Punching Tips
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- Power is lost in the joints. Power is lost in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Bones are perfect transmitters of force, but where one bone ends and another begins is where power is lost. Misaligned, over-tensed, or under-tensed joints will lessen your power. People who wing their punches tend to lose power at the shoulder and elbow. People who bend their wrist when they hook tend to lose the power of that punch at the wrist.
- Elbow. Keep elbow close to the body so that the direction of the strike is parallel to the movement of the centerline of the body. Otherwise, the force of the impact will stop at the elbow and cause injury rather than being reflected back to and absorbed by the body.
- Do not lock the elbows. When throwing linear punches, do not to lock your elbows. If your elbow locks upon impact, it will have a pushing effect and rob you of critical power. If the elbow is locked, it means the punch has stopped. If the elbow is still bent on impact, it means the punch is stilling accelerating.
- Apply full power. To apply full power, rotate shoulder into the punch, then the hip, and then the rear foot.
- Straight line. For linear punches, the fist moves in straight line to the target and then back along the same line to the guard position. Keep the elbow behind the fist; do not arc the punch.
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