First, the head
In the animal world on all fours, we often see scenes where the two sides wrestle with their heads, because the forehead of the head is a good offensive weapon. As human beings, who have been out of the treacherous fighting environment for a long time, they often forget or ignore this important weapon.
In Shaolin martial arts, there are many offensive moves that use the head as a weapon.
For example, before the two sides begin to quarrel and before the attack begins, the enemy will often grab our wrists and shove them (Figure 1). At this point, we can preemptively separate the enemy’s arms with the captured hands, and at the same time insert our right foot forward between the enemy’s legs, press the ground with both legs, and force the upper body upwards to hit the enemy’s nose bridge and the triangular area of the face with the forehead of our head (Figure 2).
The hardness of the forehead is much higher than the hardness of the cartilage and small bones of the bridge of the nose and the weak skin around the eyes, so this headhit will definitely make the enemy face full of nosebleeds, blurred eyes and fighting spirit.
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Second, the shoulder
The outside of the shoulder of the human body is wrapped in rich deltoid muscle, which has a good self-protection function. In boxing, fighters often block their opponent’s straight punches with their shoulders.
The shoulder is not only a good defensive weapon, but also a good offensive weapon, especially in hand-to-hand combat. There are many classic shoulder bump moves in China’s famous Bajiquan, and Shaolin is no exception.
For example, in Figure 2, after hitting the enemy’s front with the forehead of our head, we can twist to the left and hit the enemy’s chest with our right shoulder to deliver continuous strikes (Figure 3).
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Third, the back
In stand-up fighting, the back is rare as an offensive weapon. However, if the enemy is holding us from behind and with both our arms and trying to perform a wrestling technique, we can use our back and the back of our head to slam into the weak triangle of the enemy’s eyes and nose, or hit the enemy’s chest with our back alone (Figure 4).
With this continuous attack, and stretching your arms outward with force, you can generally be freed.
4. Elbow
The elbow is a highly frequently used offensive weapon in hand-to-hand combat, and there is a saying in martial arts that “the elbow is like a knife”. It can be seen that the elbow attack is powerful. In actual combat, it is often the hardest elbow bone to attack the weakest part of the enemy.
For example, when the enemy lunged at me and attacked our head with a twin-peaked ear throw. We can then turn to the right and squat on horseback to dodge the enemy’s two-fist attack, while spreading our elbows outward forcefully and slamming the enemy’s heart with the tip of our left elbow (Figure 5).
The so-called fossa is the middle depression under the xiphoid process of the sternum (heart bone), where many nerve endings are distributed, and the enemy will lose combat effectiveness if it is hit by the gravity of our elbow.
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5. Wrist
The wrist is often a weapon that many martial artists overlook. In hand-to-hand combat, it is necessary to gain offensive and defensive advantage through positioning.
When fighting the enemy, we can change our wrists to turn ourselves sideways against the enemy, so that the enemy is in a back-to-back position and not easy to attack us, and at the same time force the enemy to expose the air (Figure 6).
This posture can give your side an advantage in the position, reduce the area of the enemy, and form a situation that is easy to attack and easy to defend.
6. Crotch
