6 Headbutt Techniques for Striking Vital Targets

December 11, 2014 by Sang H. Kim

Headbutting is illegal in most sports competitions, but in a self-defense situation, when your hands are tied up or you are in a clinch, your head may be the only weapon you can use.

The head is a vulnerable target, yet a dangerous weapon in fight.

A headbutt causes visceral pain that can instantly unlock a grip, make inroads, knock out, or change the tide of a confrontation. It shocks the inside of the brain. It doesn’t discriminate on size. It can incapacitate the body. Let’s take a look at why it works, where to strike, and how to do it. This blog is adapted from ‘Vital Point Strikes: The Art and Science of Vital Target Striking for Self-defense & Combat Sports‘.

Why Headbutt

As a weapon, the head is better used for thinking than for striking, however when you have no other options, a headbutt can be a lifesaving technique. The element of surprise is critical to headbutting. Generally, the headbutt is a technique that you can use once in a fight, so if you choose to use it, make it count.

How To Headbutt

From a natural stance, tuck your chin down, clench your teeth, and stiffen the neck muscles. Aim and snap your head toward the target. For more power, use your body weight. Keep your eyes on your opponent at all times. Because of the sensitive nature of the brain, which can be damaged by repeated impact, practicing headbutting is not recommended.

CAUTION: Begin to practice finding the spots on your face with your hands by gently pressing and monitor the effects carefully. Be aware that a vital point strike can render a person unconscious, paralyze some parts of the body and even cause death. Never practice full power or full pressure strikes on a partner and always use common sense when practicing.

Major Targets

1. Cheek Bone-Orifice (ST03, the yellow dot in the photo below right); 2. Nose (GV25, the white dot); 3. Eyebrow (EX-HN4, the blue dot); 4. Upper Middle Mandibular joint (ST07, the red dot); 5. Temple area (EX-HN5, the green dot); 6. Solar Plexus (CV15, not shown in the photo).

Abbreviation: ST=Stomach Meridian; GV=Governing Vessel Meridian; EX-HN=Extra Head & Neck Point; CV=Conception Meridian.

Junsado Vital Point Strikes by Sang H. Kim

The face is rich with glands, plexus of nerve bundles, and nerve branches that are directly connected with the central nervous system in the brain and the vagus nerves in the stomach.

Scenario 1

Straight headbutt to the Cheek Bone-Orifice (ST03) not only shocks the nerves in the brain but also the sensory receptors in the stomach, causing nausea and disorientation.

Straight headbutt to the Cheek Bone (ST03, the Great Bone-Orifice)

Scenario 2

A headbutt to the nose (GV25) shocks the brain through the external nasal nerve, the branch of the trigeminal nerve, causing excruciating pain, and can seriously damage the assailant’s nose and mouth.

A headbutt to the nose (GV25) drastically intensifies the sensory signals to the brain via the nasal nerve, causing pain and confusion.

Scenario 3

Rather than striking a concussive blow, use your head to push on the Eyebrow (EX-HN4) and force the opponent to move away from you. Or snap with the strong side of your forehead on the ridge at the top of the eye socket.

Headbutt to the Eyebrow (EX-HN4) can cause cuts that will bleed profusely, obstructing the assailant’s vision.

Scenario 4

The mandibular joint is a key facial structure for chewing and speaking. It also plays a critical role in counterbalancing the head and neck. Striking the upper inner mandibular joint (ST07) not only causes pain that spreads over the head and face (there is a huge membrane called the Parotid gland surrounded by three branches of facial nerves underneath) but also diminishes the sense of balance.

Headbutt to the upper inner mandibular joint (ST07) causes pain and numbness and imbalance.

