Palm Strike

Last updated: May 25, 2026

What is a palm strike?

The palm strike predates modern MMA by centuries. It appears in karate (where it is called teishō uchi or shōtei) and remains a core technique in Krav Maga. Early hybrid combat sports allowed it as the only legal hand strike to the head.

The defining feature is the contact point. A boxer hits with the front two knuckles. A palm striker hits with the heel of the palm, the firm pad of bone and tissue at the base of the hand where the wrist meets the thumb. Fingers stay curled back and out of the way to avoid being broken or jamming on impact.

In MMA, the palm strike has a niche but a real place in the sport’s history. From 1993 to roughly 2000, the Japanese promotion Pancrase only allowed open-hand strikes to the head, which made the palm strike the primary stand-up weapon for an entire generation of fighters, including Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock, according to Wikipedia’s Pancrase entry. Today, closed-fist strikes are universal in MMA, but the palm strike remains legal and still appears in specific situations.

How a palm strike works in MMA

In modern MMA, the palm strike rarely surfaces as a fight’s primary offensive tool. It shows up in a handful of recognizable situations.

At range, fighters extend an open hand to measure distance or push an oncoming opponent off their forward momentum. Jon Jones built much of his cage-craft around this kind of posting. The push is technically a strike, but functions more as a control tool than a damage-dealing one.

The palm also shows up in ground exchanges. When a top fighter is in someone’s guard and short on space, a clenched fist often lacks the angle to land cleanly. An open palm slips through gaps and can still rattle the head or open cuts. Shinya Aoki was known for chaining palm strikes from top position before transitioning into submissions.

Hand injuries are the other recurring case. Boxer’s fracture (a break in the fifth metacarpal) is among the most common hand injuries in combat sports, and a fighter with a broken hand can keep striking with the heel of the palm without aggravating the break. The strike has less power than a punch but keeps the fighter offensive while the injury holds up.

Palm strike vs. punch

Most readers comparing the palm strike to a regular punch want to know what actually changes between them. Both share the same chain of force, with power generated from the back foot through the hips and into the extended arm. The difference is what the hand looks like at the moment of impact.

Factor	Palm strike	Punch
Contact surface	Heel of palm (padded)	Front two knuckles (bony)
Reach	Roughly 3 to 4 inches shorter	Longer
Hand injury risk	Low	Higher; boxer’s fracture is common
Power	Generally lower	Generally higher with full rotation
Grappling follow-up	The hand can grip immediately after impact	The fist must open before grappling
Common use in MMA	Posting, ground strikes, post-injury	Standard offensive striking at all ranges

The reach gap is the figure most coaches cite when explaining why punches dominate at distance. Sensei Ando, a longtime martial arts instructor, measured the extension of a fist past the palm heel on his own hand and found it added 3 to 4 inches of range, which is the difference between a clean shot and a blocked one against a fighter reading distance well.

The grappling advantage runs the other direction. An open hand can transition straight into a collar tie, an underhook, or a wrist control without needing to unclench first. This is why palm strikes still appear in clinch exchanges and on the ground, even at the highest levels of the sport.

Is the palm strike legal in MMA?

Yes. Under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (the ruleset followed by the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and most major North American promotions), open-hand strikes to the head and body are legal. The Association of Boxing Commissions’ published list of fouls covers eye gouging, fish-hooking, strikes to the throat, strikes to the spine, and several other prohibited techniques, but the palm strike is not among them.

One important caveat applies. The strike has to land with the palm or heel of the hand. Pushing the fingers into an opponent’s face counts as fish-hooking or eye-gouging, both of which are illegal under the Unified Rules regardless of intent. This is why fighters keep the fingers curled back rather than splayed open when they post or strike with an open hand.

Why palm strikes are rare in modern MMA

Gloves and reach explain why palm strikes have nearly disappeared from top-level MMA.

MMA gloves changed the calculus. Modern 4 to 6-ounce gloves include padded wraps that protect the bones of the hand on a closed-fist strike. The original rationale for the palm strike (don’t break your knuckles on someone’s skull) loses much of its weight when fighters are wearing what amounts to a built-in splint. The bareknuckle conditions that made Pancrase a palm-strike league no longer apply.

Reach matters even more. A clenched fist extends an inch or two further than an open palm, and at striking distance, those inches decide whether a shot lands clean. A punch also concentrates force on a smaller surface, which generates more pressure per square inch on impact. Closed-fist strikes hit harder for most fighters under most conditions.

The palm strike has not disappeared from the sport, though. Coaches still teach it as a tool for specific contexts, and it shows up regularly enough on the ground and in clinch exchanges that any well-rounded MMA fighter has thrown one in training.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are palm strikes legal in the UFC?

Yes. The UFC follows the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, which permit open-hand strikes to the head and body. Eye gouging and fish-hooking are illegal, but a palm strike that lands with the heel of the hand is a legal technique.

Why don’t MMA fighters use palm strikes more often?

Modern MMA gloves protect the bones of the hand on a closed-fist strike, which removes the main reason to throw a palm strike. Punches also generate more power and reach further, so they remain the default hand strike at distance.

Who used palm strikes in MMA?

Bas Rutten is the canonical example. He built his Pancrase career on palm strikes after the promotion banned closed-fist strikes to the head, and his name remains synonymous with the technique today. Keith Hackney used one to drop the 616-pound Emmanuel Yarborough at UFC 3 in September 1994. Shinya Aoki kept using them on the ground throughout his DREAM and ONE Championship runs.

Is a palm strike the same as a palm heel strike?

Yes. “Palm heel strike” describes the same technique with greater anatomical precision, since the strike lands with the heel of the palm. Both terms are used interchangeably in MMA and in most martial arts.

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Sources

1. Wikipedia. “Pancrase.” Accessed May 2026.
2. Wikipedia. “Bas Rutten.” Accessed May 2026.
3. Wikipedia. “Open-hand strikes.” Accessed May 2026.
4. Association of Boxing Commissions. “2017 Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts: Fouls.” abcboxing.com. Accessed May 2026.
5. Combatpit. “Pancrase: The Japanese Promotion That Proved Real Fighting Could Work.” combatpit.com. Accessed May 2026.
6. mixedmartialarts.com. “Bas Rutten shows how to knock someone out using ‘bone strikes’.” Accessed May 2026.
7. Sensei Ando. “Palm Heel Strike or Punch in a Real-Life Fight?” senseiando.com. Accessed May 2026.
8. USAdojo.com. “Keith Hackney.” Accessed May 2026.

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