Thoop

The ban during the U.S. occupation hardly did anything to Japanese Martial arts, people still practiced them, just as Capoeira continued to be practiced by people after it was banned, and how the Japanese ban on Korean martial arts practice didn't prevent the Koreans from doing what they wanted. The really sad thing was the complete annihilation of Okinawa during the Typhoon of Steel. In addition to some 142000 civilians alone dying, ninety percent of the buildings were destroyed. I suspect that along with the people and the buildings and the books more knowledge was lost about the origins and practical side of karate than any government has ever been able to accomplish with a law.

An athletic 145lbs is borderline weight to knock most people out with bare knuckles. You just need to incorporate impact training (punching bag, punching blocks, makiwara, etc) into your training. I would argue that you can be much lighter than 145 pounds and still knock people out. Here is a quote from an article that I read some time back. "A study of seven Olympic boxers in weight classes ranging from flyweight to super heavyweight showed a range of 447 to 1,066 pounds of peak punching force. Energy transferred from punch to target varied widely depending on how heavy the boxers' hands and gloves were, how fast they punched, and how rigidly they held their wrists. The three flyweights, interestingly, delivered more oomph than all but the two super heavyweights." The full article can be found here: http://www.connectsavannah.com/news/article/102548/ Given that a quick search of the internet will reveal that it is generally agreed that 400 pounds of punching force to the temple will knock just about anybody out, I think that it is safe to say that even a very small person (flyweights are a maximum of 112 lbs) can be a force to be reckoned with, given they have put in the effort to get good at punching. Also, I don't claim to practice karate in it's entirety, but I do study it to an extent, and I don't really think that the "fist chamber" was ever supposed to have anything to do with the generation of power or development of technique in beginners. Rather, I suspect that it was originally intended to be used in a grabbing and pulling manner on the opponents sleeve, lapel, and maybe even bare arm. This is further supported by the fact the the word "Hikite," which is what the "fist chamber" is actually called, translates to "pulling hand." A source to support this includes Choki Motobu's book “Watashi no Karate-jutsu" where Motobu demonstrates the naihanchi kata and then shows some applications. In the applications, Motubu can clearly be seen using the hikite found in the kata to pull his opponent by the arm into his punch, elbow, or block. I am not sure, but I think it was he who said "Never bring your hand back empty." Well, I have to be off to class. Best wishes.