A percussion tool has a cooling air channel for guiding a cooling air flow from a cooling air fan to an outside wall of a cylinder of an internal combustion engine. The cooling air channel is tapered to the extent that partial cooling air flows guided between the respective cooling fins are branched off the main cooling air flow. In such a way, the flow rate of the cooling air flow in the cooling air channel remains substantially constant, resulting in optimized engine cooling. The cooling air channel may be divided into two cooling air channels downstream of the cylinder. One of the cooling air channels guides cooling air to an exhaust gas system of the internal combustion engine, while the other cooling air channel guides cooling air to an outside wall of the guide housing of a hammer mechanism.