hello iv been involved in karate for about 6 years, i want some ideas of what i can do in my daily life to help my karate, i already train at home aswell at training at a dojo 3-6 times a week. i want to improve my power upon impact, i can do the technique right but i am only a teenager. i can however make the adults bend over gasping for air with the right punch or kick during sparring. i have not hit anyone full contact but i lack confidence in my ability to know that if i ever did need to use it, it would work effectively. so i am wondering what i can do to increase my kicking/ punching power. i know strength has nothing to do with it but i need to build abit of bulk so when i do make contact iv got abit more behind me to follow through better. what things do you guys do at home to increase the karate-ka's power?

Strength has nothing to do with it?? It does.

And you've just gotta practice. You keep kicking, practice the technique daily, without a punching bag or the like and with it. That is the only way to make your kicks/punchs as powerful as possible (I mean that without it, it isn't going to work).

Practice PATIENCE! Keep practicing correctly, listen to what your instructor says to you; and before long, you'll be scaring your hanging bag to death.

I agree with some strength training. Also, some bag work will help with developing power, and seeing some feedback on the power you've got.

I agree, time spent in skill work will pay dividends for sure. So will some strenght training.

Additionally, think about doing some work with resistive bands. You can buy a harness for punching that provides resistance or construct your own for much less.

There are also plenty of conditioning work you could do that would work the explosive factor of your striking. For instance, push ups over a medicine ball, even done plyometrically will help.

I wouldn't rule out strength training - and it sounds like you're going to start that anyway. I would think that striking a heavy bag would be a good way to increase power. Of course it is hard to to that at home for most folks. You might do some push-ups, or even push-ups with a clap to work on your explosive power.

The heavy bag is a good idea, but how old are you? You said you're a teenager. If you're in your mid-teens, your body isn't fully developed yet. Let your body develop, then worry about power.

Everyone wants to be powerful right away. I was doing Karate as they were developing all these ideas about bone development and such. I got powerful very quickly as a young teen, but I'm about 2 or 3 inches shorter than I should be according to my doctor because of repeated heavy impact to my bones. I don't care about my height, because I'm not under 5'6" but it's just one example of the things you can do to your body by pushing it too far too fast.

Isshinryu5toforever makes a good point about starting too young. Especially with heavy weight training there are studies that indicate you may limit growth of long bones. I'm not sure if hitting a heave bag, especially in moderation, would have the same affect. You should probably check with your pediatrician of family practice doctor before going hog wild.

When you're young, bones are soft, the hard impact of hitting a heavy bag does them no favors. That's why kids aren't supposed to do knuckle pushups. I'm glad they figured all this out after I was already in my late teens

What's the difference between knuckle push-ups and palm push-ups when it comes to growing? It wouldn't change the weight or pressure on the long bones.