Shoken
小拳
Literally: small fist
A strike with the extended knuckle of the index finger, typical of Uechi-ryu; aimed at soft targets such as the throat, neck or armpit.
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Shoken (小拳), literally "small fist," is a strike delivered with a single knuckle. The fist closes much as for the ordinary seiken strike, except the index finger extends forward and braces against the thumb, concentrating the force on a very small surface. The technique is one of the main weapons of Uechi-ryu. Among his style's animal-based techniques, Kanbun Uechi favoured the more demanding and effective ones, and shoken was one of them. It is trained in the supplementary hojo undo exercises and appears in every kata except Sanchin, and is nicknamed the tiger's tooth, since the strike is likened to a tiger's bite. Shoken is used only against soft targets and pressure points: throat, neck, solar plexus, armpit, ribs, arms and legs. The related boshiken strikes with the thumb knuckle; both hand shapes are trained together with the hiraken.