Staying Relaxed

[Jay]

I was just wondering if any of you guys have any tips for staying relaxed when performing kicks and punches. Im not especially good at this and really need help even though I have been doing martial arts for a long time I still tense way too much, both mentally and physically. I think my need to punch faster actually harms my speed. When punching in combinations I tend to be fine just top speed single movements I find hard.

[isshinryu5toforever]

If you have the time, do a few thousand at one time. You'll tire yourself out to the point that you'll be forced to use proper body mechanics. You'll go from clean looking, but forced, to tired and forced, to just plain sloppy and forced, to using your body the right way to make it look right. That's about the time when you start using your body right, and they'll probably be more correct than your first few hundred. Remember the feeling. You'll start punching with your hips and your feet instead of punching with your hand and your arm. It won't "feel" as fast, because you're putting less effort into it.

[Lupin1]

When I try to stay relaxed for physical things (usually singing) I've found that the key to my entire body's relaxation is in my shoulders. If I force myself to release the tension in shoulders and keep them nice and low, the rest of my body just follows. May not work for everyone, but it helped me.

[Kuma]

Instead of closed fists, try open handed strikes. Work more on flowing with the techniques than powering through. Technique, then speed, then power.

[KarateGeorge]

Along the lines of Kuma's advice, I'd add that when doing closed fist techniques, to help with staying relaxed, keep the first loose until just before the moment of impact, tensing it up at that point into a tightly held fist. But yes, definitely work on technique first, the rest comes afterwards.

[bushido_man96]

I think everyone who has chimed in has given good advise so far, and you can't go wrong with trying any of these ideas. I think that starting out slow, and trying to feel where the tensing is will help as you begin to speed up. Kuma's technique, then speed, then power idea should help with that.