Knifehand strike

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Knifehand strike
Chinese name
Chinese	手刀
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shǒudāo Wade–Giles Shou3-tao1 IPA [ʂòʊtáʊ]
Korean name
Hangul	손날목치기
Transcriptions Revised Romanization sonnal mokchigi McCune–Reischauer sonnal mokch'iki
Japanese name
Kanji	手刀打ち
Hiragana	しゅとううち
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn shutō-uchi Kunrei-shiki syutô-uti

In martial arts, a knifehand strike is a strike using the part of the hand opposite the thumb (from the little finger to the wrist), familiar to many people as a karate chop (in Japanese, shutō-uchi).^[1][2] Suitable targets for the knifehand strike include the carotid sinus at the base of the neck (which can cause unconsciousness),^[3] mastoid muscles of the neck, the jugular, the throat, the collar bones, ribs, sides of the head, temple, jaw, the third vertebra (key stone of the spinal column), the upper arm, the wrist (knifehand block), the elbow (outside knifehand block), and the knee cap (leg throw).^[4]

In many Japanese, Korean, and Chinese styles, the knifehand is used to block as well as to strike.