Fictional Depictions
The popularity of martial arts in the mid to late 20th century gave rise to an exaggerated version of a knifehand strike widely used in American and British cinema, television, and animated cartoons. In common depictions, a character will deliver a single, precise-looking but relatively weak strike to the side of an opponent's neck, which instantly renders them unconscious but otherwise unharmed (in some versions, the blow is instantly fatal). This is frequently done from behind to an unaware adversary, often an enemy guard. The move became a staple of the spy genre through the 60s and 70s.
As audiences became more aware of how implausible this move seemed, it gradually migrated to the realm of comedy. In these depictions, it is either used unexpectedly and found to work in absurd situations, or a character attempts to imitate what they saw in film, only to find it has no effect.
Read more about this topic: Knifehand Strike
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