Elements of Punching, 3

Continued from "Elements of Punching, 2"

This discussion originated with a question about why certain martial arts/self defense instructors say that it takes months or years to learn to punch effectively. I've shown that some of the reason lies in the necessity of training the body's coordination to develop speed and power.

Some of the Eastern arts, slow down the student's development by elevating form over function. The teach traditional punches which are less effective. Roger Koo of Koo Self Defense comments:

The instructor of those arts is always correcting the student for perfection. At Koo Self Defense, we are not concerned with how pretty the students can look, but by how much power they can generate, and that they are not hurting themselves in the process.

Koo trains his students to punch by devoting 20-30 minutes of every one-hour training session to power punching heavy bags, body shields and focus mitts. The student learns to feel the effectiveness of his punches and make his own corrections. This accelerates the learning curve.

Master Koo says,

That is why the training at Koo Self Defense is Self Corrective, If you punch, or kick wrong you will feel it. Koo Self Defense beginners are taught techniques considered by most martial art organizations to be for advanced students only. For example, what we explained earlier in about other martial arts teaching boxing punches to only Brown Belts above. The round punch (hook) for instance, which is the same punch most street attackers would use, is taught from day one at Koo Self Defense, allowing the student to cultivate this technique from the very beginning rather withholding it until he or she has reached the so called advanced level. As well as using the bare knuckle which takes some time to develop the proper wrist conditioning, our beginners are also taught to deliver the hook using their palms. This is very effective especially for women and children. Within one month of training, all beginners have doubled their hand power.

So, my prescription for the short path to speed and power is to use the training exercises I gave you in "Elements of Punching, 2" and then spend significant time beating the stuffing out of a heavy bag or body shield.

Also, did you notice what he said about hitting with the palm? That leads right into my next point.