A peroneal strike is a temporarily disabling blow to the side of the leg, just above the knee. The attacker aims at the common peroneal nerve, roughly a hand span above the knee

Knee

The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...

, towards the back of the leg. This causes a temporary loss of motor control of the leg, accompanied by numbness and a painful tingling sensation from the point of impact all the way down the leg, usually lasting anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes in duration.

The strike is commonly made with the knee, a baton

Club (weapon)

A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....

, or shin kick, but can be done by anything forcefully impacting the nerve. The technique is a part of the pressure point control tactics used in martial arts and by law enforcement agents.

This strike is similar to and utilizes the same nerve as the childhood prank of "dead-legging" someone. Repeated strong peroneal strikes can cause nerve damage and have a high chance of damaging the surrounding tissues due to the spontaneous nature of the technique and the nerve location.

The peroneal strike was used against detainees during the Bagram torture and prisoner abuse

Bagram torture and prisoner abuse

In 2005, The New York Times obtained a 2,000-page United States Army report concerning the homicides of two unarmed civilian Afghan prisoners by U.S. armed forces in 2002 at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Bagram, Afghanistan. The prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar, were chained to the...

scandal.