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Shuto Uke

Shuto Uke is a karate block. Pronounced 'shoe-toe-hookey'. Unlike most karate blocks, the open handed knife hand block of Shuto Uke delivers a painful offensive while acting defensive. Tradition styles of karate have always used knife hand techniques for advanced karate and for good reason. Use of this technique requires proper positioning and training of the open hand shuto strike.

With a correctly formed open hand, bend your forearm towards your opposing shoulder and when required, strike out at the advancing punches of the opponent, simply by extending your elbow into an inside shuto strike. The area to hit with should be the ulna bone that runs on the edge of the wrist several inches below the base of your pinkie finger.

Striking out at the arms of a punching attacker with Shuto Uke knife hands could not only provide you with blocks against the attacks, but it can also cause an attack from the defense as forearms are especially sensitive to open handed strikes.