When it comes to self-defense too many students forget or don't understand the effectiveness of a single blow. In a life-threatening situation, the goal is not to engage in a sparring match with your assailant. The best defense is to strike as hard as you can to the most vulnerable area of the body and flee the scene. Remember, self-defense is about staying alive with minimal injury to oneself. A single blow provides the quickest means to the end of disrupting your assailant's attack so that you can run to a safer place.

This technique in Japanese is called GOKWI or OKUGI. If more then one opponent surrounds you this technique becomes very important. The window of opportunity to subdue each attacker is very small. You cannot fail to deliver the hardest strike to the most vital area of one opponent so that you afford yourself time to work on the others.

A single blow is a very simple technique that you can learn to use in a very short period of time. It is usually combined with a block or a dodge then counterstriking with the single blow. This technique is highly recommended to Law Enforcement and police officers in general but especially for those in narcotic and gang units.

There are two important components to a single blow; the first is power! Now there are a number of components that go into generating maximum power such as strength, flexibility, timing, coordination, and body unity. All of these must be in fine tune for maximum power, but the most overlooked part of power is coordination. The whole body must be used to generate great power into a strike. For instance, many people use only their arm when throwing a punch. However, power is actually derived from the torque of the hips, and the solid connection to the ground of the legs and feet!

The second important part of the single blow is accuracy. Punching an assailant with everything you have in the arm will do little if anything (may just make them angrier). Soft sensitive points must be targeted such as the nose, chin, throat, and groin. Your assailant's knees are also a good target to focus a single blow. If your assailant can't walk, then he can't come after you!

There are all kinds of courses which address building power in your body and the use of the single blow in a variety of situations such as grabs, car jackings, air travel attacks, weapon attacks, and much more. So train your punches, palm strikes, elbows, knees, round kicks, and front kicks for maximum power and accuracy! Learn how to strike hard, do damage, and get away!