Open-hand strikes

Open-hand strikes include various techniques used in the martial arts to attack or defend without curling the hand into a fist. The most famous of these techniques is probably the so-called "karate chop", which is also described as a knife-hand strike (shuto uchi) although there are many other techniques. In fact, this wide variety of techniques is what makes open-hand strikes do useful. ^{[unreliable source?]}

Some of these are:

One of the greatest advantages of an open-hand strike is the ability to quickly grab the opponent to perform a follow-up, such as a throw or a pull into another strike. The extra control this affords as compared to a punch is worth the larger risk of damage to the hand or fingers.