To Punch or Not to Punch, That is the Question!
By George Demetriou
It's not uncommon. Police officer attempts to arrest suspect, suspect violently resists, officer delivers punch to suspect's head. Officer injures hand. Many officers have broken their hands, and most will say injuries are a reality of the job. Maybe, but what if there was an alternative to punching that was safer and more effective?
Actually there is. The palm strike. It's the heel of the palm you make contact with, but it's referred to as a palm strike. To execute a palm strike, its important to have the right hand position. The hand is pulled back as far as possible, locking the wrist and the fingers should be allowed to curl slightly forward. The palm and finger tips should face the target. Contact is made with the very bottom of the palm just before the wrist.
Officer Safety - Palm Strike vs. Fisted Strikes
When knuckles meet skull during a confrontation, the skull will always win. I don't think anyone will argue that former heavyweight Champ Mike Tyson is an accomplished puncher. When Mr. Tyson punched former Heavyweight contender Mitch Green on the head, Tyson's hand broke. Neither man wore gloves for the bout. The fight took place on a Harlem street corner. You can see why boxers pay someone good money to tape their hands.
My question to those in law enforcement is: If men who get paid lots of money to punch people, who train constantly to develop their punches, break their hands in street fights what makes you think it won't happen to you?
Strong hand injuries are the number one arrest-related injury in police work. This will continue as long as defensive tactics are strongly influenced by martial arts (this includes boxing) that emphasize fisted strikes.
"The most common injury occurs when you strike with the last two knuckles. The 5th metacarpal breaks (between the knuckles of the middle finger and pinkie), commonly referred to as a boxer's fracture," states James Prattas, MD of Metropolitan Hospital in NYC. Dr. Prattas, also a martial artist stated, "I can't think of any reason to strike with a fist over using a palm strike."
"A fracture will take 6-8 weeks to heal, while a sprain (tear in ligament) could take up to 6 months to heal. Rehabilitation could take 3-4 months, according to Faye Grant, a Registered Occupational Therapist, from the Hand Therapy Center, in Floral Park, NY.
Police officers who seriously injured their hands during a violent confrontation were asked if they thought they could get a solid grip on their firearms after the injury. The answer was sometimes, "I don't know," but most often just, "No."
"Grip strength comes from the ulnar side (pinky side) of the hand. A boxer's fracture would significantly affect your grip. Try to hold anything with a handle without using your fourth finger," says Stuart Kandel, Orthopedic Surgeon from Bay Shore, NY. "It would be much easier to disarm an officer who received this fracture."
The Medical Doctors, Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists the author interviewed all agreed that with the palm strike done correctly the chances of injuring the hand are slim. "The position of Maximum Boney stability in the hand is the close-pack position which is full extension of the hand. Full extension of the hand is the palm strike position," according to Bill Partridge, Physical Therapist of Nassau/Suffolk Physical Therapy in Syosset, NY.
Taking shooting and/or firearm retention into consideration, the palm strike seems to be the logical choice of strikes.
Another serious health related problem we have to consider is cutting the knuckles on the perpetrator's teeth. Punches are usually directed to the head area including the face. The mouth is something you definitely want to avoid. However the teeth may be struck inadvertently. "Everyone you encounter violently has AIDS, until proven otherwise, humans have the most infectious mouths, once you break skin you are introducing all those germs to your body", says Dr. Prattas. "The heel of the palm making impact with the mouth distributes contact area equally making it difficult to break skin if the teeth are struck. With a punch, one knuckle may hit the teeth, breaking skin easily."
"The skin on the dorsal side (top of the hand) is easily cut because it is very thin. The opposite is true of the skin on the palm," says O.T.R. Faye Grant.
According to Dr. Kandel, "When you open your hand from a fist tendons pull back. If the knuckles are cut when a full taut fist strikes teeth the act of opening the hand pulls bacteria in. Serious infection can set in 24-48 hours later".
