question about punching

[username8517]

In this instance, I don't think you can relate the punching arm to those of other 'straight line' principles. The body just works a little differently.

If the arm has a slight bend, I don't think that all that much power will be lost. As long as the fist is traveling in a straight line towards the target, then the power will be applied. I think that this is why a hook punch can be effective, although the arm is not straight.

Absolutely the body is different than the examples I given as those are rigid inanimate objects and the body is a living and breathing thing. But the principles behind them are the same. It's all using physics to your body's advantage effectively. We do it everyday in MA--from stances to blocks to strikes.

I'm sorry if I came across sounds as if to say that a bend in the elbow is wrong, as that was not my intention. I was trying to show my reasoning behind keeping the elbow straight during impact--less of a chance of losing power.

And can a bend in the elbow still pack a powerful punch--sure--just like a hook punch as you mention. But I'd be willing to bet that if the same person punched both ways, utilizing the same the same factors in generating power (hips, shoulders, rotation, timing, etc) and the effects were gauged using sceintific instruments, that more power would be delivered using a straight line approach over one with a slight curve.

[stejitsu]

Never lock yr arm out whilst punching straight. Its not good for your joints. Why lock yr arm out in the first place it makes no sense at all! Whilst locking your arm out you tighten all your muscle groups and this gives you a powerful feeling. This is bad, try to remain loose whilst punching that way you can punch in a flowing manner and become faster and more powerful. When a whip strikes it is flexible and fast and hurts like hell. Best example i remember was training with a 3rd dan whilst i was a not even 1st degree. His coach pulled him over and asked him not to train with me. He was the higher grade but i was faster and was all over him like a rash. He never liked it, made him look bad. I thought it was funny as it was not an issue until the 3rd dan's own instructor made it one. Oh yes i train a progressive style of wing chun i thought i should mention.

[username8517]

Never lock yr arm out whilst punching straight. Its not good for your joints. Why lock yr arm out in the first place it makes no sense at all! Whilst locking your arm out you tighten all your muscle groups and this gives you a powerful feeling. This is bad, try to remain loose whilst punching that way you can punch in a flowing manner and become faster and more powerful. When a whip strikes it is flexible and fast and hurts like hell.

I think perhaps there is some misunderstanding of the point I am trying to make or I have not been clear enough in my efforts. When I talk of locking your arm out, I am meaning the mere moments preceeding impact. I'm not saying that you should lock your arm out halfway through the punch and keep it that way until it's halfway back (exaggerations on my part). But merely to stablize and solidify your straight punch for the immediate impact. The key part of this is that I am only referring to straight punches, I do not advocate trying to lock your arm on any kind of hooks, uppercuts, haymakers, or any other kind of attacks that are not traveling in a straight line.

However, you do need to tighten your muscles for a punch, regardless to whether you lock out your elbow or not. Without tightening your muscles you won't have a tight fist and I think we can all agree you don't want to hit with a soft or open fist

As far as not locking your elbow out being bad for your joints, I do not know if I completely agree with you here. Is it possible to damage your elbows if the move is not executed properly--yes damage could occur. However you can hurt yourself doing any more incorrectly.

Also I've stated in previous posts, that locking your arm out creates a straight line in your bone formation from the knuckle to the shoulder. This straight line has two benefits over an arm with a slight bend at the elbow.

1). Allows for more kinetic energy generate from your body to be transferred to the fist as the path from your shoulder is a straight line. Having even a slight 5 to 10 degree bend between the upper arm and forearm will effectively send some of kinetic energy in a slightly different direction than your fist.

 

2). Upon impact, the force your hand and arm will receive will have more surface area, mass, and density to dispurse across. Once again, by having a slight bend in the elbow will cause slightly more energy to be retained in the forearm.

To get an visual of how this energy will impact your arm when striking and as energy is absorbed back into your arm, perform the following simple experiment:

Take your left hand (palm side down) and stick out all your fingers in a straight line, fingers pressed pressed together. Now curls all your fingers back except your index finger so you're effectively pointing down the same line as your first knuckle as if you were punching. This finger will represent your knuckle and forearm. Take your right hand and do exactly the same. This will represent your upper arm. Now place your right index finger directly behind your first knuckle on your left hand (the bones slant in towards your wrist so you'll have to come back from the knuckle about an inch or so, depending on the size of your hand, to get a straight line). Angle the fingers so they're facing exactly the same way in one straight line and thrust them forward at a hard surface with enough power to generate a bit of force (but not enough to hurt yourself or damage your target obviously). You'll notice you fingers are abruptly stopped, but yet retain their straight line.

Now repeat the same thrusting maneuver with your right finger pointing in towards the left and slightly angled (imagine creating a V between your hand bone that slants in and your right index finger). Upon contact you'll notice you're left finger is stopped against the target and your right finger actually kicks in towards the target a bit. Once again, repeat the same maneuver with your right finger pointing the opposite way than the last time--basically running parrallel with the way your hand bone slants in. Upon striking the target you will notice that once again your left finger is stopped against the target and your right hand continues along the path, along the same line of the angle it was at.

However, I completely agree with the remainder of the post. In fact, I often use a bullwhip as an example when I explain why generating speed is so important.