The Beak Hand

The eagle hand or the bent wrist (washide or kakuta or koken of karate-do) resembles this widely used pencak-silat hand formation. Bring the tips of the fingers and the thumb together, holding them firmly under tension by pressure so that you feel them to be a unit. Flex your wrist, holding your hand bent downward, at a bit less than its maximum extent. This formation should resemble, as its name indicates, the beak of a bird. The fingertips may be used in combination as a striking surface; or the underside of the hand may be used to cupstrike targets such as sensitive facial areas or the groin when the target is "round the corners-when the enemy is standing, say, with his back and left side to you and you want to strike his right ear. By far the most important use of the beak hand, however, is its function as a hook to catch the enemy before hurling him off-balance. This is done by applying the beak hand to the far side of his neck from behind or alongside and then swinging him circularly backward to the ground as in Pencak Silat Training Exercise 13-A