Dolfzine, a well-known online publication, recently published Raymond Brennan's "Hikuta: A Reflection," in which Ray discusses his experience with this combative system.  In equal measures an apology for Hikuta's published history, a training journal, and a testimonial, Mr. Brennan's article concludes that Hikuta has holistically increased his speed and power.  He says he does not doubt that Hikuta training can produce improvements "in activities as diverse as drawing a pistol and playing tennis."

No stranger to controversy, Mr. Brennan previously wrote an article on kettlebells and martial training in which he dismissed much of kettlebells' popularity as the result of "hype."  He was roundly criticized by fans of kettlebells, but did not shrink from defending his opinions.  The Hikuta piece doubtless will afford him the same opportunity to defend and discuss his work, for much of the article warrants examination.

I count Ray, an Ireland-born martial artist and prolific contributor to various fitness- and martial arts-oriented publications, as a friend.  Thus it is with mixed feelings that I write this article, the conclusions of which vary significantly from those of Mr. Brennan.  While I do not fault him nor question his earnest perspective on his own training in Hikuta, I must respectfully assert that his experience will not necessarily be shared by others.  The choice presented to the reader in evaluating any fighting or self-defense system is this:  Are my expectations of it realistic?  Ray obviously believes in the system, but I do not.

Hikuta, for those who do not know, is a little-known combative style first publicized in 1993 by a man calling himself "DOK Lee."  The "DOK" stands for "Defender of Kings," a reference to Hikuta's alleged origins as the fighting art of bodyguards to ancient Egypt's rulers.  Characterized by the "Hikuta Hand," a loose fist with the thumb placed or projecting on top, Hikuta is described in the 1993 text as something far superior to all other arts, a system that should not be confused with "martial arts" at all.  In my review of the 1993 package I summed up the system's published history as follows.  (This is taken from the book review, but I also reviewed the video that is part of the package.)

DOK Lee alleges, in his brief write-up on the origin of Hikuta, that an art called "Kuta" was developed "by the bodyguards of the pharaohs as the most efficient and effective way to defend their king."  Passed on from ancient Egypt to other royal bodyguards in Asian countries, the secretive art of Kuta finally made its way to "a very elite group of professional soldiers" in the early 1900s.  Modifying the body movements of Kuta to a continuous system of body motion (Hikuta, obviously), these "elite, commando soldiers became the most superior soldiers in the history of mankind."

In one paragraph on page xiii of the book, DOK Lee uses the word "elite" three times (four if you count "superelite").  "These elite commandos were hired by a number of governments around the world to solve 'impossible' problems," Lee writes.  "They were so superior they could even purposely get captured by enemy soldiers and be taken into their camps.  Once in the camp, using Hikuta, a handful of these superelite, professional soldiers would destroy the entire camp...  This elite, professional soldier group was kept top secret and eventually disbanded in the late 1940s."

Supposedly, one of the last surviving members of this secret, elite, superior, superelite commando group, one "Pappy Joe," taught DOK Lee Hikuta.  In the 1993 book, Lee states that he has studied Hikuta for 43 years.  One presumes that at the time of his death he had spent roughly five decades as a practitioner of this (elite and superior) art.

Such a history creates unrealistic expectations for a fighting system that, the reader is supposed to believe, was kept virtually secret for at least decades (if not centuries).  Mr. Brennan addresses the issue of Hikuta history in his article, but I will examine that piece from beginning to end, so we will come back to this.

Ray's Dolfzine article begins with still shots depicting Hikuta Instructor Al Abidin (who trained directly with DOK Lee) defending against a pistol-wielding would-be airline hijacker.  A crouching Abidin is shown reaching out to deflect the pistol before delivering a Hikuta Hand strike to the opponent's face.  Could this work in real life?  Probably not, unless the hijacker is reluctant to pull the trigger when his hostage starts rising and reaching from that awkward kneeling position.

There is a photo depicting ancient art of what is apparently Egyptians engaged in hand-to-hand training.  The article makes no effort to link this photo to Hikuta in words, but the association is clear from the placement in the text.  Anyone attempting to link Hikuta loose-fist striking to ancient Egypt through this artwork would, however, be making a mistake – because the fighters in the painting are clearly sparring with wrapped hands.  Boxers wrap their hands and wrists to prevent injury specifically because they're punching with their clenched fists.  Of course, the artwork isn't exactly physiologically realistic, unless the ancient Egyptian fighters looked very, very silly when hitting one another.  We'll come back to the loose fist in a few paragraphs.

