Seiken – Fore Fist, Forming a Fist

Before learning the basic karate punch, it is important you know how to form a basic fist!

The training video below repeats making the fist so that you can copy it.

Seiken (fore-fist), takes a little time to perfect, but time spent in this area, will be a wise use of training time.

We go into more detail in our Seiken (fore-fist) karate video tutorial at the bottom of this page.

1. Start with the hands open, palms facing up and fingers straight, thumbs bent in half.
2. Bend the fingers in half, but do not roll the fingers into the palms of the hand yet. At this stage, the finger nails should be facing up. When practicing this, roll the fingers, starting from the little finger and finishing with the index finger.
3. Keeping the tips of the fingers in constant contact with the palms, roll the fingers fully into the palm, once again, starting with the little finger. As you finish this rolling action, place the thumb over the index and middle finger.
4. The striking are of the fist, is the two large knuckles, so try and get the fingers to fully fold into the palm, so the two large knuckles are at least level, or protruding. (as in the pictures)
5. Be concious of the little fingers, keep them tight, if they become loose, the whole karate fist weakens.