"Sharp" punches

[JusticeZero]

What I had heard at one point was that the rear heel should stomp down into the floor at the moment of a punch, much in the same way as the tightening of the fist.

[joesteph]

The lead punch in Jeet Kune Do essentially does this with the lead foot, JusticeZero. I hadn't heard of the rear foot's heel doing this. Is the idea based on "equal and opposite"?

[Kuma]

I wouldn't necessarily say "stomp", but for more traditional techniques (i.e. oi tsuki from zenkutsu dachi, or a lead punch from a front stance), there's a lot of people who at the last second straighten out their rear leg and drive the heel of the rear leg into the ground for an opposite reaction much like a hikite (chamber). In this way your stance suddenly becomes more stable so when you do hit, any secondary energy effects your opponent more and not you (because you're more immovable than they are).

[bushido_man96]

I have no argument with Mr Rutten either (thank goodness), however I see karate movement as being slightly different to boxing - mainly because of the combined use of the greater variety of techniques that are in karate.

In boxing the only weapons you have are your hands, so the use of movement and its extent is limited to what you are able to do with your hands. Factor into this the facts that these guys are wearing gloves to take the sting out the punch, and they are conditioned to receive these blows - this in turn drives a requirement for the boxer to develop even more powerful punches – and thus the cycle continues.

Yes, Karate and Boxing differ in respects to the amount of techniques that each has and uses, but principally, I think that much of the power application and use of combination movements is the same.

Also, although the link is to a Boxing workout, I have also seen links of Mr. Rutten putting his hand strikes together with kicking techniques, and vise versa. Boxing and kicking can work well together, too.

And before the advent of the heavier gloves in the Boxing of today, Boxing did utilize many more techniques. Even throws were common, and the strategies would have varied somewhat, due to the fact of hitting with bare knuckles rather than gloved hands. I think the body attacking strategy probably ruled more then than it does now.

[Kuma]

BM is correct. Because of the lack of hand protection, if a quick KO didn't end the fight, as the rounds wore on it often turned more into a wrestling match. They would often wrestler back and forth to get their opponent into position for "choppers" (hammerfists) and use throws such as the cross-buttocks throw to score a knockdown. Some of those fights were LONG too. Longest fight was in 1855, 110 rounds of 3 minutes, or a little over 7 hours! (Ended in a draw too ironically as both boxers were just about dead)

[sensei8]

Any technique executed without the proper useage of ones hips is uneffective! While snap is a part of any techniques totality, it's still just one piece of the puzzle. Yet, any individual portion of any said technique is empty without ones hips. Yes, I can drive with my legs, yes I can snap my techique at the very last moment, yes I can maintain proper posture/balance, yet, while a technique might be noticeable, any technique without hips is wasted motion as well as its [technique] only recognized as a 'period' at the end of any sentence, but, an 'exclamation' at the end of any sentence isn't forgotten soon.

[sensei8]

What I had heard at one point was that the rear heel should stomp down into the floor at the moment of a punch, much in the same way as the tightening of the fist.

I've never understood the useage of a stomp at the moment of any punch in the martial arts. To me, this methodology seems to only gimmick a punch as seen in Pro-Wrestling [WWE] for its own reason; uneffective for the purity of the technique but vivid for the theatrics alone. In the 4 decades plus that I've been in the martial arts, I've yet to see proof in the effectiveness of stomping at the moment of a punch. Why? Most of the time the stomp/heel is lifted way to high. Why? An over zealous practitioner might be possible. Imho, I've only seen the stomp diminish any said punch, if nothing else, the stomp might, maybe, could be used as a distraction device.

[Wa-No-Michi]

Any technique executed without the proper useage of ones hips is uneffective! While snap is a part of any techniques totality, it's still just one piece of the puzzle. Yet, any individual portion of any said technique is empty without ones hips. Yes, I can drive with my legs, yes I can snap my techique at the very last moment, yes I can maintain proper posture/balance, yet, while a technique might be noticeable, any technique without hips is wasted motion as well as its [technique] only recognized as a 'period' at the end of any sentence, but, an 'exclamation' at the end of any sentence isn't forgotten soon.

Hi sensei8,

Yep hips are absolutely key... as is biomechanical structure, good kenetic linkage, movement and focus (or "snap" if you like) etc., etc..

In isolation however, they become less powerful. They key to the generating of the op's "snap" he is seeking IMO is in the timing of all of these facets - Kime??

WNM

[ShoriKid]

JusticeZero,

The heel isn't usually "stomped" so much as "dropped" to the floor. As the hips line up and everything comes into place, if your ina zenkutsu dachi, the rear heel will plant itself as you punch. Or should. It isn't really pushing either so much as grounding out the punch. It provides the stability to your technique and takes the give out of your stance.

Kuma,

I thought the 110 rounder was in New Orleans near the end of the bareknuckle erra in the 1890s? Nice thing to recall is that, I did a paper on the boxing heroes of the late 1800s/early 1900s years back, many of those fights were still fought under the London Prize rules. A round lasts until a "fall" or knock down. So a round could go 30 seconds, or 8 minutes, it didn't matter. As long as you could come to scratch, you could fight.

Sensei8,

Hip movement, not neccisarily rotation, is needed for good technique to be complete in many cases. However, it's cyclical. Without good upper body mechanics and relaxation, the power of the hips is cut off. Without good balance and transition, the power of the hips is lost as it transfers all over without being deposited in the target. A good engine is nice to have in your sports car, but without the suspension and steering to handle that power, it's not much good to you.

[joesteph]

Without good upper body mechanics and relaxation, the power of the hips is cut off. Without good balance and transition, the power of the hips is lost as it transfers all over without being deposited in the target.

These are my banes, ShoriKid. I'm always tense in the upper body, especially the traps. As for balance, it's not that I lean improperly if throwing a punch, but that if I have to do a lot of turning--not even spinning--such as in doing a form, I have to do it slower than others in class or else my balance goes off and I'm wobbling when I complete the turn.

A good engine is nice to have in your sports car, but without the suspension and steering to handle that power, it's not much good to you.

A good example. A very good one. (Grammarians out there . . . Is this a metaphor?)