The Hikuta Hand, a loose fist with a projecting thumb. 

After pausing to provide some of Mr. Brennan's reflections on his own lengthy pursuit of martial prowess, yet another photo is offered.  This one, apparently depicting the Hikuta instructor calling himself "Jack Savage," shows a man with a sniper rifle in a prone shooting position.  The picture includes a number of substantive errors in rifle technique, however, from sunlight glinting off the barrel of the weapon to the fact that the "sniper" is positioned directly next to a tree (which is ill-advised because trees draw fire).  Should a man who isn't tight enough to his weapon, shows too much forehead, and doesn't know that turning his cover backwards actually hinders rather than helps his shooting (because, after all, they turn their caps backwards in the movies) instruct anyone in the finer points of sniping?  He probably can, if this is a posed publicity shot that should not be taken too seriously.  Still, the imagery gives one pause.

Now we come to Hikuta's history, which – to be blunt – sounds laughably fabricated.  DOK Lee's description of "superelite commandos," who were so skilled they would be intentionally captured in order to destroy enemy camps from within, is the stuff of bad movies and worse novels.  Attempting to link the style to the bodyguards of the ancient Pharaohs (a term the Egyptians did not use) is just not possible.  We know precious little about ancient Egypt compared to the totality of their incredibly impressive civilization.  We know, for example, that their name for their own nation was "KMT," but we aren't entirely sure how they pronounced it because we don't know the ancient Egyptians' vowel sounds.  Are we to believe, then, that anyone could be in possession of specific fighting techniques from this civilization?

Mr. Brennan writes what is essentially an elaborate apology for Hikuta's dubious historical claims, rightly stating that many established martial arts have dubious histories.  Wing Chun Kung Fu's "creation story," in which a woman is said to have invented the art, is one such piece of mythology.  The stories of the Shaolin Temple or of Bodhidharma are others.  Mr. Brennan's conclusion seems to be that because other, better-known arts have fabricated or questionable histories, Hikuta's own historical liberties can be forgiven.

I can't agree with this conclusion, however.  The traditional martial arts of the world don't present themselves (with a few exceptions – there are always individual practitioners who think too highly of their arts) as super-deadly, super-elite systems better than anything that has ever existed since the dawn of time.  Most traditional martial artists recognize both the mythological aspects of their arts' origins (if it is very old) as well as the limitations of the their style in the real world. 

At the same time, the history of Hikuta would seem to be presented, at least by DOK Lee, as evidence of the art's exceptional efficacy.  If the alleged link to ancient Egypt is not an attempt to create credibility through association with a great civilization whose specifics are lost to antiquity, why is it included?  If the history of the art isn't important to Hikuta's practitioners and is not seen as historically truthful, why invoke it at all?  Saying, "other arts have dubious histories too" does not excuse apparently fabricated historical claims.  This is like being caught cheating on a spelling test and telling the teacher, "But Bobby cheats on his spelling tests, too, and we all know he's a good student in other respects."

The link to Hikuta's past is lost with the mysterious "Pappy Joe," as described in the 1993 book and in Mr. Brennan's article.  But DOK Lee isn't hundreds of years dead and gone.  He was alive until just recently.  If this "Pappy Joe" really existed, he would have had to exist within relatively recent memory.  How, then, do we justify this loss of Hikuta's origins to the mists of time?  It hasn't been centuries;  it's been decades.  This would be like saying the origins of my 1984 Chevrolet Caprice are lost to history and no one can tell me for certain just how that vehicle was created (though we know for a fact we are driving contemporary cars the way ancient Capricians drove their Chevrolets).

In discussing Hikuta as a system, Mr. Brennan states that it "has unique hand strikes, kicks, improvised weapons, escapes from wristlocks, plus a number of throws and other elements."  While Hikuta certainly does have at least one relatively unique hand strike, the "Hikuta Hand," the improvised weapons and wristlock counters depicted in the 1993 package are fairly conventional.  Hikuta's shin kick technique looks, despite any caveats made by Ray or Hikuta's practitioners, like an unbalanced and awkward low kick -- hardly something revolutionary. 

