Transforming Martial Arts With The Japanese Hammer Strikes: A Modern Approach To Self-Defence
As a modern martial artist with a strong focus on self-defence, one must always be on the lookout for transformative ideas and developing practices that enhance combat skills. A video by Jeff Chan of MMAShredded, featuring the expertise of Professor Matthew Briers, brings to light a very intriguing striking technique that, believe it or not, stems from age-old Japanese martial arts. Welcome to the world of hammer strikes! What is a hammer strike? A hammer strike, in its simplest definition, is a blunt force strike using the side of a closed fist, much like how one would swing a hammer – no wonder the name. Briers, a seasoned expert with black belts in multiple disciplines, believes that these unconventional strikes are both fun and incredibly effective when applied correctly. Briers and his students started using hammer strikes after realizing the potential in traditional arm combat techniques. He mentioned that these strikes stem from the basic instinctual movement and provide an impactful, unorthodox tool when transferred to unarmed skills. Various combat scenarios, including UFC, have demonstrated the efficacy of these hammer strikes. UFC fighters routinely use hammers in clinch positions and ground pounds. Briers’s argument is that despite being mocked as “uncivilized” due to their raw ferocity, these strikes are indeed part of martial arts dating back centuries. Applying Hammer Strikes The hammer strike system’s beauty lies in its versatility, as it can be easily incorporated into regular fight combos, creating new openings for strikes, takedowns, and kicks. Here’re a few ways you could integrate the Japanese hammer strikes into your self-defence techniques: – The ascending lead and rear hammers: This combination leverages the power of a swift, rising hammer strike from your lead and rear hand. – Rear Direct Hammer – Lead Internal Hammer – Rear Internal Hammer: This is a triple combo that exploits the power of a direct hammer strike and internal hammer strikes. – Direct 12-6 hammer: This is a simple yet effective method of striking directly from above, especially useful against high guards or opponents who leave their face open. – Ascending Lead Hammer – Rear Internal Hammer: This is a combination of a rising strike from your lead hand and a devastating internal hammer from your rear. – External Hammer: This method involves an outward hammer strike against an opponent, making it an effective tool when the opponent is piling onto you. Although Jeff Chan encountered several missed attempts when he first tried these techniques, he found that his sparring partners struggled to counter the unconventional punches coming from different angles, demonstrating their effectiveness. Remember, every technique requires practice, and hammer strikes are no different. Start incorporating them into your fight combos and soon, you’ll find yourself wielding this old, yet new tool with ease and confidence. In the end, self-defence is all about being adaptable and ready to use every tool in your arsenal.MMA Block
MMAShredded is a renowned YouTube channel run by professional MMA fighter, Jeff Chan. The channel shares in-depth tutorials, training tips, and behind-the-scenes insights into the world of professional MMA, offering fans and budding fighters a unique view. Chan’s expertise in MMA is evident in his informative and engaging content.
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Glad to see people are realizing techniques from some traditional styles of Kung Fu actually work. eg strikes from styles like Choy Lay Fut.
Fighters with height and reach advantage should definitely utilize these striking variations more. It’s nice to see competitive mixed martial arts continue to evolve and break down barriers. Time for the hammer fist era!
Wait until you learn about "ude uchi" to set up clinch entries or heavy strikes from the pocket
The MMA arena is the showcase due to it"s skilled driven warriors for sure. When training JKD, we did this more often than I would have liked. Kinda thought of it as unsportsmanlike due to it's being too effective and damaging, similar to elbows🙏. Maybe they will master it🙏
Something I used to learn in Krav Maga was a hammer strike transition to clinch/knee strikes. I dunno how well that translates to MMA since I dunno if knees are illegal (never see anyone do them so I am just assuming) but in self-defense scenario, anything is fair game.
Btw this would not be legal in a muay thai fight. Mma yes, boxing aswell no.
Is it legal in boxing?
Oh man this is like a big part of FMA. I've been using hammerfists to peel people's blocks open in controlled boxing/kickboxing spars.
I love it !
Traditional karate hand techniques are "making a come back"
Haito, shuto, seiken, uraken tetui, ippoken, nukite, kumade, oyaken ect get used all the time from striking to grappling
And all the traditional blocks can be translated to both sports as well.
