think elbows and knees are very powerful and can be quite devastating. For self-defense purposes, i think it would be good to practice both as well as defence against.
Both are obviously more suited to infighting. lifting ones knee can be risky especially around a grappler. Elbows are quite deceptive and if trained well, can smash boards or bones.
there are countless possiblilties for combat, i would not ignore anything. One should even include hipstrikes, shoulderrams or headbutts-
one should be able to hit most any area and find a suitable target. even the forarm can be used to strike, for example, providing the target is not too tough- forarm to the face/head could be sufficient to stun or knockout, but to another place could even injure ones own forarm or simply not really affect the enemy.
it kind of seems to me that some people are having troubles with the ideas of combat vs. the particular martial art practices.
because i can see why such strikes are not allowed in certain matches and competitions. i would not try to force something into 'my martial art' if it is not there in the first place. either i would try to quietly integrate it, or i would leave the paradigm of my art and take a look at other arts.
for example, if i were a boxer that thought suddenly that i needed kicks. i would not just try to practice on my own or try to kick the same like i throw punches... i would rather checkout those who can really kick well, such as taekwondo, shaolin or karate, and learn from them.
every art will have something special to offer. i would want to focus on that.
i would never really think something like 'my almighty martial art'- its only the martial art(s) that i have had contact with-.
however, if the forms clearly show elbows and knees, i can see why one would wonder why they are not taught properly-.
