How to Punch in Kyokushin Karate: Alignment, Wrist, and Power

Two knuckles, one straight line

The Kyokushin fist, seiken, strikes with the first two knuckles, the ones at the base of the index and middle fingers. In the video I put it simply: “I try to keep the two knuckles in alignment, right up my arm.”

Force travels from those knuckles through the wrist and into the forearm. Keep the line straight and the body’s power arrives at the target. Break it and the power leaks out at the wrist, and the wrist pays for it. Land on the ring and pinky knuckles instead and the smaller bones of the hand take the load.

The fist check: find your natural straight wrist

Over the years I’ve watched people come in holding the wrist every way you can imagine. Bent up, bent down, cocked to one side. Instead of correcting each person a different way, I use one simple test, because we’re all a little different in how our hands sit.

1. Stand relaxed with your hands at your sides.

2. Point your fingers at the floor.

3. Make a fist.

4. Bring the fist straight up into position without changing the angle of the wrist.

Almost everybody comes up with a straight wrist. “It’s just a question of can they keep it.” That is the real work. The wrist you find in this test is the wrist you need at the end of the punch, at speed, against resistance. Check it in a mirror, on the bag, and again when you’re tired.

Elbows in, shoulder turning

For power, I don’t flare. “I’m not a flare guy.” Most of the time I keep the elbows in, look for good shoulder rotation, and make sure the wrists don’t buckle. If you watch my shoulder in the video, the movement is small. A slight rotation, and the two knuckles arrive on target with the body behind them.

The lead side has an advantage. With the lead shoulder already forward, it is easier to rotate and get the knuckles in place, especially on round strikes to the body. The rear side has farther to travel, so the shoulder turn has to be deliberate.

The structure does not change with the target. “If I’m going to your face, it doesn’t change.” Same slight rotation of the body, same knuckles leading, same wrist. Even on a hook, what leads is the two knuckles, not a loose hand swinging around.

Body punches are where people get lazy

Shuffle punches to the body and the rising body punch, shita-tsuki, are easy to throw half-heartedly. The arm pushes, the wrist softens, and you are left with what I call in the video “just a weak punch.” When I am leading for power, I want to drive power, and I watch what is leading: the two knuckles. Wrist in the same position. Structure holding all the way through.

The body punch I think is the best in Kyokushin gets its own breakdown in shita-tsuki and the open-the-drawer drill. Here is the short version.

Watch: Kyokushin Karate’s Best Punch with Shihan Anthony Codispoti of The Phoenix Way dojo

Yes, Kyokushin punches to the head

“The biggest myth in Kyokushin, in my opinion, would be that there’s no strikes to the head, because there are strikes to the head.” Traditional Kyokushin fighting is bare knuckle to the body, and you’ll find plenty of videos with nothing but body shots, leg kicks, and head kicks. But there are progressive Kyokushin schools that punch to the head, and we still practice it.

The reasoning is simple: “It’s easy to punch a face. It’s hard to kick the head.” With gloves and a mouth guard on, we go to the head with control. I answer the rest of that question, including why head kicks are allowed when bare-knuckle face punches aren’t, in Your Kyokushin Questions Answered.

What bare knuckle teaches you

I get a lot of comments from people who have obviously never hit anything bare knuckle. When the gloves come off, there are a lot of variables. “I do not want to hit something that’s going to hurt the hand.” For Kyokushin people, the classic worry on body shots is catching an elbow. So sometimes I’ll go open hand instead of a closed fist, or choose a different target.

Good alignment is not only about power. It is how you keep your hands working for the next round and the next year of training.

Common mistakes

• Bending the wrist up or down on impact.

• Landing with the ring and pinky knuckles.

• Flaring the elbow out for a big, looping shot.

• Throwing the arm with no shoulder turn behind it.

• Letting the structure go soft on body shots and shuffle punches.

The fastest way to catch all of these is honest feedback, which is why I send people to the bag. Read heavy bag training: the bag doesn’t lie for how to grade every rep. We build these fundamentals from the first class in our adult program, where the stand-up is rooted in Kyokushin.