Q&A for How to Knock Someone Out with One Hit

You have to be very good with your timing. Your opponent will be most vulnerable after they've thrown a strike, so if you can slip or bob and weave an opponent's punch, their jaw will likely be in the air and their shoulder will be down. That would be the best time to throw a knockout punch like that.

Yes. Knocking someone out with a blow to the head or neck is very dangerous and can cause a severe concussion or other serious injury. Don’t try this unless you need to knock someone out in self defense or you are being supervised by an experienced coach or trainer.

If you land the punch in the right place and with enough speed, it takes surprisingly little force to knock someone out. The goal is typically to get the person’s head to rotate quickly and suddenly rather than to hit them really hard.

A hard blow to the chin or jaw causes a sudden movement of the head and neck, which in turn causes the brain to move and make impact with the inside of the skull. This trauma to the brain causes you to lose consciousness.

The throat stab is likely to kill if too much force is used or if performed improperly.

Try to hit more accurately rather than harder. A harder swing will make it easy for a smaller, lighter person to dodge it, so try to hit where it matters.

As hard as you physically can should be enough to knock somebody out, especially if you aim for their temple. It is a very sensitive area of the head, and you don't have to be insanely strong to cause considerable damage.

If the attacker is severely injured, pin him/her down and call for help. Otherwise, if he/she still is attacking you, just try to strike again; you might have not applied enough force to knock out the person.

Act fast, try to get a good punch in, then grab their throat before they have a chance to react.

Yes, except the finger jab.

The moves pictured in the article will work even better with an overweight person, because the excess weight he carries around will make his head move back less easily, almost guaranteeing a knockout.

You should kick with enough power that you will barrel past their defenses and push them over. If you have access to a heavy bag, you should test the power of your kicks. If you can make a hundred pound heavy bag move to a 45 degree angle at least, you should be good.

Use a weapon of some sort or land a blow to the chest. If it is hard enough, it will stop them hitting back. You can also strike using your hand to the side of the neck, but only in dangerous situations because if it is done correctly, you can knock someone out or severely damage or kill them.

Put your legs side by side opening them and slightly bending. It may help to look at images of a boxing position, to help you to get the pose right.

The best advice here would be for you to run away. Unequal fights usually don't end well if you don't have significant advantage in form of experience or weapons.

If you do not have experience to counter melee attacks, the best thing to do would be to run.

There is no safe way to knock yourself out. You could end up accidentally killing yourself.

It depends on how hard you hit them. If you hit them hard enough, then you will most likely cause permanent injury or, quite possibly, death.

You should just try to stay away from him until he cools off. Punching him in the windpipe could permanently damage or even kill him. If you decide to knock him out, use the other two methods first.

Even if he's a pro, the punching methods work best. Kicking depends on the person -- maybe more of the sideswipe?

Check their pulse, and call for help immediately. It could be a practical joke, but if you're sure they're dead, get help from the police.

Yes. You can break his/her jaw, which can make the person unable to talk or not be able to breathe. The severity of the break determines how long the effects last.

Do whatever you can to break their grip. That could mean trying to kick, punch, or bite them depending on what you think would be the easiest and most effective.

There are no legal consequences unless you did something illegal to kill your opponent. However, there may be some psychological consequences for you in knowing that you killed someone.

Yes, hitting someone forcefully in the temple can kill someone.

You should only use this method in self-defense or defense of others. In which case, don't worry about it. If you go to court for it, you won't get into much trouble, if any at all.

The worst case scenario would be prison. However, if you can prove that the killing was in self-defense, then it's unlikely that there would be any consequences.

You have to hit them hard in the solar plexus (at the bottom of the rib cage).

It depends if you have the strength to pull them down. If not, stick with the OG tackle, winds the ribs and great take down all together.

That doesn't matter. Compare it to drinking tea. You neither smash the cup into your face nor start pouring before it reaches your lips - you apply exactly the amount of energy needed to achieve your goal; you don't even squeeze your lip between the cup and your teeth, that's how precise this motion is. Same for boxing. You need to apply exactly the amount of strength to knock out your opponent. If he's stronger, use a stronger hit.