Who knows for sure yet it is a favorite quote in today's martial practice with specificity to karate. Try a google on "one strike one kill" and you will get about 3,020,000 results. There is even a video on it. Sorry, it is for sale, not for viewing yet I bet you would get some youtube video's if you used the same search parameters. "The Deadliest of Karate's Deadly Blows."
Some URL's:
Martial Views by John Vesia ; Marks Training ; Truth Through Time
This would get one started and it would be interesting to see comments on this subject as to personal views which brings us to mine. My view, my perspective, and mine alone.
There is no "one strike:one kill" in karate. There is always a possibility, although somewhat remote, that one could kill someone with a technique but that technique is not limited to karate. It can be said that "boxers: professionals" can/could kill with a punch. I am sure we would find incidents where a boxer died because of a boxing match.
It is a great idea and a great sound bite to sell it yet it is very hard to kill someone with an open hand technique. I may be wrong as there are professionals of violence/violent people out there who may say otherwise yet to apply a technique from karate and kill a person is remote and for most humans impossible.
Lets begin by saying that human nature instinctively avoids doing great bodily harm to another human being. When it comes to killing that instinctive tendency to strongly avoid that level of violent actions is so strong that in the military historically an officer with a gun would have to persuade the troops to actually shot and kill an enemy. That is with a weapon at a distance yet if you get up close and personal you will find it impossible.
Now, as to karate and the one strike one kill maxim, NOT. Very few martial artist actually know how to generate that much power. Power aside not many in the heat of combat can bring about the focus and targeting of a moving, breathing, and responding in kind attacker to kill. Then there would be only a few actual techniques with specific power, targeting, etc. that could actually achieve that one kill where all things have to meet exactly perfect to achieve death of the opponent and as far as I can tell it ain't happening.
I don't believe even the ancient practitioners of Okinawa or China ever truly achieved this one strike/punch one kill thing. There may be stories yet I suspect you could not/would not find facts or historical and medical proof that it can happen and has happened. This is like the glorification of Samurai as some highly moral warrior group when historically that would not bear fruit.
Then you would have to find out what specifications are present to kill a human with a fist or foot. I suspect you would find that because the body is so resilient and built to resist impacts that the specs would be outside the bounds of human achievement with out some blunt weapon, etc. to enhance the blow/strike.
As a goal I feel it a ridiculous maxim where I might better accept it if it were, "One technique to stop an attack," or "One technique to avoid being hit," and so on which seems more realistic and achievable.
Yes? No? Maybe? Your theories, views, idea's, comments?
Note: If we are truly working to that end then where is the article over the last fifty-four plus years where a karate-ka killed a person with their hands?
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My personal "Interpretive" Lens!
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