One plausible answer for the Oyata light touch KO’s

 

 

Now I have never trained with Seiyu Oyata. But he was the first to demonstrate the finger tip light strike to KO an opponent. For example while not an Oyata student, George Dillman spent some time with him, then began doing his version of the same.

  

If you search YouTube you can find many video example of Oyata demonstrating this technique. This began about 1984 when Dillman first saw Oyata doing this technique.

 

In 1985 Ernie Rothrock saw Dillman demonstrate this on one of his students at a demo, and the next week he told me he kept doing the same (with no success) to his senior students multiple times.

 

 At that time I just filed this away as something of interest.

Then in 1995 I attended my first clinic with Sherman Harrill at Garry Gerossie’s school and observed something very close to this demonstrated by Sherman. He was showing a method of striking into the arm with either 1 or 2 bent knuckles. After watching how each strike obtained a different effect, my mind started working.

 

Later I approached Sherman and asked if it could be done into the neck (perhaps similar to what Oyata did. So Sherman showed how striking with the bent knuckles into the side of the throat would deliver a powerful strike The observer would only see the two straight fingers and not the bent knuckles delivering the strike.

 

Now I never experimented striking into my students neck’s to KO them, but I saw the similarities to what Oyata showed.

 

It likely is not the same as Oyata Sensei did, but close enough IMO.

 

Later on further reflection I realized that I was shown this hand position in 1980 when I began studying Tai Chi Chaun. It was identical to the Tai Chi Hidden Hand used in my Tai Chi Straight Sword form. I really just learn the form not applications for those moves.

 

The Hidden Sword is used for the  reciprocal hand from the one holding the sword. I worked out that the hand could be used for a finger jap to the eyes of the throat. I did not see this striking potential.

 

The first clinic I attended with Harrill Sensei at Garry Gerossie’s group had Harrill Sensei showing how to use the lead finger to slide a strike into the arm with the inner bent knuckles (striking into the radial nerve, and also using a 2 finger guide strike into the median nerve of the arm. This was a stand-alone technique, not showing its kata relevance. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDh1W81QO4g

 

The same technique really was the Tai Chi Sword ‘secret sword’ strike and I discussed with Harrill Sensei’s direction how it could be used for the finger strike to the throat KO of Oyata, where you’re actually striking with the bent knuckles, but the observer doesn’t see that.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLTPtQ40Qoc&t=1s

1.      Reviewing my notes I came to see this is a great way to use stacking both hands for the strike.  Such as in Seisan Kata, the left hand parries and grabs to pull in. The right hand can use the straght finger strike to guide the bent finger strikes into the arm (to cause pain) and then set up the backfist strike, which really works using the closed fist little knuckle strike into the throat.

 

2.      That same Oyata article showed him striking to the face of an opponent with the same index finger extended strike (or perhaps extended first 2 fingers). The strike looks like its descending into the sinus cavities, and it is possible that the knuckles are the actual striking area. (from my perspective).

 

 https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2021/03/crafting-class-shotokan-july-2nd-2005.html

 

 Don asked a question about the tai chi ‘hidden sword’ with the empty hand and that led to a discussion about Oyata and Dillman’s finger tip neck KO’s, how I worked it out from my first Sherman Harrill clinic (it being the use of the hidden bent ring and little finger knuckles) and then explained how the KO worked and why not to practice it on each other, rather arming them with the knowledge why they didn’t want somebody to strike their necks.