Open hand guard

[Headhunter]

So this isn't me critisising it's simply me asking but sometimes you see certain styles have their hands open in a guard position in their fighting stance. I was wondering what the advantages of that are. Personally I wouldn't be confident enough to risk it as if you catch a full power kick on your hand with that it could break the fingers but I don't know I'd just like to know opinions

 

[drop bear]

John jones pulls it off. Buylt yeah I tend to avoid it to keep the flanges protected.

 

[Buka]

I keep my hands open and loose. (cupped) Got it from boxing. I slap block more than hard block. Not saying it's for everybody, but it's what most of my guys do. Yes, there is a danger of breaking fingers. I've broken two of them in forty years. (and ten million toes) All of my instructors in Martial Arts blocked that same way. But I didn't really get it from them.

Again, it's an option. But one that really hasn't failed me yet.

 

[Headhunter]

I keep my hands open and loose. (cupped) Got it from boxing. I slap block more than hard block. Not saying it's for everybody, but it's what most of my guys do. Yes, there is a danger of breaking fingers. I've broken two of them in forty years. (and ten million toes) All of my instructors in Martial Arts blocked that same way. But I didn't really get it from them.

Again, it's an option. But one that really hasn't failed me yet.

I know parries are useful and I use them a lot but i mean more like in a ready position in guard but your answer still applies

 

[Midnight-shadow]

When I spar, I have my right hand closed and my left hand open, not sure why. It just feels more comfortable that way.

 

[oaktree]

I keep my hands open because you don't know what is coming, does he have a knife a bat, are we going to clinch is he going to grab me to many variables so I rather have my hands open. Also a finger jab has a longer reach then a closed fist so it does allow me to have an advantage there. From a legal perspective it makes me look like the victim and defensive vs aggressive and attacker to witnesses who will give the police that detail along with my verbal I don't want to fight.

 

[CB Jones]

I keep my hands open and loose. (cupped) Got it from boxing. I slap block more than hard block.

Same.

Seems like letting my hands remain open and loose helps me keep from tightening up in my arms and shoulders. Being loose and not so rigid feels like it allows me to move, strike, and defend quicker plus it conserves energy.

 

[Danny T]

Advantages and disadvantages as in all things
Open hand covers more area but does expose the fingers and when covering the side of the head even with the hand cupped there is the possibility of a the cupping palm being slammed into the ear if just a bit too relaxed thereby causing a rupture of the ear drum. (same can happen with a slap to the ear by the opponent or even with a gloved punch directly on the ear)

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I tend to keep my hands in a loose fist which I can open when parrying and grabbing or clench tighter when delivering a punch.

However, I do have a congenital malformation of my hands (missing metacarpal on my left hand, fused metacarpals in my right hand) which makes it anatomically impossible to keep my fingers together if my hands are too far open. This give me extra incentive to not open my hands up unnecessarily.

I did break a finger tip once while using an open hand parry during sparring. I actually didn't realize it was broken until the swelling went down and I discovered it was now slightly crooked. Hasn't caused me any problems since, but I'm now more careful leaving my hands open.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

So this isn't me critisising it's simply me asking but sometimes you see certain styles have their hands open in a guard position in their fighting stance. I was wondering what the advantages of that are. Personally I wouldn't be confident enough to risk it as if you catch a full power kick on your hand with that it could break the fingers but I don't know I'd just like to know opinions

It is a valid question. And I have made the mistake of trying to stop a front snap kick with an open hand at a tournament. Had to drive home from Indianapolis to Detroit with one hand, the other cupped in my lap and me nearly crying with every bump I hit along the way. Major suckage.

However, open hand blocks have their place. You have to learn when to use it and when not to (as I did, preferably not the hard way as I did).

There are advantages and disadvantages to open and closed hand blocks. Open hand blocks, properly done, allow you to do things like grasp and pull.

As I'm sure many will tell you, a block can be a strike and a strike can be a block. In addition to that, not all blocks are 'hard blocks' in the sense of slamming with power into an oncoming strike; they can be deflections, parries, redirections, and a variety of other things; open hands can be very useful for that kind of thing.

I don't always use open hands, nor do I always use closed fists. I change as I perceive circumstances advantage one over the other. The one thing I try not to do anymore is stop a front snap kick with an open hand. Ouch.

 

[marques]

So this isn't me critisising it's simply me asking but sometimes you see certain styles have their hands open in a guard position in their fighting stance. I was wondering what the advantages of that are. Personally I wouldn't be confident enough to risk it as if you catch a full power kick on your hand with that it could break the fingers but I don't know I'd just like to know opinions

I tend to have hands slightly closed, specially the lead hand, both relaxed.

But it is easy to understand that open hands favours grappling styles and to some extent hybrid styles. Then some (ungloved) styles strike with open hands.

I don't fear kicks on fingers since I never had trouble with that. Have time to see them and change hands position. But I do fear a volunteer fingers lock. Once, I was even catched by my little cousin... Deflecting punches with palms facing outwards is also risky in my opinion.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Hands open or closed is based on the techniques that I hope to pull from at the time. I like to get a head start on my techniques. The time that it takes to open or close a hand is long enough to effect one's ability to pull off a technique. There's no solid "one way or the other" rule for me. If I'm in a fight then I'm already at risk for being injured so having the hands open or closed is just part of that risk. The only way to minimize that risk is to train the open and closed hand techniques for the same attack. For example, my closed hand technique for dealing with a snap kick are 2 different things. If my hand are open then I use open hand defense A. If my hands are closed then I use closed hand defense B. If i think I can close my hands in time to deal with the the kick then I will take that route.

 

[JP3]

I used to keep one hand more open than the other back in the all-striking days, now I have my ahnds open nearly all the time, same exact reasons as OakTree said.

That both hands up, palms out in front of you (elbows bent() position, combined with "Hey, man... I'm not here wanting any trouble" thing is both a positive thing for onlookers to hear, as well as being almost exactly the same body position as my old Thai-boxing stance. And if they just rush, the hands drop into push easily, and I redirect them or I bounce back and away. It works. I have had the fingers on my right hand screwed up a couple of times. Thumb, middle and pinky fingers dislocated, but nothing broken in the hands yet.