome strike in a very short period of time. Contrary to popular belief, In order to effectively use your fists in the street you have to condition your hands religiously as well as spend months to even years develop a significant amount of power.  The edge of hand is effective almost immediately.

Lack of hand conditioning is why athletes wear wraps and gloves, it’s not to protect the other person from getting hit with a bare knuckle, it’s to protect the athletes hands. And until you start wearing gloves and wraps to parties, you better think about either conditioning your fists or using an alternative striking method like the edge of hand.

The Tool of The Greatest Generation…
World War I and World War II were the height of hand to hand combat. Technology hadn’t caught up yet and most soldiers found themselves fighting hand to hand. There was no room for error, kids were dying in the trenches and the allies needed to arm them with the best fighting methods possible. Enter the man from Shanghai.  Royal Marine W.E. Fairbairn was head of the Shanghai Municipal Police in the beginning of the 1900’s. Due to the rough nature of his position he was forced to throw away the Marcus of Queensbury rules and look to more pragmatic methods of fighting. He looked over every conceivable form of martial art. Took only the essential effective methods for self defense and removed all of the sport and cultural aspects. At the center of his methods was the edge of hand. It was effective, could be mastered easily and was the most versatile technique when applied correctly. Fairbairn had no agenda, no style of martial art to promote; he simply had lives to save.

The Judo Chop today is making its comeback, through the training programs and the Instructors of the Self Defense who continue to provide information as it was intended, original and unaffected. Like Fairbairn and others before, they only teach proven methods when it comes of self defense.

“We have taken the edge of hand back out of the kata and into its rightful place in self defense” says Ross. “Once people see it in action, they get it; there are no questions after that.”

To find out more about the resurgence of these methods log onto www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com           

About the author:

Damian Ross is a life long martial artists and president of The Self Defense Company, an organization dedicated to teaching the truth about self defense since 1998. Mr. Ross is also one of only 2 people in the world to receive his teaching license from reality self defense legend Carl Cestari. To find out more about Mr. Ross The Self Defense Company and his methods please visit www.theselfdefenseco.com