 Hi everyone, just recently we released a video that was a collaboration with Sensei Justin Ichikawa of T.O. Westlake Karate in Thousand Oaks, California And he also has an awesome YouTube channel called Sensei Ichi. I highly recommend visiting and subscribe to that channel as well He's got some great content. Now we're doing a fun experiment together of sharing the basic techniques found in American Tonksudo versus the techniques found in American Kempo Karate and then comparing the differences and similarities between the systems Now we're keeping this civil. This is not a debate. This is not arguing which system is better I mean besides we all know it's Maritote Now this is a three-part series and you can find part one in the description below if you have not seen it yet I definitely recommend checking it out So in this episode Sensei Ichi he's going to demonstrate some of his basic strikes that they have in American Tonksudo And then we're going to analyze them But don't forget to go to his channel to see the other half of this where I demonstrate our Kempo strikes So now on the part two of American Tonksudo versus American Kempo strikes These are our basic to intermediate strikes that we teach our again white belts yellow orange purple and blue which are our mid-range Belts that we have in our system. So snapping a wrist punch is a standalone punch One hand goes by the face the other hand goes by the ribs just to practice basics We're going to be twisting our body forward and turning the hand over we add the wrist snap Just like we added in our basic blocks so the hand starts palm up by the ribs We're going to twist our body forward and snap out the punch It's going to be twisting out just like this and come all the way back It's just a beginner way we teach our white belts coming straight out and straight back We do both right and left hand. We also have another technique called a thrusting reverse punch Which means instead of snapping it all the way out and back We're going to shift our way forward and leave the punch out at this point We're going to be pulling our hand back to the side. We only use this thrusting reverse punch in practice We don't do it in actual practical application. We only use it to work on basics So we're teaching the students how to thrust how to follow through how to pivot how to twist all those little really important nuances That would be in any kind of martial arts technique third punch that we teach is called a stepping center punch So our front hand goes right on front of us. We aim all these punches at solar plex level We're going to put our other pulling hand back by our side We're going to step forward into our center punch right there to the solar plex to do a stepping reverse punch instead of Front hand matching front leg and the back and matching the front leg. We're going to do reverse So we're going to switch hands so the right hand out left foot in the front We step with our right and we punch with our left that is called our stepping reverse punch We have something called a stepping side punch I'm going to be turning into the side stance bending knees just like a horse stance to do that side punch We punch at shoulder level other strikes that we use at a more tongue pseudo base We do have this spear hand, which is very Japanese influence. Our spear hand goes to the eye level You could also throw it to the solar plexes hit right in between the sternum and kind of dig into the body there We also use it to go to the groin to grab into, you know, Lorena Bobbitt people So that's for the spear hand is for we also use a web hand So we're using that web hand we're aiming to the throat with the web hand It's gonna be a weapon strike snapping just like the punch would so in terms of interactive when I would use it Let's say someone comes in and I do a block to defend it So let's say I do the inside block this way and I grab it and then I come forward I'm doing the web hand or I come to the outside this way or inside this way boom I throw the weapon this way. So that's what we throw the weapon strike. It doesn't really go anywhere else It's kind of meant to go there So it's like Vader and you're right to the throat this way we have a technique called a palm strike People call it a palm heel strike as well using the muscles of the palm this way hit right to the nose You get to the midsection hit to the groin when we do these strikes faces here Solar plexus is sideways and growing it up same thing with spearhead spearhead here spearhead here spearhead here So it changes up at every level just a contour and aligned to the where the body's Allowing us to strike to obviously if I go like this, this is how you make a Venetian blind But this way it's not gonna work for the eyes unless someone's you know turned sideways It's something like that which and they're going what are you doing put my poker eyes up then it would work So I'd probably have to ask them a really peculiar question for that to work So we also have rich hands when we use our rich hand we take our thumb and we're tucking it in We're using the ridge of our hand here rich hand is gonna go to the temple We could throw it to the throat or the neck we could throw it to the bridge of the nose to the ribs It's very universal strike rich hands are really good when it goes everywhere we use it in sparring Grandmaster Pat Johnson once broke somebody's nose with a rich hand in a parking lot once because he was getting into a Competition over a parking space so he threw that rich and it hit right in the bridges It doesn't broke the guy's nose so rich hands are very great strike to use a little history fact for you We use chops so we have chops We have an inverted version and the regular version we use the chop to strike to the neck We use is the temple the same way the rich hand would be it's just the rich hand is the top where the thumb is and the chop Would be where the pinky is so we're using our chop single-handedly or we can reinforce them using with two hands We do is the chop low with them to we have an inverted version of that chop as well to where it doesn't only go straight We flip it around this way so we're striking this way to the temple this way to the bridge of the nose This way to the body we use the inverted chop that way as well and the last strike that we have is called a bottom Fist we have a standalone bottom fist We're hitting with the bottom or fist we use it down which we call a hammer fist bottom fist same kind of thing We go to a turning version of it So if I'm turning this way it's turning bottom fist right here what it is Is I'm taking the fist four fingers thumb across and making a tight fist hitting with a bottom muscle right here striking to the Body striking to the temple striking in the face the groin because it inverted as well striking the groin this way Single-hand across use it with a turn use with a jump is very universal a lot of our techniques are The basis of them are simple one Two three, but we also use them with different movements steps turns drops jumps lunges things like that And every time we do our strikes We're always using two hands a striking hand and a pulling hand and a blocking hand and a pulling hand and allows This to get a nice balance in the shoulders, which gives us a little more power They have a push and pull motion which balances us out so it gives us a lot more control over our body