Atemi-waza or body-striking techniques are strikes from several traditional Japanese martial arts adopted into the Okinawan karate. As part of mainland Japan karate’s evolution, Japanese karate-do made its transition into sport karate, resulting in the prohibition of these techniques in  sparring and finally partially eliminated from the curriculum. Nevertheless,  many strikes can still be seen within our katas and some self-defense applications.  Note: distance will dictate which weapon should be used.