Germs do not fester as easily in the fleshy palm of the hand as they do in the knuckles. There have been cases where cuts caused by human teeth on knuckles resulted in the hand being surgically removed to stop the spread of Gangrene.
Effectiveness of Palm Strikes
The palm strike is safe for the officer to use, but it's also quite effective. A palm strike done on a slightly upward angle has a tremendous amount of leverage. One need only to strike a heavy bag suspended from a stand or ceiling to see this. Compare the reactions of the bag when you punch or palm strike. There's a more violent jump in the bag when you palm strike.
Punches have a primary effect on the target struck. A punch to the head will usually affect the area the knuckles made contact with. Palm strikes have a secondary effect. A palm strike to the head won't cause much damage to the contact point, but will have an effect on the neck and usually jars the body. A palm strike done under the chin will often produce a one shot knock-out due to the whip lash effect. A palm strike anywhere to the head area will almost always affect balance, because the strike will take the assailant's ears out of line with his hips. This opens up other parts of the body for combinations or a takedown. The palm strike can be used effectively to the head, body, hip socket and knees. Punches are best used against muscular parts of the body to avoid injury to the puncher. Palm strikes are good to grab off of and make it easier to strike someone with an object in your hand. You never know when you'll get caught having to strike while you are holding your radio and firearm.
Another nice bonus of palm strikes is they don't seem as violent as clenching your fist and striking someone. Having your hands open will make the strike to appear a push to the untrained eye. Palm strikes will go over better than punches on the evening news.
The Fist Reflex
An involuntary discharge experiment conducted by International Defensive Tactics and Research Foundation (I.D.T.) between December 1991 and September 1993 showed that being trained to use your fists may lead to having an involuntary discharge.
Phil Messina, President of Modern WarriorĀ® Defensive Tactics Institute states, "The fist reflex is a response which occurs when an individual psychologically associates making a fist with high stress confrontational situations".
All experiment participants were police officers, male and female with an average time in service of three and one half years. No Modern WarriorĀ® students were permitted to participate. One group struck heavy bags at a minimum of 800 strikes with their fists, the second group struck heavy bags at a minimum of 800 strikes with open hands and the third group just did the final stress simulation. The final simulation consisted of having an officer enter a smoke filled room, where the smoke has an odor and taste, strobe lights are on, the terrain is obstructed and wind is created by the use of high speed fans. All senses are overloaded. Suddenly gunshots go off (on tape) and a figure comes running at the officer waving hands and screaming. The figure runs into the officer unless the officer moves away. This scenarios purpose is to stress out the officer enough to cause an involuntary discharge of the officer's firearm.
Each group had 50 participants. From the fist group there were 18 involuntary discharges. Nine of those officers had their finger off trigger prior to discharge. From the non-fist group there were 3 involuntary discharges, with 2 finger off trigger prior to discharge. From the control group 1 finger off trigger prior to discharge.
"Post Experiment interviews strongly indicated that a high percentage of participants who had involuntary discharges had studied martial arts emphasizing fisted strikes. Boxers were foremost in this category," said Messina.
Based partially on these experiments Modern WarriorĀ® DT Institute has taken all fisted strikes out of their Police Defensive Tactics curriculum and replaced them with palm strikes and other open handed alternatives when counter striking becomes necessary.
Conclusion
Using fisted strikes as the primary hand technique of police defensive tactics training is a perfect example of how sport martial arts influence police training. Many DT Instructors have a boxing or karate background, they teach what they like to do. Defensive tactics has to be based on what law enforcement officers will encounter in the field, not what an instructor encountered in the ring. The primary strike should make sense for police work. The primary hand technique for law enforcement should be the palm strike. - GD
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Involuntary Discharge Experiment
Started December 1991, Ended September 1993
Total Participants - 168
Disqualified - 18
Reasons for disqualification:
1) Firearm remained in holster - 11
2) Hand injuries - 5
3) Equipment failure - 2
Interesting Notes:
