Punch Power! (Hi-Yah!)
 

Even though i've pretty much completely stopped all martial arts training, i still do some of the exercises at home.

I stretch every other day. After that i lift some light weights (even though thats not exactly something you do in martial arts class) then i drop to my knuckles and do some push ups..usually until my arms feel like jelly.

I was just wondering. Which muscles are used to make your punch pack more of a wallop (besides your legs, of coarse.) Which muscles should i be working on.?

oh, and how could i make my punches quicker?

Edit: sorry is i posted this in the wrong section. i was a little confused as to if i should place this thread here, or in the how-to section.

Hm, I always assumed it was a matter of practice, though having stronger and flexible muscles probably doesn't hurt.

I googled "improve punching power" and found something decent over at http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/fb/fbpower.html It's some basic advice, no special workouts or anything.

From the article: "One last point for you, is that you have to develop your kinesthetic perception if you really want to be able to hit with power. There is a correct sequence of muscular contractions for every punch, every kick, which happens very quickly in rapid succession. In addition to contractions, there is a correct series of RELEASES (very important) -- i.e. when a certain muscle in the chain has done its job, and now needs to let go before it starts to hinder your function."

nice, thanks.

I'm no martial artist, but I'm sure there is an ideal striking distance as well. If you move your arm in a punching motion, there must be a point in its travel where it is travelling at its fastest and therefore most powerful.

I improved my punch power by purchasing a hand gun.

Just punch the guy in the adam's apple, the bridge of the nose, the solar plexes, or the collar bone. You don't need much force to brake those.

Useful article, EvilBeefChan. Nice.

I do American Freestyle Karate and have knocked people out with punches. I've also been beat down more times than I can count. I know a little.

Key to success? The moment of contact should have the arm at half extension. Full extension is used to "push through the target" and transfer the energy of the hit. Hits at full extension don't have much "oomph" to 'em. Hits that aren't extended enough are easily diverted as they lack momentum.

A twisting motion in the fist is also useful to obtain hit power. Don't just do "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots" punches (straight out and back), really rifle your fist from the thumbs-towards-your-ears defensive position out to the punch-in-the-face-palm-down position, with most of the twist right at the moment of half-arm-extension impact. Really makes a huge difference. Remember to anchor your foot and pivot on the back foot, throwing your weight into the punch with your whole body.

Speed: Exhale forcefully with each punch. Breathing is easy to forget and critical to maintaining quickness.

Safety: Don't fully lock out your elbow regardless of impact or not. Train yourself to react to misses.

...

Muscles to work? Triceps. Pecs. Traps. Delts.

...

Leg position forms the strong foundation that all good punches come from... but I won't get into that.

You're doing it wrong. Those things shoot bullets.

A few tips from an old man.

The best way to win any fight is by a good 100 yards. Even fights I've won I've gotten hurt in.
Never use your fists till your feet bleed.
The best way to develop power is practice, practice, practice.

For speed.... I reckon it's about the trunk, chest and arm. You need triceps to push it out - and you need bicep and back strength to pull it back in martial arts style (I'm thinking drills without bags here). Without a bag.... it's quite a shock to stop that thing and pull it back. Especially if you get silly and practice hundreds of them and you are out of shape (I learnt the hard way).

I've never worked on power as such, but on the speed issue - I think that doing some benching, some pushups and trunk work is ideal. Then ease up on that and go concentrate on 1,2, 3 and 4 punch drills.

What I'm saying is that I found weights useful, but it's when you take a break that the speed really appears. It's as if the muscles finally get a chance to fully recover, and your nerves get a chance to get used to the weight.

On power/wallop? Well that's not my area (I've done traditional KF and weights years back). Maybe somebody else would know. We didn't do much bag-work and I'm sure that bag-works is important eh.

Tell you what, working out at a boxing gym is useful. Watch those guys and you'll get some idea. Lots of bag-work, lots of sit-ups, twist-situps. Lots of combos and lots of pushups, with claps. They are real tough-nuts.