Japanese Martial Arts
Tegatana (手刀 : てがたな?, Japanese for hand-sword) is a term from Japanese martial arts like aikido and Chinese-Okinawan martial arts like karate referring to a hand position that resembles that of the blade of a sword. This can be in a high, middle or low position but is usually extended outwards at about eye level (towards the carotid artery and nerve – a key strike point).
During practice, uke and tori will often stand opposite each other with their respective tegatana touching each other. From this position, considered by some the ideal combative distance for two unarmed opponents, many balance-breaking, striking and throwing techniques can be applied. In karate, the handsword collarbone chop (tegatana-sakotsu-uchi), the handsword collarbone strike (tegatana-sakotsu-uchikomi) and the handsword face chop (tegatana-ganmen-uchi) all use this fundamental strike as a basis for attack.
The knife hand strike can be used with both sides of the hand. Having the thumb tucked in, leaving the fore finger side of the hand free, allows that side of the hand to be used as a striking surface. This is called a inside knife hand where as the pinkie finger side is called outside knife hand.
Read more about this topic: Knifehand Strike
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