Haito Ridgehand

Haito Ridgehand strikes. Pronounced (high-toe) is an advanced karate strike using the open ridgehand.

The Haito uses the ridge part of the hand which is the portion of the hand from the thumb, down the side of the hand or palm and terminates at the wrist. The technique is open handed and care should be taken to bend the thumb into the hand to prevent catching the stump of the thumb while striking which can be very painful.

With an open hand, the haito strike comes out from the side of the body and swings round towards the side of an opponent striking with the thumb side of the hand.

The target area should only be soft fleshy areas of your opponent such as the neck or throat, across the face or into the side of the stomach. Using the haito ridgehand strike and hitting a hard boned area may result in a damage hand, and a damaged hand in self defense means you will no longer be able to fight effectively.

Concentrate on learning the correct technique and position of the hand before applying power to this strike.