bushido_man96

The line of sight vs. crosshairs analogy makes lots more sense to me. I understand the hiding the rear foot and showing the front hand now. In TKD classes in the past, I've done a footwork drill with students where one takes the lead, and the other follows and mimics to the same stance on his/her own side. It's not unlike this drill. In contrast, I've taught students in sparring/self-defense to "cross the T," in which you try to get lined up perpendicular to the opponent, making your body the stem of the T, and their body the cross at the top of the T, thus exposing as many of their targets to your weapons as possible, and thus being able to overwhelm them with attacks. His drill here is basically the reverse of that, preventing the opponent from "crossing the T."

Hehe, I'll go with that!

I've seen that video before, and it's a good one. But he doesn't really speak to the use of peripheral vision. He does talk about not telegraphing, which is always useful. What you do have there is the very real situation in which action is usually faster than reaction, which taking away the telegraph helps so much with. I think I am not explaining myself well when I talk about using my peripheral vision. The arms and legs of the person I'm sparring with don't look blurry to me. I see everything in good focus. What I do not do is stare at the lead arm and wait for that punch, or stare at one of the feet that have been kicking me. Anyways. Onto the next line: Not sure what this is. The front hand is pretty easy to see all the time; it's out in front, and many times is the jabbing hand. By hiding the rear foot, are you talking about being deceptive in kicking? Or are you talking about lining your feet up so your rear foot can't be seen (this doesn't sound right, but I can't tell from your description).

Doesn't "geri" mean "kick"?

I'd be all nice, and be like, "hey Bob, let me show you this cool website..."

I see what you are saying, but I don't necessarily agree with your analogy. If I focus in on the opponent's chest without regard to the weapons that he has (arms, legs, feet, fists, etc.), then I don't feel that I am observing the threat properly. I don't stop looking at the opponent, but I don't "zero in" on any one thing in particular, either. I look at the chest area, and draw an upside down triangle, with the top base crossing from shoulder to shoulder, and the two sides coming down and in towards the centerline at the hips, or where the legs part at the body. By seeing this area, I see the weapons of the body, and can read what the body is doing.

All devices on planet Earth...EXCEPT, of course, MINE!! Hehe, I'd find a way to sneak in and use it, if it were the only one left!

Lower standards? No. Changes in protocols and procedures? Perhaps. At our school, we are engaging in sparring, one-steps, and self-defense work as normal, and have been doing this for some time. Our numbers have taken a hit due to Covid, though, and I pray the school can recover from it. Fortunately, thus far, my boys' wrestling seasons are going forward with practices and competitions.

Explain this. When I spar, I look at the chest area, but don't focus on it, using my peripheral to see what moves.

It's a good question, Bob. I think 45 degrees is effective. But is full rotation more effective? It just might be. But, if the person executing isn't skilled in punching, the full rotation may be detrimental enough to refrain from teaching it that way. But, as one improves, moving to the full rotation should be explored. If at least to have more options in the toolbox. The close punch is a different animal entirely. It's always a close range punch, and usually arriving at an upward angle. It's also a strike that isn't likely to result in the straightening of the arm, and therefore engages a different group of muscles and different mechanics. The upside down, horizontal punch can be rotated, but it doesn't seem to rotate as much as the straight horizontal punches (jabs, crosses, straights, etc.).

I think for beginners and for people who only train part-time, it is important to settle on an approach they can absorb quickly, easily, and practice effectively in their own time. I do think the 45-degree is optimum for defensive tactics, because of how attacks happen in a civilian context. It is the least injurious angle I have found in my personal experimentation. Similarly, it starts the activation of the triceps and secures proper elbow alignment, thus not as powerful as a full rotation, but it is enough to start gaining some of the benefits. For people training full-time, or with more experience behind them, I do think one should broaden to finding the optimum alignment per target, distance, and angle relative to the target. I like your points on both accounts. As for my typical DT group, the 45 degree angle works best as I have to keep in mind that this group of folks aren't experienced punchers, so I must keep in mind that I need to keep their striking tools in good order so they can use them. To that end, I also teach hammerfists and palm heel strikes as options, if they don't feel confident in striking with their knuckles.

Congrats, stonecrusher69!

I have been doing more and more punching with the 45 degree angled fist, especially in bag work. I find it provides a happy medium of getting some power out of rotation, as well as controlling my elbow position. When I teach punching in defensive tactics, I like to teach the 45 degree wrist rotation, as it keeps inexperienced punchers from over-rotating, thus avoiding damage to the last three knuckles in the form of a boxer's fracture.

