Shuto Uchi
手刀打ち
Literally: knife-hand strike
Also known as: Knife-hand strike, Knifehand strike
A chopping, arcing strike with the little-finger edge of the open hand to the neck, temple or nose bridge; in Shotokan it is in four kata.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Shuto uchi (手刀打ち), in English knife-hand strike, is a strike with the open hand's outer edge, from little finger to wrist, delivered in a chopping arc, aimed at sensitive spots such as the neck with the carotid artery, the temple or the nose bridge. The hand is raised, fingers held tightly together, wrist firm; the strike arcs horizontally, diagonally or downward, landing with the palm's little-finger edge. In the Shotokan kata (JKA numbering) it appears in four: Kanku Dai's 16th, 19th, 21st, 24th and 36th movement, Heian Yondan's 11a, Heian Godan's 21a and 23a, and Bassai Dai's 25a.