Tetsui Uchi
鉄槌打ち
Literally: iron hammer strike
Also known as: Tettsui uchi, Tettsui
A downward strike with the little-finger edge of the clenched fist, swung like a hammer; it targets the head, face or abdomen and also serves as a block.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Tettsui uchi (鉄槌打ち), literally "iron hammer strike," lands with the bottom edge of the fist. The fist closes as for the basic seiken strike, but the blow lands with the outer edge below the little finger. The motion recalls a blow from a hammer or mallet, hence the name. The Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) lists the head, face and abdomen as targets and notes the same part of the hand also blocks. Shotokan distinguishes variants by path: tettsui yoko uchi strikes sideways, tettsui hasami uchi is a scissor strike. We have not been able to document when and where the strike first appeared.