11/10/2020 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 155x5, 185x3, 205x5. Chin Negatives: 5. Lat Pull-downs: 100x12, 100x12, 100x12, 100x12. Those chin negatives made me VERY sore. 11/12/2020 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 155x3, 190x5, 190x5, 190x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 90x5, 90x5, 90x5. Lat Pull-downs: 110x12, 110x12, 110x12, 110x12.

Yes, a belated thank you!

Thanks, both of you! I need to look into it.

Admittedly I only skim read it right now but this is a pretty comprehensive break down of the two methods and suggested better power generation from the full twist https://expertboxing.com/horizontal-punches-vs-vertical-punches Interestingly they make a comment towards the end about vertical Vs horizontal in relation to your body (your torso) or in relation to the ground and I guess your opponents body. I guess you have to consider the punch from both a mechanics point of view for the puncher, but also how the fist is orientated to the opponent. Thanks for sharing that, Danielle. Really good info, both in the article and the video presented. I especially like how he talked about the directions the punches were going as well as the intended target, and how that augments what type of punch gets use. There seemed to be a split at the chest and abdomen, where above it seemed to be more horizontal, and below seemed to be more vertical. He also talks quite a bit about the importance of the elbow position in regards to punching, and less so about the orientation of the fist; the location of the elbow dictates the orientation of the fist. Which is a good point. He also spoke a little bit about which knuckles to strike with, but I wonder, especially in Boxing today, with the use of the gloves, how often they truly worry about the orientation of the knuckles when punching. If anyone with Boxing experience could lend some experience in this aspect, that would be great. This is a good question. When it comes to palm heel strikes, I find good power in turning it over to horizontal, but this strike is mainly aimed at the chin or face. Otherwise, it's pretty limited. I have found that I can get a palm heel into different angles if I make it more vertical. Coming "over the top" in a hooking motion, turning over to the thumb down position is quite nice. Spear hand techniques tend to be more target dependent. To the torso, I'm looking vertical. Throat or face, horizontal.

Thank you for sharing this with us. It's good to see you back! I'd be interested in seeing both the footwork and the hand motions in application. The hand motions look like some of the sticking hands exercises you've shown in the past.

That's too bad, Danielle. I'm really hoping that doesn't happen to us again, but I'm afraid that it will.

Can I find this on YouTube?

Bob, I agree that the use of the hips in the punching motion is paramount in power development, regardless of the orientation of the fist. When I teach punching mechanics, I teach that the power comes from the floor, and not from the arms. Everything starts with the drive from the floor, up through the hips, then into the shoulders and out through the arms. Do you ever notice when teaching, Bob, especially early on in a practitioner's journey, a tendency to over-rotate the final position of the elbow in a horizontal punch? Do you notice this happen later on, even with more experienced practitioners, especially if the student gets to moving fast in sparring, any occurrences of the elbow rotation?

I don't believe any "great" capabilities are bestowed on individuals who practice these things. I'm not convinced that someone who practices these specialties necessarily increases their life span or overall quality of life any more than doing any other physical activity to get into and stay in good shape. I'm not saying that they aren't beneficial to do, if activities like these are in one's wheelhouse. These activities, like so many, appeal to some more than others, and like many activities, one is likely to get out of it what one puts into it.

11/6/2020 MA Training TKD Forms: Spent about 30 minutes doing the colored belt forms, white up to skunk belt with one of the 2nd dans who happened to be practicing at the gym during some open floor time. Then I sat in the sauna for about 10 minutes. Kendall is working on dropping some weight for the wrestling season, so I'm taking him to the gym so he can do some cardio/HIIT work. He did some walk/running work on the treadmill for about a half hour and then went to the sauna. 11/7/2020 Cardio: Walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes, then did rowing for 5 minutes. Kendall did this as well, but he did walk/run intervals on the treadmill. 11/8/2020 Cardio: 20 minutes of walking on a treadmill while Kendall did walk/run intervals. 11/9/2020 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 155x3, 185x5, 185x5, 185x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x5, 85x5, 85x5. This was a fun day at the gym, mainly because I had both my boys working out there with me. Kendall is still sticking with cardio/HIIT stuff until the end of this week, so he wasn't lifting. But Kenneth got back under the bar today, so I had a training partner. I really enjoyed the time.

What a milestone! Congrats, Bob, and we look forward to so many more!