The ridgehand

Folks,

Now I feel the need to speak on a certain technique. Wait for it...........Yup the ridgehand. It is a technique that does NOT get the respect that it deserves at all. Mainly because a lot of folks suck at using it. They usually suck at using it because they dont practice it. Or maybe they just suck at practicing it. Either way, it is VASTLY under-rated and under-used.

In the good old days of karate, the ridgehand was used to deliver some serious mid and long ranged bombs. I cannot lie, I often wondered where the bell noise was coming from after receiving a good old ridgehand from my pops. The horrible thing was that he thought it was funny so he felt free and clear just to clobber me with it as the mood arose. Thanks dad!!

But in all of the ridgehand style seperations from my senses, I learned something important. Two things really. The first was" Dang that hurts!" The second was that most people are WIDE open to being ridgehanded. To avoid a good ridgehand usually requires to things. The first is good footwork, which is practically non-existent in today's martial arts. The second is head movment which also is going the way of the dodo. I was watching some karate matches from Japan recently, and was suprised to see someone speaking to the sandman after receiving ridgehand. It just made me all soft inside. I might even have gotten misty.

Even in mixed martial arts the opportunity abounds for ridgehands. Fedor just put Andrei Arlovski to sleep with a overhand right. Had Fedor trained in Traditional striking arts, he could have landed the same blow from farther out and clearly out of the way of the knee that Andrei was attemping to throw. So long story longer, when you are doing your bagwork and sparring, dont forget the old ridgehand.