I think ramsay dewey talked about this a while ago too
Those hammer strikes look a lot like the “gowchoi” of souther mantis Kung fu.
the Bonk technique
Hammerfists are great just dont accidentally get disqualified if they shrug or duck and it accidentally becomes a rabbit-killer punch on the back of the head.
Man, if that's a hammer strike, then I'd say that you nailed it
Naihanchi kata. Everything you can do to a human being combatively can be found within it.
Piguaquan has this included in it! You aren't exactly supposed to slap them!
Bud Spencer perfected the hammer strikes in the 80s
Looks mad awkward but it works lol
Wow looks pretty stupid
I've been using these (and other) hammer strikes for many years, coming from Russian martial art. No idea why they are called "Japanese hammer strikes" and much more, "the next generation of striking". Maybe they are new to combat sports, but they have been around for ages in martial arts and self defense / bare knuckle oriented striking arts. In fact, the Russian version has much better mechanics than the examples presented here. In any case, they are extremely effective weapons but since they are not allowed in boxing, kick boxing etc, they stayed out of the MMA curriculum and it seems that MMA people just started to discover them.
Yea man, it's old school. It's a favorite in Southern kung fu systems.
I think that to date no one has understood deeply the art of jeet kune do, jeet kune do is about how to counter and not to be hit, it when you develop this zen attitude where you are untouchable, and you have total control of your opponent
The one attack the karate blocks work against 😂
Love it, I'm big on 52 blocks and Cross guard and it is great for setting these up. IDK if it's allowed in boxing though?
im mean that the one fc champion xion (i hope it right) jjust it a lot in her last fight and won by finish
I took my girlfriend to a pro MMA bout, a championship one, she saw hammer fists and elbowed me that the fighter looked like they didn't know what they were doing….I had to break it down…lol
Thats that austin powers judoooo choppp type shit
It's such a great idea for all the point fighters as well, due to the quickness and effectiveness of the technique.
¡Keep up the good work man!💪🏻
Hammer fist Is Called TETSUI ZUKI 👊😍
I wondered how someone could transition prefered pound and ground striking to stand up ❤
I like it, will catch all the boxers off guard who expect a straight. Can’t slip a mace
Awesome Video! When I was training in FMA I learned to do hammerfists standing. I was able to land it a lot in sparring but I stopped cuz I wasn't sure if it was able to knock someone out while standing cuz I didn't know anyone who knocks people out or causes harm with these strikes when standing. I'm glad you guys explained some examples and showed sparring footage of this being used. Just curious do you know more examples of standing hammer strikes being used effectively in fights?
Looks very cool. Now in a real fight I would be scared to hurt my own hand/wrist on someones skull but in sparring it seems very fun to do.
Extremely fun and super exciting on getting more creative on striking techniques
Very curious, where are you located, love to spare with you. Please keep me in touch on your location.
Thanks Brother 🤛🏽🤛🏽🤜🏽🤜🏽👍🏽🙏🏽
Due to bad wrist joints, I use hammer fists where, i would normally use backfists.
Hammer strikes are less telegraphic so its less noticeable since most of the motion is coming from the elbows. Guess which technique was similar to the hammer fist and made famous by a very famous martial artist? Its Bruce Lee and his famous "BACK FIST".
Also in Filipino martial arts there is a technique called Arm destructions in which you strike your opponents arm. The strikes used are very similar to hammer strikes as it uses the elbow motion. A hammer strike to ones biceps is effective.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, aren't hammer fists are illegal in boxing, kickboxing and muay thai?
I've been doing karate for many years and I always knew hammer fists were effective outside of ground and pound and always wondered why MMA fighters didn't use them. Glad to see MMA continue to evolve and find ways to incorporate more traditional techniques into their already massive arsenal.
We often use hammer strikes in Eskrima as well, I actually often like to pretend that I'm going for a hammer fist, but then last second change to elbow strike.
Jeff if you're looking for more traditional MA tools to add to your arsenal, I'll leave you with a quote. You might find some good techniques here if you find a nice fight oriented school.
"Choy Li Fut is the most effective system that I've seen for fighting more than one person. [It] is one of the most difficult styles to attack and defend against. Choy Li Fut is the only style [of kung fu] that traveled to Thailand to fight the Thai boxers and hadn't lost." –Bruce Lee
I love those low kicks to end those hammer strike combos
Very under-utilised.