is it easier to knock someone out with a karate chop than with a punch or palm strike?
Yes, “karate chops” are martial arts moves- called a shuto in Japanese or knifehand strike- and like in Austin Powers, they can certainly KO someone. I’ll explain how…
In the side of the neck, there is an area called the carotid sinus around the area of the carotid artery. Its job is to measure and monitor blood pressure. If you hit that carotid sinus correctly- meaning at the right angle, with the right amount of pressure- it will fool the body’s natural method of monitoring itself into thinking the blood pressure just shot up dangerously, and tell the brain to shut down temporarily. In other words, the guy falls unconscious.
This is just as dangerous as KOing someone with a punch, which usually happens due to brain trauma when the head snaps backward suddenly from a blow. ANY time a guy gets KOed it is not a good thing.
Anyway, the question of it being EASIER is… well, not so easy. It does depend on the target of the blow and what the guy happens to be doing at the time you land that blow. If you get an absolutely clear shot at the guy’s temple, you could KO him with almost any decently hard strike- no matter what you use. Same thing for what the old-timers would call “the button”- like he got hit on the button. This would be just to the side of the chin, and again almost any blow with a decent amount of force will KO the guy.
The only real difference between the strikes you are asking about is a GENERAL preference about what is better on striking different body parts. A punch is the most generally effective, but like people have mentioned, unless you are trained there is a good chance you will hurt your own hand as much as you hurt the guy you are hitting. A punch almost anywhere on the head CAN cause unconsciousness. A palm heel strike is very slightly softer of a blow because the palm heel is padded a bit more with muscle and body fat. As such, the blow is softer but you can use it in a closer quarters situation easier. You can also use it against a much harder target- like the top of the guy’s head- without worrying TOO much about hurting yourself. The shuto strike or karate chop spreads the impact of a blow along a much smaller surface, allowing the impact per square inch to be greater. This does cause a lot of damage, but that damage can happen to your hand as much as to the opponent. You generally use a shuto against softer targets like the neck or groin, pressure points like the inside of the thigh, or against joints like the side of the knee or inside of the elbow.
All in all, the absolute easiest KO blows are that Austin Powers/Captain Kirk chop to the side of the neck and a typical Mike Tyson punch to the chin.
Hope this helps…
Sensei Cox
Techniques On How To Punch and Strike Fast “Method One”
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