Maximising punch power

[elbows_and_knees]

One thing I read about punches in the book "solo training" is that when executing a roundhouse punch you should punch with your palm side of the fist pointing towards yourself instead of towards the ground (hope thats a clear explanation), its supposed to minimise the risk of wrist injury because your forearm, wrist and hand are all in line or somthing like that. Most people punch their palm side facing down which can cause injury when hitting a hard target ie. attackers face. You have to re-train yourself to hit that way and can feel strange at first.

This is exactly correct. It's not exotic thugh - just correct alignment. When the fist is horizontal, you have an increased chance of striking your opponent's chin with the last two knuckles - and they are the weakest on the hand, and thus the easiest to break. When doing a vertical hook, you are hitting with the top two, minimizing the risk of a break.

The problem with a roundhouse or hook punch is that you can't put much body weight behind the punch. Everything depends on how fast you accelerate your punching arm and fist and rotate your torso in a semi-circular direction as well the semi-circular withdrawing hand the follows a similar but opposite vector. For this reason, a stepping or lunge punch (oi zuki) or reverse punch (gyaku zuki) is more powerful when executed by one and the same person due to the biomechanical and physical force differentials involved.

I think you have your purposes mixed up - the hook is not meant to be a power punch - that's not the true strength of the hook. The hook punch snaps the head in such a way that the brain rattles in the skull. It causes knockouts. The hook is responsible for most of the KOs in boxing. When it comes to basic punching, you have your probing / defensive punch, the jab. Then, you have the power shot - the cross. Next is the infighting, KO producer - the hook, and the infighting set up punch - the uppercut.

Also, I don't think the lack of power is due to the inability to get the body behind it - it's the narrow arc. A hook punch is a very small, close range strike. The wider version - the haymaker - is much more powerful because it has a wider arc with which to generate power.

[elbows_and_knees]

So, trust a website over people that actually train, watch and coach the stuff?

A cross goes straight down the center off the rear leg.

you are actually both correct. it IS a straight line punch, but it DOES go over the opponent's punch. when you get into counter fighting, you learn how to apply that. It's all about making angles on your opponent.

Think about focus mitts - when you are fed a jab, the mitt is directly in front of you.when you feed a cross, you are hitting the mitt on the opposite side of your body. Why do you think this is? Why do you not hit the mitt directly in front, as you do with a jab?

[AndrewGreen]

Yes, that's where it gets is name is that it crosses over the jab, but it doesn't have to be a counter punch to be a cross.

As for the mits, that's also safety, if it doesn't cross the body you risk catching your feeder in the face

[Skeptic 2004]

This is exactly how my sensei has taught me. I thought this was the way everyone learned.

Well, Infidel, consider yourself lucky because I haven't met too many people familiar with this type of punching methodology. It is (or at least is supposed to be) a Shorin-Ryu methodology derived from Chosin Chibana's punching method...who learned this punching method from Itosu. When my instructor trained with Chibana, he watched Chibana punch makiwara for an hour one day and figured out what it was that made Chibana's punch so powerful. The two discussed it afterwards and he's been punching this way ever since. I've heard Shotokan guys say on these forums that they punch this same way, but what I've seen other Shotokan guys do in the flesh is very different. It's not as ubiquitous as you or I thought it would be.

[lgm]

I think you have your purposes mixed up - the hook is not meant to be a power punch - that's not the true strength of the hook. The hook punch snaps the head in such a way that the brain rattles in the skull. It causes knockouts. The hook is responsible for most of the KOs in boxing. When it comes to basic punching, you have your probing / defensive punch, the jab. Then, you have the power shot - the cross. Next is the infighting, KO producer - the hook, and the infighting set up punch - the uppercut.

Also, I don't think the lack of power is due to the inability to get the body behind it - it's the narrow arc. A hook punch is a very small, close range strike. The wider version - the haymaker - is much more powerful because it has a wider arc with which to generate power.

Sorry, elbows_and_knees, but I did not write the quote above that you attributed to me, buddy:

Please edit and give credit where credit is due. TY

[lgm]

http://lannamuaythai.com/thaiboxing/straight_01.html

That's a cross.

Based on the website you pointed to, according to Lanna Muay Thai Boxing, a "cross" punch is a "straight" punch aimed at the chin or solar plexus. I can understand why it is called a straight punch because the punching arm and fist travels a straight line towards the target (chin or solar plexus). But, why do they call it "cross" when it doesn't cross any imaginary trajectory or it does not travel across the body in its trajectory, as revealed in the accompanying photo shown there to illustrate it.

This is in contrast to Answers.com's definition of a "cross" as being the same as a "hook" punch, where the use of the term "cross" is appropo because the trajectory of the punch crosses the body, as it travels at right angles from one side to the opposite side. I find this definition more accurate and logical in its lexical usage. But, I think, I need to research some more to find out which is which.

Do a little more searching around if you like...

I will.

[AndrewGreen]

Stand in front of someone with the same lead, have them stick out a jab, you stick out a cross. They will cross over each other.

[lgm]

Stand in front of someone with the same lead, have them stick out a jab, you stick out a cross. They will cross over each other.

If someone with the same lead stick out a jab and you also stick out a jab, your jab will cross his jab too, would your punch not qualify as a cross punch, based on your explanation of a punch "cross[ing] over each other"? Somewhat confusing to me.

Just speculating, but "cross" punch in Muay Thai boxing seems to mean "reverse" punch in karate. Let me explain.

A "jab" in Muay Thai boxing or Shotokan karate (kizami zuki) is a straight-line punch in an in-place stance where the punching arm is the same as the lead foot. On the other hand, "reverse" punch (gyaku zuki) in Shotokan karate is also a straight-line punch in an in-place stance but the punching arm is opposite or reverse that of the lead foot. This seems to be the same "cross" punch in Muay Thai boxing, as seen in the website, http://lannamuaythai.com/thaiboxing/straight_01.html

Am I right or wrong in my speculation? As I said earlier, I'm no expert in boxing.

[Goju_boi]

it's the same punch just done differently

[Infidel]

This is exactly how my sensei has taught me. I thought this was the way everyone learned.

Well, Infidel, consider yourself lucky because I haven't met too many people familiar with this type of punching methodology. It is (or at least is supposed to be) a Shorin-Ryu methodology derived from Chosin Chibana's punching method...who learned this punching method from Itosu. When my instructor trained with Chibana, he watched Chibana punch makiwara for an hour one day and figured out what it was that made Chibana's punch so powerful. The two discussed it afterwards and he's been punching this way ever since. I've heard Shotokan guys say on these forums that they punch this same way, but what I've seen other Shotokan guys do in the flesh is very different. It's not as ubiquitous as you or I thought it would be.

I see. Being new to karate, I'm fairly ignorant to the way others do things. All I know is that we punch just as was described earlier. We point the index and middle finger knuckles at the target (fist is at an angle for alignment). We also have a "snap" to our moves. These traits are from our lineage. They are what I see as "normal" since they are all I know at this point in my training.