1. All eleven subjects who did not draw weapons were N.Y.P.D.
2. All five injuries which caused disqualifications were from the fist group.
Participant Descriptions:
1. Fist group (struck heavy bags with fists for 30 min.)
2. Non-fist group (struck heavy bags with open hands for 30 min.)
3. Control group (just did final stress simulation.)
Final Simulation:
Officer entered an enclosed area to investigate possible man with a gun. As officer enters he finds himself (or herself) in a smoke filled room containing foul smell, pungent taste, strobe lights, high density fans and obstructed floor surface. All senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste) are overloaded. Suddenly gunshots go off and a figure comes running at officer waving hands in air and screaming loudly. Figure runs right into officer if officer cannot evade.
The purpose of this scenario is to create a high stress situation which is likely to cause an involuntary discharge of the officerĀs firearm.
Group Makeup:
(Excluding disqualifications)
1. Fist group - 50 (47 males, 3 females)
2. Non-fist group - 50 (47 males, 3 females)
3. Control group - 50 (46 males, 4 females)
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Average age - 29 years old
Range - 21 to 53 years of age
Average time in service - 3 and one-half years
Range - 1 to 24 years
Time on heavy bags - 30 minutes - in two minute rounds with two minutes on, two minutes off
Average number of strikes - 1500
Range - 800 - 3000
(No Modern Warrior students were permitted to participate.)
Results:
From fist group: (50 subjects)
Involuntary discharges - 18 (17 males and 1 female)
Finger off trigger prior to discharge - 9
From non fist group: (50 subjects)
Involuntary discharges - 3 (all males)
Finger off trigger prior to discharge - 2
From control group: (50 subjects)
Involuntary discharges - 4 (all males)
Finger off trigger prior to discharge - 1
Interesting Notes:
Of the 25 participants who had involuntary discharges almost half (12) had their finger off the trigger just prior to the discharge. This indicates that we cannot assume that an officer had his or her finger on the trigger just because his or her firearm discharged.
Hypothesis:
It appears that under high stress situations where a firearm is likely to be present, involuntary discharges may occur due to a phenomenon we now refer to as the Āfist reflex.Ā The fist reflex is a response which occurs when an individual psychologically associates making a fist with high stress confrontational situations.
Although the fist reflex may be a natural instinct at birth (babies make fists when they cry) it appears in later years this becomes a Āconditioned responseĀ which may be reinforced or possibly minimized through training in later years. Post-experiment interviews strongly indicated that a high percentage of participants who had involuntary discharges had studied martial arts systems which emphasized making a fist while under stress. Boxers were foremost in this category.
Although it appeared that having oneĀs finger off the trigger had little affect on the fist reflex under these test conditions, the authors of this test still highly recommend that officers keep their fingers off their triggers for several other strategic reasons. Direct nerve trauma (getting hit on the arm) and attempted disarmings are just two of them. However as previously stated, these test results strongly suggest that we cannot automatically assume that an officer was walking around with his or her finger on the trigger on the sole basis that there was an involuntary discharge.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that law enforcement agencies conduct further experiments under high stress simulations to further study the Āfist reflexĀ phenomenon.
It is further suggested that firearm discipline training must go further than just having range officers tell officers Ājust keep your finger off the trigger.Ā
It is also essential that agencies consider the fist reflex when deciding whether or not to indemnify an officer involved in an involuntary discharge litigation.
Based partially on these experiments Modern Warrior Defensive Tactics Institute has taken all fisted strikes out of their police defensive tactics curriculum and replaced them with palm strikes and other Āopen handedĀ alternatives when counter striking becomes necessary. Officers interviewed so far state that their confidence level is much higher. They have also found the actual street results of this new curriculum have proven highly effective, while hand injuries to officers have dramatically decreased. In 1995 a new study on involuntary discharges will be conducted using participants who have studied under this format.
In the meantime, it is recommended that law enforcement agencies reconsider use of fisted strikes in their defensive tactics curriculum, but not discontinue them without viable alternatives.
