Raking?

[Molk]

So what do you guys think about raking with your hands? Like taking a tiger claw and dragging it down the forearm, or some such. I have only tried it on myself, and with limited success. My sifu gave me a demo once, and of course, it hurt like hell. I dont seem to be able to get it right. Thoughts? Comments?

[Waidan]

Raking down the arm (to use your example) can be effective if done with enough force to go beyond skin level, tearing at muscle and tendon. From my understanding, many systems (particularly southern) train this skill, and it can involve a lot of strength conditioning to be performed correctly. Raking the eyes can be very effective, with little or no training.

The real effectiveness of raking, imho, is as a secondary attack (ie palm-strike to the chin/nose followed by a raking of the face as you withdraw your hand). It's sorta like adding injury to injury.

[Former castleva]

Tiger claw and variations come to mind.
I don´t think "raking" on it´s own is considered a type of technique(s).Tiger Claw then is a strike,with clawing effect dragging nails down the opponent (usually over eyes I think,maybe to throat,face region etc. but with limited effect I think)
Flesh tearing&actual tearing of connective tissue etc. which Waidan mentioned is probably more like a case of chin-na and not that much raking,would take a grabbing effect like eagle claw to pull that off.Just my opinion though.

[Waidan]

"Flesh tearing&actual tearing of connective tissue etc. which Waidan mentioned is probably more like a case of chin-na and not that much raking,would take a grabbing effect like eagle claw to pull that off.Just my opinion though."

I agree with that. I was taking a rather broad definition of "raking", as I don't know what style the original poster studies, or what his/her sifu might be working towards. Simply scratching with the fingernails/tips would only be effective to the most sensitive areas, typically the eyes and possibly the groin. Any other target is probably just going to make the guy mad.

[Budokan]

Raking the face or genitals would be more effective than arms, I think. You're using the term or trying to apply the technique too broadly. Not to say it *couldn't* be effective, but a rake to the arm wouldn't be my first move. If you have access to the arm, there are more devastating attacks in your arsenal (or should be) than raking.

[Diu Sao]

Raking the arms or any dense muscle group would require an enormous amount of conditioning for it to truly devestating (but I am not saying that it isn't practical). Initialy raking works best on loose flesh and skin, like the neck and loose facial skin (eyelids, lips etc...) as a secondary part of the attack. The first being the initial impact of the strike. But this has been said already.



Diu Sao