Punching

[blitzcraig]

I need help with my punching technique and strength, any pointers?

[aefibird]

I find that training with a partner using focus pads helps punching technique.

 

Also, using a heavy bag can really develop strength.

[delta1]

I need help with my punching technique and strength, any pointers?

 

You do TKD, I see- a very hard style. I'm not sure about Nat'l Karate, but it sounds like another hard system. My guess is that you are steping into your stance, then punching. Try punching as you step, and do it so that the punch lands at exactly the same time as your stance solidifies. To make this work, you will have to loosen up as you move, and learn to tighten eveything up at the same time as you nail the stance and the punch, then loosen immediately and move again.

 

My opinion (and not allways a popular one) is that the stance change and strike were broken into seperate moves for training basics. But I think they were meant to be combined as I described in application. It will increase both your speed and power dramatically. Try it, I bet you'll like it.

[Rich_2k3]

The majority of the power developed in a punch actually comes from the hips and torso.

 

Remember to put ur hole body into ur punch. For example the reverse punch:

 

Throw the fist out and at the same time twist ur waist into it and pivot on your back foot. Twist to the point that ur waist is actually facing 90 degrees to ur left (assuming ur punching with right fist) and ur back foot is fully pivoted.

 

Also remember to call the punch to gain that extra bit of agression and power. Finally aim through ur target, imagine that u are actually hitting behind the bag/pad/face or whatever. You must remember that 60% of the power is actually developed by ur hips and torso, develop this and u will hit hard.

Edited August 27, 2004 by Rich_2k3

[Shorin Ryuu]

Very lengthy, but this is part of an email I sent to someone when we were discussing striking methods...

 

From the instruction I received, books I've read and the incredibly lucky

 

circumstances that have allowed me to just sit and discuss martial arts

 

theory and practice with numerous 7th dans and the 8th dan head of my style

 

(Shorinkan Shorin Ryu) for North America (Doug Perry, the finest karateka I

 

know personally and one of the finest I have heard of in present times) on

 

multiple, lengthy occasions comes this method (definately not mine!).

 

I mentioned in my email to you and in other posts what I believe to be a

 

misunderstanding of the laws of physics by many karateka (Japanese AND

 

Okinawan). Most anyone will tell you power is generated from the hips

 

during the punch and thus they shoot (using the hips) the fist forward as

 

fast as possible to hit their target with the maximum force. The more

 

experienced (although this is not always true) will keep their hands relaxed

 

as it goes forward and tighten only on impact. Using the hips is not bad,

 

nor is wishing to achieve speed. However, this method of punching assumes

 

that the body is just a machine with the waist as an energy source. Those

 

with strong muscles and natural ability will always excel at this, while

 

those without it must train extremely hard to gain it. There is also only

 

one or two hip rotations in this method (save that for later).

 

However, the Shuri-Te punch in Okinawa is a bit different. I will divide

 

this into two sections. The first is in regards to the manner of execution

 

and the second is in regards to the issue of fist rotation.

 

First up...If you've read up on Okinawan karate out of curiousity or

 

whatever reason, you may hear it being described as "whip-like" or

 

"snapping". I ascribe to this, as the body is more complex than a series of

 

simple machines, which is what the above theory would have you believe.

 

With the Shorin Ryu punch, the hand is completely relaxed always, until the

 

punch pierces (I didn't say hits...) the target. The body's need to become

 

like gelatin is the best way I've heard it described. The fist travels in a

 

straight line towards the target. Initially, the fist, arm and elbow stay

 

close to the body until it reaches the center of the body. Once it has done

 

so, the fist begins its rotation to end in a 3/4 rotation (between the full

 

rotation punch and the vertical punch). I'll leave the discussion for that

 

to the next part...All this time, there is no tension whatsoever in order to

 

gain speed. Note that this speed is a constant acceleration. It is not

 

simply as fast as you can go from the get-go; it accelerates till the very

 

end, like a whip. As you come into contact with your target, your fist will

 

snap back and relax naturally as you transfer the energy into your target.

 

This is in not in contrast to the "pull with the left arm and hit with the

 

right"...rather, it is of much greater emphasis, an addition so to speak.

 

So how do you achieve the whip? Most people say "It just happens naturally

 

because you through it out there quickly and it will snap back." Close, but

 

not quite. I said there were only one, maybe two rotations on the Japanese

 

punch or more sport oriented punches. With the whip punch, there are three

 

hip movements (possibly a fourth...I am not sure on this). Once to set,

 

once to hit, once to snap back. But that's not all...if it was, that would

 

be merely an "innovation" of the modern karate punch, although perhaps that

 

terminology is misleading as it is more of a preservation of the older

 

techniques. The added bonus is the term and concept of gamaku. This is a

 

word you don't hear too often, even on Okinawa.