to throw faster Throw harder and have a better result. So those are intermediate strikes that we have so what do you think sensei? Are they similar are they different your thoughts? I'll wait Awesome stuff sensei. So there's a lot to look at here many similarities and plenty of differences as well Let's start off with that reverse punch We use it in almost the exact same way and we also sometimes call it the straight punch Now we have the same methods of execution with the snapping and the thrusting Ed Parker The founder of American Kempo karate had a lot of boxing experience So you'll often find some of those influences and concepts in the system now in our punches Our general rule is the front hand is closest to the target and can snap out and back quicker than the rear hand So we use the reverse punch as a quick jab We'll then use the rear hand for more of a power strike such as a cross punch So forehand is good for speed and jabbing set up and the rear hand is for power Now I would like to bring up a punch that we use very often And it can be used many times to replace reverse punch in many situations and that's the vertical punch So essentially we'll take the reverse punch and we'll turn the hand vertically And we will use this instead and it helps us in stabilizing the strike and the wrist when you're punching up above the shoulders I personally like this technique. It's very powerful and it's also one of my favorites It's got a lot of power behind it. Now the spear hand also exists in Kempo very much in the same way and talks to do as you Demonstrated it We've got the high the middle and the low and we even have an inverted spear that kind of you know Kind of digs in under the ribs a little bit And if you get good enough you can grab the rib snap it off and stab them with it Just kidding or am I now? We don't really have the web hand to the throat However, I am seeing that in judo and jujitsu techniques with a lot of takedowns But that's not really something we have in Kempo and Kempo instead most of our throat strikes are typically Chops or half fists that we form with the hand so that we can kind of fit the target and the throat is such a soft target It doesn't take much force to damage it at all now the palm strike or palm heel strike is a staple in American Kempo We use this one a lot as there's a lot of great applications for the face We often use it as a chin strike when it stretches them back and if we're really good We can dig the fingers into the ice We also can use it raining down as a palm strike kind of clawing the face as we go We sometimes also use the palm strike as a quick side side strike to the jaw or the temple That one could be pretty devastating as well. So quick snapping strike Now we have the same palm heel strikes to the ribs and underhand as well and following the same finger alignment that you Demonstrated fingers up for the face so that we can dig into the eyes Fingers to the side for body strikes just in case if they bend over you don't want to buckle them against your fingers injuring yourself And low strikes to the groin so we can as you say Lorraine the Bob at them We also have a variation in which we deliver a rear palm strike to the groin And we can grab and either tug upwards or we can step forward with a motion that I like to refer to as tearing off A paper towel now the rich hand strike we do learn but it's not used often It is great for sparring though And it's awesome for the facial strikes as you demonstrated it and it also fits very well We will use it sometimes as a lifting groin strike Although for our body shots we typically opt for a more of a driving forearm strike Which has a similar execution but applies full backup mass into the strike our chops when we use them They're mainly to the neckline for the crotted artery We have the outward chop which is a deep sinking hammering strike And then we have the inward chop which is more of a whip like strike now the bottom fist is what we call our hammer fist This is another Kempo foundational strike our inner blocks are treated as hammering strikes. We strike the arm We often apply them with foot maneuvers to shuffle and hammer across the face turning the head So from side shot we kind of go across the face turn the head a little bit We also can use this as a dropping strike to their nose So say they grab and pull us we can step forward and drop that hammering strike right there at the bridge of the nose It's also good for like body shots So if we get in a position where we can get behind them maybe we pull them back off balance we do a lot of shots to the chest or dropping shots to the collarbone and Also, what you'll see a lot of times is our shots to the groin that he dropping hammer fist to the groin Usually is accompanied by a leg bugle will drop and get the hammer fist right in there One of our one of my favorite shots who is really effective You just drop and snap that hammer fist right to the groin now as far as our movements when stepping with our punches again We take a little bit more of a box's approach with jabs crosses and hooks We'll often add crossover foot maneuvers or Shuffles when we need to control distance and we put body body mass behind the strikes But we don't usually step through and hold strikes We don't usually do a lot of side strikes that you see in a lot of traditional martial arts We take more of a box's approach in our upper body strikes Now we also have a few other strikes in Kempo that you didn't mention and I'm really curious to know if you have them as Well, we apply the back fist a lot or a back knuckle strike And then we can either do it to the face with kind of like a whip-like motion or with a rotational strike to the abdomen So that's one of my favorites as well, and it's very effective strike We also have a lot of emphasis on elbow strikes to the face to the body shots We also have that vertical punch I mentioned before and that vertical punch can also be kind of inverted to like more of a uppercut type strike to the body and As far as close range strikes, we have a whole slew of what we call insert strikes And this includes everything from eye hooks and gouges pinches even bites Elbows wherever you can insert them when you have an opportunity you get a strike in there One of my instructors always had this term that if we're gonna put our hand out So if we're gonna do a palm heel strike or a punch hand comes out We're gonna grab pinch rip whatever we're gonna pull something back with it It's really fascinating to me that even though we each have two hands two feet Most of the system share a lot of the same basic movements But it's really cool to explore the different ways of thinking and execution We all take different paths to get to the same destination Thank you so much for sharing sensei and everybody Please be sure to go to his channel right now and watch the other half of this episode in which I go into the Kempel strikes in more depth And since the Ichi analyzes them the link is below in the description and above so please go check out his awesome martial arts channel Thank you so much for watching We've got one more of these left and it's gonna be comparing the basic kicks between Tonksudo and Kempel And if you haven't already please subscribe and go to since the Ichi's channel and subscribe there Click on the bell icon so you'll be alerted when this new episode drops. Thank you so much