Scenario 5

While pressing the middle of the forearm (LI11, Pool at the Bend) with your thumb and striking the groin with your left hammer fist, deliver a headbutt to the Temple area (GB4-8, the V-shaped area packed with vital targets) to shock the opponent into releasing his grip. (Abbreviation: LI=Large Intestine Meridian)

The temple area is rich with nerves (GB4-8). When you strike the opponent’s groin with your hammer fist and bend your torso sharply forward, his head naturally drops forward. To avoid striking his nose on the back of your head, he will turn his head to the side, and you can strike his temple with the rear top corner of your head.

Scenario 6

When there is a sudden totally unexpected change in the environment, we have a tendency to inhale. When the opponent grabs your wrist, relax your muscles initially, then suddenly rotate your wrists inward and open the gap. As he inhales, strike the solar plexus (CV15) with your head. A well placed headbutt can stop his breathing.

A headbutt strike to the solar plexus (CV15) or the sternum (CV17) is a classic close-quarter martial skill.

Bottom Line

The head is a vulnerable target and thus a headbutt is dangerous to use in fighting. However, due to the hardness of the skull, when applied correctly, a headbutt is a powerful technique that may stop an aggressive opponent in a desperate situation. The key is to close the distance and to use the hard part of the forehead to strike a soft target such as the nose or temple.

How To Maximize the Potential of Your Joints in Ground Fighting

September 12, 2014 by Sang H. Kim

Your initial response is the key to success in ground fighting. Your first move sets the tone of the fight. It affects what techniques follow and eventually who dominates. Many of the Junsado responses to being pinned or immobilized on the ground rely on your initial movement as a defender.

For example, when you make your body smaller or draw your limbs into your center, you not only control your body better and conserve energy, but also make yourself less vulnerable by reducing the number of exposed vital targets. As a defender, particularly on the ground, it is critical to draw your knee and elbow closer together toward the center of your body to protect yourself, collect your inner force, and strike powerfully when needed. Bending the large joints and drawing the limbs in toward the center of the body creates three potential advantages: control, range of motion and twisting force.

Control

On the ground, keeping your arms bent and close to your body increases your control and reduces the opportunities for your opponent to control you. For example, if you keep your arm straight, your opponent will likely try to lock it or break it (1). When you keep your arms bent, with your elbows close to your body, you not only defend against an arm lock, you put yourself in a strong position for twisting, pulling, pushing, or resisting (2). From this position, you can put your entire body weight into your techniques by using your legs and torso to initiate and follow through without losing control of your body as well as the situation (3).

Range of Motion

The greater the range of the motion in an arm or leg, the greater force you generate. By bending your knees or elbows, you put yourself in a good starting position for a strike, kick, push or thrusting movement. Bent joints store potential power. For example, when you are flat on your back with your legs outstretched, it is impossible to lift your body more than a few inches off the ground. But if you bend your knee, drawing your foot close to your hip and planting your foot on the ground, you are in a position to powerfully push off the ground and thrust your hip and torso upward. The same is true of your arms. By drawing your arms in close to your torso with your elbows bent, you create the possibility of striking or pushing the opponent over a greater range of motion than if your arms were already partially extended.

Twisting Force

When escaping from a lock, pin or hold, a twisting movement is generally easier to apply than a straight line movement. The same is true of takedowns; it is usually easier to take an opponent down by rotating your own body and whipping the opponent around it than by throwing him straight down. When a takedown utilizes a torquing action, it mitigates the resistance of the major muscles and joints of the opponent’s body and allows you to take him down with less work. In grappling against a bear hug for example, if you try to escape by going straight down or directly forward, it is nearly impossible to be successful, especially when the opponent is stronger than you are.

However, if you lower your body while twisting downward at a fifteen-degree angle, you have a better chance of escaping. By doing so, you create more sensory demands for your opponent to process, increasing his distraction and your control. More importantly, the twisting action often creates a throw or takedown in the direction of his blind spot because the twisting motion produces an angular or diagonal movement trajectory. Taken together, a twisting motion can provide you with pivotal advantages to maximize your potential while mitigating the opponent’s strength.