 

When I trained with Doug Perry for a week in his place at North Carolina, he

 

would speak incessantly of gamaku, whether it was a beginner's class, a

 

yudansha (black belt) class or the private lessons he gave me and my friend.

 

Forgive me for the added translations every once in a while, I don't want to

 

insult your intelligence but I don't want to use terms that you may or may

 

not be familiar with...

 

Anyway, I've heard gamaku referred to as the use of your hips to generate

 

power. This is incorrect! The gamaku is the use of the muscles in between

 

the lower ribs and your hips. The moment your fist comes into contact with

 

your target, you must contract, not tighten, those muscles. This is not the

 

tightening of the abs to protect yourself from blows! That is something

 

entirely different...

 

Incidentally, gamaku is also used in generating power in everything else,

 

including when you are on the ground and it is more difficult to use your

 

hips. It is an incredibly bizarre phenomenon, but I have seen Doug Perry

 

move his belt (as if you were rotating your hips to get that tell-tale snap

 

back and forth)...only his hips were stationary. He has, in my opinion,

 

mastered gamaku. It sounds akin to Chinese dan'tien manipulations, I

 

suppose, but I don't know as much about internal Chinese systems, so I won't

 

claim a relation.

 

This whip punch is best employed against targets like the head, where the

 

energy snaps into the target, causing the "loose head" to absorb it fully

 

and can really cause some internal damage rather quickly. It can easily be

 

adopted to soft targets within the body. It is not as effective in

 

attacking big sheets of muscle, but will still cause pretty good pain.

 

Finally, there is a word of warning about the whip punch...some people may

 

hyper extend their elbows practicing it as it is easy to do if you are

 

not careful...

 

Now for a section that really deserves another email on its own...the

 

three-quarters punch. Many people advocate the use of the full rotation

 

punch because they say it improves energy transfer and creates the most

 

force. Once again, I believe this to be a misconception and an idea that

 

"more is always better". Bruce Lee almost stumbled upon this when he

 

advocated his vertical punch. He was correct in surmising that the full

 

rotation punch makes the bones in the forearms cross and the energy

 

biomechanically is reduced. Furthermore, the muscles at this point start to

 

work against eachother, contracting against each other and sending the

 

energy back up along your arm. He advocated the vertical punch because it

 

developed more power due to proper alignment, etc. He almost had it right.

 

The optimal configuration is in fact the 3/4 punch, as the body just aligns

 

a little better than it does when vertical. For more on Bruce Lee's stuff,

 

I would recommend looking up the term "chinkuchi", which means one inch

 

power. I'm not a big fan of Bruce Lee, so I would prefer recommending a

 

traditional style that has practiced this "one inch power" far longer than

 

Bruce Lee did...Chinkuchi is a punch that generates much power, but is

 

slightly slower than the whip punch. Incidentally, it is better against

 

less flexible targets (the body, as opposed to the head) and you see it in

 

many traditional arts that engage in competitive sparring for that reason.

 

Goju Ryu would be an excellent place to practice this punch...I've heard it

 

may be dangerous to train heavily in both types at once, since they stress

 

different things...I don't, as either punch can be modified to hit the

 

lesser-suited target.

 

Anyway, back to the 3/4 punch. Not only is it more aligned (allowing for

 

optimal energy transfer), but it is best suited for you and worst suited for

 

your opponent. That means that simply, it is dangerous to teach the full

 

rotation punch to beginners in my opinion because the vigorous ones tend to

 

overextend and can hurt their elbows. Furthermore, there are various

 

pressure points that are vulnerable in the fully extended arm then there are

 

in the 3/4 rotation arm. (A lot of grappling positions would also prefer to

 

have a fully rotated arm to work against as well for various joint mechanics

 

reasons). It is more damaging to the opponent because the human body is

 

designed to take hits straight on (vertical punch or full rotation punch).

 

It is not designed for impact at an angle, as this allows optimal energy

 

transfer in. Just one handy example of the advantages of both the position

 

and energy transfer is the ribs. If you hit vertically or with a full

 

rotation punch, you will hit several ribs. If you use the 3/4 punch, you

 

can isolate just one and break it rather easily. Plus, it is easier to

 

access many other targets with the 3/4 punch than with the others in terms

 

of simply how it fits (in terms of a rather strange and painful puzzle piece

 

manner...). Interestingly enough, I am starting to take a jujitsu class

 

(because I want it to supplment my understanding of iaido which I am also

 

starting under the same teacher) and the instructor teaches a 3/4 punch for

 

the same above reasons. Since he teaches classical Japanese martial arts,

 

it is interesting to see that he still came to the same conclusion,

 

considering classical Japanese arts and Okinawan arts pretty much developed

 

independently, for the most part.

