Empi Uchi
猿臂打ち
Literally: “monkey arm” (elbow) strike
Also known as: Enpi uchi, Hiji ate, 肘打ち
An elbow strike for close combat to the face or torso; Shotokan drills it in four directions – upward, backward, in an arc and to the side.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Empi uchi is an elbow strike. The Japan Karatedo Federation lists empi (猿臂), literally long arm like a monkey's, describing it as a close-combat elbow technique aimed vertically at the face or horizontally at the opponent's torso. The character 肘 for elbow is usually read hiji, but the older reading empi became fixed in strike names; hence the spelling 肘打ち and the parallel name hiji ate. Shotokan uses four directions. Age empi rises vertically to the chin, jaw or solar plexus. Ushiro empi aims backward at an opponent behind or someone gripping the practitioner from behind. Mawashi empi swings the elbow in a horizontal arc at the temple, jaw or floating ribs, powered by hip and torso rotation. Yoko empi strikes straight sideways. The striking hand stays clenched in a fist. In the kata Enpi, the right elbow strikes the left palm as the fifteenth move; the kata's name, flight of the swallow, has nothing to do with the elbow strike. Elbow strikes are also trained outside karate, in judo katas, jujutsu, aikido and kobudo.