While the back fist is a valuable tool in combat, sometimes when it is used it has too much preparation, or is thrown from an obvious position if you are in a proper Jeet Kune Do ready stance. In the video below, Jeremy Lynch demonstrates the correct ways to deliver the back fist.
One common issue when used in a classical karate method from a JKD stance is that the attacker has to move his front arm, which opens his centerline and tells the opponent that an attack is coming.
Another problem with the traditional use of the back fist is that most people use the back of the hand to strike with. By doing this with a lot of power and striking the hard surface of an opponent’s head, there is a good chance you will break your hand. It is much safer to use the bottom of the fist instead.
In JKD we deliver the back fist in a different manner. In JKD the back fist is not a power move and is done in a whipping motion. When Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer to learn to “hurt him with a flick” he was taking about a technique like the JKD back hand strike. We like to call it a back hand strike instead of a back fist as we will see below the fist is not the only way to strike with it.
When throwing a back hand strike, we flick the wrist at the end of the attack so that we are hitting with knuckles instead of the back of the hand.
When hitting with the back of the hand, we try to target softer areas like the nose or the eye.
At the Wednesday Night Group, we prefer to deliver the stationary straight lead punch and any stationary back hand strikes the way Bruce Lee taught Bob Bremer to do it. Instead of the hand going first the way we do any hand strike while moving forward, we twist the rear foot sending some of the weight to the front leg. In a sense, the rear foot throws the punch.
Another way to use the backhand is the finger flick or finger fan to the eye.
The back hand strikes are very useful tools and can be used effectively in combat. Remember that this type of strike does not have a lot of power, but can stun an opponent enough that you can either escape the encounter or finish with more powerful finishing techniques.
The Back Fist In Combat
The back hand strike can be a useful tool in combat. It is a very fast tool, and can be used to angle away from an attack. It can be used in defense as a counter to an attack. It can be used as an attack, and it can also be used as method to gain an attachment to trap your opponent.
Using the back fist as a counter attack:
If you opponent tries to strike you with a hand attack, you can angle out and score with a back fist.
- Defense against straight lead punch or jab in matching stance:
- Defense against straight lead punch or jab in unmatched lead:
The back fist as an attack:
You can use the front hand back fist to set up a rear back fist against a blocker in a matching stance. The back fist attack works really well against an opponent who you are sure will try to block your attack.
If you notice that your opponent’s rear hand is protecting his face, throw the rear arm back fist and instead of snapping with it, stick to his arm and then lop sao and hit with front hand.
Next, from an unmatched lead, if you are sure that an opponent will try and block your back fist, you can angle out with a rear back fist with the intent to stick to your opponent’s front arm instead of trying to attack his head. You can then trap his arm with your back fist hand and deliver a straight lead punch to his head.
- Back fist against the blocker who is in an unmatched lead.
One more example of using the back fist as an attachment to trap the arm of your opponent:
If you are in a matching stance to your opponent, you can throw a front hand back fist with the intention of sticking to his front arm instead of striking his head. Bruce Lee called this type of attack “throwing garbage”.
Alternatively, you can lop sao his front arm and hit.
You can also use the finger fan type of attack to open a line of attack against a blocker.
As we can see, the back fist type of attack is very useful and can be applied in variety of ways. It is a valuable tool in the JKD man’s arsenal. Like most things, to make it work in the real world takes practice.
