Principle 6 - Power Punching

6. All techniques should utilize maximum body weight. This involves striking with forward movement

Our system recognizes that in the first instance it is often difficult to deliver and perform powerful strikes. To align the hips and transfer weight forward can be extremely difficult in the first moments of dealing with an assault, especially if you are not just figuratively, caught on the back foot. This is why we advocate fast strikes to the eyes, throat and groin that can be delivered using hand speed alone, that requires little or no power/force to have effect i.e. a poor eye strike will be much more effective than a poorly delivered punch. After these initial quick strikes to soft targets have been delivered the necessary power strikes, that will finish a fight, can be executed. Whilst an eye strike can disrupt an assailant and cause “psychological” confusion it is not really a finishing move. Power strikes using punches, knees and elbows etc are required to achieve this end/aim. This is not to say power strikes can’t be delivered as initial attacks or responses rather that they require a higher level of skill and technique, which can be difficult to achieve at the very first moments of an attack.

I wrote the list of principles 10 years ago and the idea of setting everything up from quick, fast non-power strikes was not an idea I’d really worked out. I’d used these strikes before in real-life encounters but had never “found” a place for them; they were things I did in specific instances, such as when dealing with multiple assailants – using a quick eye strike to disrupt one person whilst focusing my attention on another. I’d never really systemized their use. I now understand that I used eyes strikes, throat grabs and groin flicks as entry points in to other things, such as fists, elbows and knees. I now advocate their use as primary assaults to set up secondary power strikes where the opportunity to generate forward movement can be difficult; which is normally when being first attacked.

For any strike to have power there has to be forward movement, either through use of the hips that turns/shifts weight forward or by literally stepping/moving the body forward. Using the arm and shoulder alone to generate power in a punch is utilizing maybe 10-15% of the potential force that can be generated. The masters of the “linear punch” are without doubt Japanese/Okinawan Karateka. If Karate has a speciality it is the straight punch, often delivered with a step, as well as with a turn of the hips i.e. with forward movement. This is how bodyweight is added to a punch – in fact it should be this movement which starts the punch’s journey.

The problem students often have is that they overplay this body shift, especially when delivering strikes using the rear hand (for a right handed person in a left leading stance this rear hand is their right). Often when people first start to throw these strikes, they throw out their rear hand so far that their rear (right) foot lifts up from the floor and they are literally balanced on their front foot, with not only 100% of their weight on it but their rear foot somewhere of the ground. If you are working/holding pads for someone who does or is doing this you should point out the need to correct this – don’t do it on every occasion but mention it at regular intervals until the person corrects it.

Whilst the weight should shift towards the front leg when striking, the rear leg must remain on the ground – in traditional martial arts the heel never lifts; Krav Maga uses a more boxing style stance and movement, so for us the heel can lift HOWEVER weight should still remain planted in the toes. In fact the rear punch should be delivered from the toes, with the definite feel of the hip being pushed forward as the leg extends against the “pressure” of the ground. This is how you remain rooted in a strike whilst still moving the weight forward.

It is a lack of the idea of the punch being pushed that often leads to the arm being over-extended, whilst the foot comes off of the ground. If when you are working the pads and throwing your rear hand your emphasis is simply on reaching and making contact with the target you will often find yourself judging the success of your strike by the speed at which it hits the pad and not the power it generates. Although you want a quick strike you need for there to be body movement behind the punch and not for the strike to be simply pulling the body behind it. If you are going to be throwing a hard power strike you need it to be effective as a power strike and not simply as one that makes contact – this is where the fast, light strikes to vulnerable targets come in.

Next time you work the pads make sure your range is appropriate for delivering strikes that allow the body to shift its weight forward without making it lean so far forward that the rear foot leaves the floor. In fact make sure you can sense the ground beneath your foot as this will give you the feeling of being rooted and not over-committed.

The next time you train try to put these principles into action and not settle for a strike that simply makes contact.