Forging Force

In wrestling against a bigger opponent or untangling a lock on a vulnerable body part, such as the neck, it is useful to use your entire body as leverage. For example, as your opponent chokes your neck with his right arm from the front, it is hard to escape using your hands alone. In this case, you can forge his arm to your body by pulling it down against your upper chest and then twist your torso to manipulate his arm. Since your torso has greater weight behind it, you can generate greater impact on the joint of his arm when you rotate your entire body.

This article is an excerpt from Junsado Fundamentals, Standing and Ground Combat.

Junsado Fundamentals, Standing and Ground Combat ($5.99, over 650 full color photos) is available exclusively in e-book format for Kindle (Amazon.com).

Using the Head-Pelvis Axis to Increase Your Power

June 17, 2014 by Sang H. Kim

There are five movement principles in Junsado to help you maximize the speed and power of your fighting skills. These principles also provide points of evaluation to help you assess your performance, providing critical feedback to measure the fidelity of your movement and to determine what you can eliminate. Below is the first of the five Junsado movement principles:

Head-Pelvis Axis

For fighting purposes, the body can be divided into three regions: the head/torso region, the legs and the arms. Each of the regions has both major and minor parts. The hands and feet are the minor parts of their respective regions, while the legs and arms are the major parts. The same is true of the head (minor part) and the torso (major part). Together, however, the head and torso make up the most important power source in the body.

Correct alignment of your head and pelvis is central to containing and mobilizing the force waiting to be unleashed from your body.

Mechanically, the head and torso work together as the axis of power when we move. Imagine a line running from the center of your pelvis to the crown of your head. You can generate significant force in every technique along this axis. Your legs support the axis while transmitting force up from the ground through the upper body. Your arms and hands are the tools that deliver the force via the axis; your chin and forehead stabilize your posture.

The head-pelvis axis (HPA) runs through the center of the body (the red bar). The HPA is supported and controlled by the lower limbs (the white bars). Jointly, they augment the force of the arms and head (the black bars).

In twisting, the head-pelvis axis drives the arms for striking or grappling. Rotating your entire body along the head-pelvis substantially adds more force than simply striking or pulling with your arms. When moving forward or backward, the head-pelvis axis is the root of power in both pulling and pushing. The head-pelvis axis unites the power of your legs with the weight of your entire body, allowing you to move a much heavier opponent than you could by pulling or pushing with only your arms.

The key to applying the power of the head-pelvis axis is controlling the alignment of your head and torso.

To find the correct alignment, stand in fighting stance with your chin tucked slightly down so that the crown of your head is aligned with the center of your pelvic floor. Your spine should be neither upright nor hunched. Tilt your upper body slightly forward while relaxing your shoulders, keep both knees bent, and poise your body as if you are about to take off running. This creates a dynamic stance, in which your body is ready to be unleashed.

A properly-formed head-pelvis axis enables you to better control the speed and power in your techniques, delivering maximum impact to your opponent, by helping you contain the intrinsic potential power of the torso. Proper alignment of your body, therefore, is the key to establishing your physical center, creating a balanced foundation from which to launch your techniques.

You also gain economy of motion because you can employ long- or short-range attacks without changing your stance or using additional preparatory techniques. You simply shift your weight to the back and front to attack or defend as needed, without breaking the balance and force structure of your current posture.

This natural containment of your power not only makes you stronger but also reduces telegraphing when initiating techniques. Most importantly, when you have a strong head-pelvis axis, you project an image of discipline, strength and confidence that intimidates opponents even before the fight begins.

Practical Applications of Head-Pelvis Axis

Rotating your entire body along the head-pelvis adds substantially more force than simply striking or pulling with your arms.

Tilt your upper body slightly forward while relaxing your shoulders, as if your body is ready to be unleashed.

A properly-formed head-pelvis axis enables you to better control the speed and power in your techniques, delivering maximum impact to your opponent.