Ray does explain the principles of spontaneity and naturalness that characterize Hikuta, both of which are sound ideas.  These ideas, though, are not unique to Hikuta – for martial artists and combative exponents have long extolled their virtues.  Bruce Lee, Miyamoto Musashi, and even Colonel Rex Applegate recognized the need to be natural, to be fast, to be powerful, and not to telegraph one's intent.

Mr. Brennan describes the Hikuta Hand as "the most impressive weapon in the Hikuta arsenal."  A loose fist with the thumb placed or projecting on top, the Hikuta Hand is supposed to be so powerful that it can deliver devastating force to an opponent with a simple "startle" reaction, the loose fingers molding to the striking surface to prevent injury.

Ray links this technique to other systems using similar striking methods.  The one with which I am familiar is the Royal Fist of certain Kung Fu styles – though the Royal Fist is done with the thumb safely folded on the side of the fist.  The problem with all of these comparisons is that any loose fist, while a great technique for striking an unyielding object like a wall, is not the best way to impart force to a human being.  The physics of the technique are simply wrong.  A properly rolled fist (held vertically) is the best way to punch someone if you must punch them with a fist, though you must be mindful of your targeting.

Of course, this brings us to the inadvisability of the loose fist in general when there are better techniques for the same jobs.  The natural weapons of the human hand are the palm, the heel of the palm, and the edge of the hand – all of which can be used to strike relatively hard targets (like skulls) while preventing injury to the fingers.  Anyone can strike a wall or a phonebook with a palm or the heel of that palm, for example.  Try using the Hikuta loose fist as shown in the 1993 video, however, and I will be very surprised if you do not feel as if your fingers are being jammed.  In my review of that video, I described working with the Hikuta Hand:

As I said in the book review, I do not like the Hikuta Hand.  I cannot see punching with a deliberately loose fist as an advisable technique – though, to be fair, more than one person has told me they have tried this and believe it to have merit.  I, too, have tried this, in sparring as well as with a phone book while reviewing the tape.  With the phone book, a proper punch – the muscles loose, the arm snapped out and through with the hand contracted into a hard fist at the moment of contact – was a little uncomfortable but not painful, as striking any barely yielding surface would be.  The Hikuta Hand, however, consistently left several of my fingers feeling jammed.

In sparring, I had my teacher punch me several times – first with the Hikuta Hand technique, then with a proper punch.  Each time the Hikuta Hand was less painful (for me as the recipient) and generated less power through my chest, prompting me to move back less.  My teacher is easily the best martial artist I've ever met in person, and neither of us is a novice to the self-defense field.  But neither of us is a Hikuta expert, so I'll allow that it's entirely possible we just don't get it.

Palm strikes, as taught in a variety of martial arts and combative systems, are much more natural than the "Hikuta Hand" and generate a great deal of power without placing the fingers in harm's way.  I see the Hikuta technique as a desperate attempt to be different – a case of fixing something that isn't broke and, in my opinion, fixing it poorly.

Mr. Brennan's article includes a video still in which Al Abidin, using the tremendous speed of Hikuta, is striking what appears to be two assailants almost simultaneously.  The picture is, at first glance, fairly impressive – until you stop to realize that anyone can move fast enough to hit two people on opposite sides of his body faster than a camera will process in a single shot.  I can do it, and I'm not a Hikuta practitioner – nor am I The Flash.

I'm so fast I can palm-strike two opponents almost at the same time! 
Amazing?  Hardly.  Anyone can do it fast enough to fool the camera.

Ray offers a testimonial in which he describes using the Hikuta Hand to devastate an obnoxious student at his training hall.  While I don't doubt his report of his experiences, testimonials like these always read, to me, like someone believing what he wishes to believe.  Occam's Razor tells us that, all things being equal, the simplest answer is the correct answer.  I find it easier and more realistic to believe that Ray is simply better at what he does than he thinks he is.  I don't believe any amount of Hikuta training is responsible for the gains he has experienced as a martial artist.  I think these can be credited simply to training as such – the practice with and resulting comfort in one's body and one's movements that will be developed by any diligent program of study.

I cannot believe Hikuta is the wonder-drug for all that ails the martial artist.  I cannot believe its claims or its history.  I question the application of its techniques when there are other, established methods that do precisely what Hikuta's exponents claim it will do so well.  I dismiss as unsafe the Hikuta Hand and its protruding thumb, which I see as an open invitation to broken digits.  While Hikuta contains certain principles that are sound, these principles are contained within other more credible arts and systems that have the benefit of being tried and tested through at least decades of verifiable history.