 

In karate, the full rotation punch was introduced when karate itself was

 

introduced in the early 1900s (1905-ish timeframe) by Okinawan instructors

 

like "Ankou" Itosu. I've already mentioned this type of stuff in my other

 

email, so I won't go into it. Suffice it to say, it was purposely watered

 

down to prevent schoolkids from seriously hurting eachother.

 

Now, after I explained all this stuff about the punch...

 

The use of the simple punch as the prevalent method of delivering power is

 

actually relatively recent. I believe for the same reasons that the full

 

rotation punch was introduced, the use of the fist in general as a large

 

majority of technique (including in kata, even) was so that it was less

 

lethal and safer to do for the beginning practitioner. Traditional Okinawan

 

styles are heavy into using the palm, various combinations of knuckles and

 

bones (on the top, side and bottom of the hand or the wrist) and fingers in

 

their hand techniques. Therefore, even the punch, which is easier to do, is

 

not even considered the classic core of fighting in Okinawa, which makes

 

sense. If Okinawan karate is supposed to be very heavy on grappling, joint

 

manipulation and pressure point manipulation, then why would they use

 

primarily only the fist?

 

But luckily, since a lot of the same principles apply in striking when not

 

using the fist, this discussion wasn't a big waste.

 

As a note, I was recently shown a book by my instructor that actually does a

 

great job of explaining some of the above concepts. After reading it, it

 

has enabled me to explain it much better than I was able to before.

 

Therefore, some of my words may ring close to his, as he is much better than

 

I. However, these concepts were in my training and discussions before I

 

even encountered this book, so it is not something "new" to me.

 

I intend to buy this book, as I only had it on loan and read it in my spare

 

time over a weekend that also encompassed a belt test...

 

Anyway, the book is entitled The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and

 

Techniques by Kiyoshi Arakaki. A great read, in my opinion. He also has an

 

interesting theory on ki, saying that energy in that regards is the

 

manipulation of the laws of gravity to your advantage. I especially want to

 

buy the book because I was only able to skim that section at best and want

 

to reread it again...

[blitzcraig]

thanks for the tips...I mean, i do know the aspects of punching and can punch rather hard with my right, but combo's and left hand punching is weak. And since i do take karate, i figure i should work on that more than just my kicks. i'll keep practicing and using you tips, thanks!

[delta1]

Shorin Ryuu, that was a pretty good post!

 

You were, in fact, getting pretty close to CMA tantien focus and movement. The big difference is karate's emphasis on moving and developing power from the hips. Movement initiates in the muscles of the lower back, right behind the tantien. This way, upper and lower body move and act in unison. True tantien focus causes you to move naturally in the way you were talking abot, using those muscles between the ribs and the pelvic girdle. And Chinese internal systems use that whiping power you talk about.

 

Qi is not useing gravity, it is an internal force. But he may be refering to being rooted. It would be interesting to read what he says in the book. Karate systems are not typically rooted, so I am curiouse as to how he might use this.

 

That was a good dissertation on the 3/4, or diamond punch. I use that punch, though not as a hard and fast rule. Often the punch chosen must fit the target.Also, relative distance, angles and posture have to be taken into account. But I almost never use a fully rotated punch. I do use a vertical punch and a thrusting, palm up punch quite a bit. But the 3/4 is my most common.

 

Good read, you might clean it up a little and submit it as an article.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

WHEW! That was a long, and very interesting read Shorin Ryuu...GOOD JOB BUD!

[Shorin Ryuu]

I can't claim any credit for that post, as it is simply what has been shown to me or what I've read. Incidentally, I've bought the book since I first wrote that email, and it can explain it in far better terms then I can. While he does mention gamaku, I thought he should have emphasized it or explained it even more than he did (although he mentions it a lot). I'm thinking about buying the Japanese version of it and seeing if there are any differences between the English and the original. The author, Kiyoshi Arakai does say that the type of fist (full rotation, 3/4, vertical) doesn't matter, but I disagree with him on this point.

 

Delta1:

 

Even though I didn't really get into it, Doug Perry is also very big on using both the the muscles you mentioned (the ones behind the back) in addition to gamaku (he separates the two, I guess)...I just don't remember what he called them so I left them out of the discussion...I'm happy if I can fully incorporate just half of what he says into my training!

 

Arakaki's section on movement made things a lot clearer to me. It was stuff my instructors have harped on me about before and things I have always tried to experiment with, but it just "clicked" even better when I read it in his book. I'm not sure if I agree with everything in the book, but I think it is one of the best that I have bought in terms of pure theory and technique. Perhaps for the benefit of all later, I might try and summarize his thoughts on movement and the like...(hopefully in a correct manner)

[Kumite2004]

ummm. you can try doing slow punching in the begging of training to get used to the right technique. then speed up. also when punching relax your hand and then squeeze b4 impact.