Getting Power And Speed With Vertical Fist Punch?

[isshinryuwarrior]

Isshinryu. They Punch with there fist vertical, not horizontal, I'm sure quite a few of you know this. Thing is, I feel like my punches are extremely weak, slow and ineffective. I know I'm still new at this, how ever is there any advice to work on my technique?

 

Thank you

[isshinryu5toforever]

The punch comes from the hips more than from the shoulder. The more and more punches you throw, the more you'll figure this out. Experience is the only way to get better. I probably threw tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of punches on my way to becoming a black belt. The Isshin-Ryu punch is very fast, powerful, and penetrating once it is done right. You just need to throw more punches, and get a feel for the mechanics of it.

[isshinryuwarrior]

Thought so.

[pineapple]

The most common problem that I see are people tensing their body at the beginning of the punch. To throw a fast punch, you much remain relaxed and tense your body only upon impact.

 

Power comes from hip rotation.

[ps1]

vert. fist, horiz. fist, dosen't really matter. Your instructor will guide you on proper technique. However, he/she will follow a very important sequence in doing so. This is because it will take you, quite literally, thousands upon thousands of punches before your body begins to be accustom to the basic movements. When your instructor sees this happen, he/she will begin teaching you the fine details.

 

Remember, speed will come later. Practice technique, when technique is good you can add speed, when both technique and speed are there, the technique will be powerful.

 

Take your thumb and bring it close to the tip of your index finger, don't let them touch. There should be a very small space between them. That small space represents the little things you will learn. DON'T EVER FORGET THEM. You see, those little things...they make the difference between good and great.

[isshinryuwarrior]

So essentially it's a matter of alot of practice and falling into it mostly on my own with guidance from my instructor?

[Kempohands]

So essentially it's a matter of alot of practice and falling into it mostly on my own with guidance from my instructor?

 

Exactly, correct technique must come first. Power and speed will come with practice.

[Nick_UKWC]

The Wing Chun punch is thrown with a vertical fist, and I agree it does feel very odd to start with. As everyone else said, have faith and follow your instructor.

 

Practise as much as you can and make sure your technique is right, don't let that slip for speed or power. Those things will come with time.

[Shorin Ryuu]

One of the reasons I think the vertical fist is powerful is because of the elbow pointing down. Regardless of whether you have a vertical, 3/4 or full turn punch, I always think the elbow should be down regardless.

 

Many people fall into the trap of either full extension or not enough extension. You should be able to punch well enough at all ranges, but if you intend to punch at a certain distance and punch at a closer distance than you intend to (if that makes sense) then it will not be as powerful. Over-extension is just bad because you use up a lot of the springing power the action of extending the joint and levering the arm improperly.

 

Once you really get the rough mechanics down (weeks, months), try to experiment with not only having hip rotation on the "launching" part of the movement, but also significant hip rotation (doesn't mean large or exaggerated, but significant) on the retraction on impact as well.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

The most common problem that I see are people tensing their body at the beginning of the punch.

 

Agreed.

To throw a fast punch, you much remain relaxed and tense your body only upon impact.

 

Agreed.

Power comes from hip rotation.

 

Although you do gain more power from rotating your hips, you lose your defensive posture because you are overcommitting to the strike. It's fine if you make contact...but miss or get blocked, you're SCREWED!