I have always heard people talk about the lethality of punching or striking the throat. I want to know what is the real chance a power punch to the throat will kill someone? I have read that in old bare knuckle boxing days the throat was a legit target and punching someone there can KO someone just like the chin. I would think if it was so lethal then someone in boxing or MMA would have been hurt seriously from a accidental throat punch.
So what is everyone’s thoughts?
My thought is that this is not about advanced technique at ALL.
the trachea can be crushed by a punch, hence no throat/neck strikes in almost every single organization out there.
Hence, Erle Montagues’s deadly technique, “toe to the neck”.
Has there ever been a documented case of a trachea being broken/crushed by a strike?
i tend to put those kind of claims in the same bucket as things like some old kung fu master breaking a coconut then saying “see? i could do that to a human head too”
sounds fun but it never happens
I’m with Alex… sounds like Boondock Saints “serial crusher” theory… Nice for comic books and kids with pimples… but in the real world I’m thinking that accidental neck strikes are fairly common, and I have yet to hear of someone dying from it.
My last Thai fight i got caught in the throat by a wild hook. It hurt shocked me more thaN ANYTHING, BUT THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR CHIN UP, i LEARNED THE HARD WAY , LOL
I’ve gotten hit in the throat a few times. Hurts like hell. If you accumulate enough little shots to the throat like I have, you can actually loosen the little bone that hold the windpipe in place. That really sucks.
Yeah, Bruce Lee did it in “Fist of Fury” and…no…wait…fuck it!
I hit a guy in the throat once and he just gagged and hit me back. It really didn’t seem to faze him too much.
I know of precisely one. A ludicris bodyguard struck an attacking fan in the throat. The fan was in a full body lunge(hence all of his weight was behind him) and the bodyguard was a trained fighter, hence all of his weight was behind the strike, the collision apparently caused a minor crush to the trachea and ruptures inside the throat.
However, and this was an extreme circumstance and convergence of a number of factors that can only be called chance, the strike was not fatal however. Apparently even with a crushed trachea it is still possible to breathe, and even though there were ruptures it takes a long time to drown in one’s blood when coughing it up is a possibility(i.e. not unconscious). Though it did end up as a hosptial stay.
So the final answer is no. While extrodinarily painful, and possibly damaging, lethal it is not. I guess potentiallity exists if there is no treatment, but then it is not so much the strike that killed as it was stupidity, and as great as modern medical science is, there still is no treatment for stupidity.
Maybe you just hit like a girl :gaygay:
Karate chop yourself in the adams apple, now imagine a boxers whole bodyweight and power behind it. Lets say someone like lennox lewis, who can generate something like a ton per square inch (I could be wrong here). Thats like a small car riding over your throat.
I really can’t help it I try to be just like you.
You can’t really effectively crush a throat with a strike - you might temporarily collapse it, but if you’re close enough to hit a target 2-3 inches beyond the chin? Just throw a shot to the dome.
You can actually stick your finger into someone’s eye socket pretty far with no permanent damage to the eye (my friend is a Mass. CO). I bet the throat operates similarly
i have choked out guys, but they have either been “subjects” where I was working (I am a cop), or friends I was sparring with (who tapped out, like I always do) – in both cases I have always made sure my elbow was under the guy’s chin to protect the trachea, larynx, etc. and so I just shut off the carotids. I hear guys talking about chokes that purposely put the bony part of the wrist, or even the knuckles against the guy’s throat, but holy shit, it sure seems like that could cause permanent damage quick. Thoughts, anybody?
I would like to know how bad it might hurt you to use the boney parts in choke, and how much pressure it actually takes to crush the laranyx if anyone knows I would appreciate their input.
Judo version of the RNC
My old boxing coach used to encourage me to hit people in the throat when I could get away with it.
I’ve been hit in the throat with punches and kicks and training weapons.
My old muay thai instructor shifted his grip while doing a bench press and dropped some 250lbs on his neck, everyone in the gym freaked, but he got up and was completely ok. He in fact would let people punch him in the throat after that.
So my take on the throat strike is that while it can suck, i’ve not seen it kill anyone even though i’ve seen and felt it.