The Science Of Elbow Strikes

Myths Vs. Reality.

- Shaun Rawcliffe

AN ELBOW STRIKE IS an extremely powerful and effective weapon, as it utilises the hardest, strongest and sharpest point on the human body, hitting an opponent with the last couple of inches of the long distal bone of the forearm (ulna) nearest the elbow joint, which is excellent at crushing bone, and/or the olecranon process (the “tip” of the elbow), which is good for cutting open and splitting the skin.

Upon contact, the biceps and pectoral muscles are immediately and sharply contracted, drawing in the forearm and driving the elbow joint forwards into the intended target. Using the relaxed forearm to “find” contact, prior to driving the elbow forwards, ensures that the distance is correct and that the energy is focused into the desired target, whilst simultaneously eliminating the risk of committing to the elbow strike and then missing the target.

Using the ulna, which is a large a blade-like resilient bone that runs through the forearm, means that when delivering an elbow strike, the Wing Chun practitioner doesn’t have to be overly concerned about breaking anything other than the opponent. In contrast, however, when punching the opponent, the technique needs to be perfect in order to avoid breaking any of the small bones in the hand or indeed damaging the wrist.

Finding and making contact using the last couple of inches of the forearm before delivering the focused strike is much more efficient than using the actual elbow joint (the end of the humerus) as a weapon, as this requires extreme precision, accuracy, and distance judgement, as it is a very small area with which to make contact. There is also the risk that should the strike miss its intended target, the Wing Chun practitioner would be vulnerable to a counter-attack.