The Liver Punch Knockout

While I still prefer the palm heel strike over the closed fist, I have come to appreciate the superiority of the close fist when it comes to blows to the torso. In today's post, I want you to consider knockout by a punch to the liver.

Although the narration comes from the perspective of biological evolution rather than creative design, the following video provides an excellent explanation of how and why a blow to the liver can incapacitate or even cause unconsciousness.

CAUTION: (You may want to skip this one if anatomically correct illustrations violate your viewing code.)

Elements of Punching, 4

Continued from "Elements of Punching, 3"

Why would a martial arts/self defense instructor say that it may take months, or even years, to learn to punch correctly? So far, I've discussed the body dynamics that go into developing punching speed and power. I also showed that modern methods of instruction abbreviate the learning curve.

Now, let's consider the most critical aspect of a punch -- the fist. As I have written in other places, the hand is finely designed, with small bones that are comparatively more delicate than the larger bones of the body. Because of this, a punch to your opponent's cheek bone, forehead or the point of his chin often results in broken hand bones.

It is for this reason that boxers wrap their hands and put on boxing gloves. The layers of padding protect their hands and allow them to punch harder than would be advisable in a bareknuckle match. (Even with all the padding, boxers sometimes break their hands in the ring.)

Thus, traditional martial arts place emphasis on correct punching form. You must learn to align your hand and forearm to protect the bones in your wrist, for example. Karate students must also learn to strike with the first two knuckles in order, not only to concentrate power, but to assure that the path of force will not damage the hand.

Finally, the martial arts student must learn to make a tight fist. As my Shito-Ryu instructor used to say, "You have to squeeze all the air out of your fist. It is not easy to do this to the degree required to keep the hand bones safe.

Also, the student must learn to keep his arms loose and supple while keeping his hands tightly clenched. Not easy.

Since all of these elements of making a fist and punching do not come naturally, it takes time to train oneself to do each one separately, and more time to do them all at once. Then you have to remember to maintain all the elements while executing various kinds of punches.

For this reason, I would say that learning to punch without hurting yourself is the single most time-consuming aspect of punch training. And that's why I prefer to train open hand strikes. They're safer to use, and they have a shorter learning curve.

Man Punches Girl in McDonald's: Video

You've probably heard the story, and you may even have seen the footage from the security cameras. A man who had two children with him cut in front of a teenage girl who also had two younger girls with her. She reportedly cussed him out, and he punched her.



I've tried to stop the video at each punch, which I found very difficult. To me, it looks as though the first punch -- right hook over the heads of the younger girls -- misses or just grazes the teen girl. It looks as though he follows that with a left hook, which I believe connects -- from the way the girl's head snaps back.

As she's falling, he moves in to uncork another right. (The guy's a real sweetheart, isn't he?)

Are there observations, conclusions or lessons to draw from this incident? Let me mention just three to get the ball rolling, and see what others you may come up with.

1) Observation: The jerk in this video is a predator. He may be a family man, but he ruthlessly and relentlessly pursues the girl until she goes to the ground. The very fact that he cut in line in front of young girls is a danger signal. This guy is present oriented and will do what he can get away with, unless he perceives an external authority that can and will make him behave. The teen girl ain't it.

2) Conclusion: Avoid confrontations with this type. If all he wants is a place at the head of the line, let him have it. And if he's doing it just to provoke you into a fight, then he's really dangerous. Leave, if you can. Your macho ego will likely lead to x-rays, stitches and possibly death.

3) Lesson: If you cannot avoid a physical exchange, then do not do what the teen girl did. The orc punched from a distance, so she leaned away from the punch. That put her off balance and set her up for his followup blows. Learn the combat wedge and use it in situations like this.

Okay, I could say more, but now let's open the floor for your observations, conclusions and lessons derived from this incident. Comments, please!

Another Overhand Right Video

This one is a small screen on a page promoting self defense videos. I know zip about the product, but the video on the page is priceless.

The lesson? If you're dancing, dance. If you're fighting, fight. Don't confuse the two.

Here's the link:
Overhand Right

Also, you can expect a post on Friday, but after that it will be catch-as-catch-can for a couple of weeks. The WARSKYL conference is scheduled for Saturday, worship on Sunday & a few days with family, & then we stop for two days in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky for Court Days where we will be vendors (my new job as self-employed guy).

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.

Elements of Punching, 2

Continued from "Elements of Punching"

If you want to work on the speed element of any kind of striking (including punching), there are some exercises that I've found which I believe will be helpful. I know I've mentioned some of these in other contexts, but I will repeat them here so you have them all in one place:

1. Slow-Motion Practice -- Have you ever seen anyone practice Tai Chi? All the movements are slow, relaxed and graceful. When practiced as a martial art, the slow, easy movements of Tai Chi result in very quick and powerful strikes. I believe the rationale behind this is that performing the movements in a slow and relaxed manner allows the brain to distinguish the muscles necessary to the moves from those that are not. I was shocked at the power I developed in my brush, check, strike when I used this method
   
2. External Resistance Practice -- I know that some of the karate-based arts practice kicking and striking in water up to the neck. The water provides resistance, and you feel which muscles are pushing against the water. Although the water slows down the moves, you try to execute your strikes as quickly as possible against the resistance.
3. Self-Resistance Practice -- This may seem counter-intuitive, but it seems to work. It's a variation of Slow-Motion Practice, but you tense your muscles as you perform. If you're familiar with the sanchin kata of Shito Ryu karate, you will understand what I'm talking about. In this kind of practice, you deliberately tense your opposing muscle groups so that they work against each other. The movements are slow, deliberate, and difficult to execute. If you do it properly, your striking limb should quiver from the tension. This kind of movement provides an excellent workout, and will strengthen the muscle groups involved more effectively and more safely than working out with weights. I think it helps speed because it creates more body-and-muscle awareness.
4. Mental Visualization Practice -- When I was in grade school, my friends and I would make elementary animated drawings on our writing tablets using stick figures. In drawing # 1, the figure would be in a normal, standing position; in drawing #2, his legs and arms would be out to the sides. By flipping the page back and forth, we could make it look as though the figure was leaping/dancing. In Mental Visualization Pracice, you see in your mind the beginning and ending positions of the strike you are working on. You have to see it from your own, subjective perspective. For example, you see in your mind's eye an orc standing in front of you, with your hands in the ready position. Then you see your hand at the completion of a palm heel strike. When you have these images firmly in mind, you "flip" back and forth between them. No in-betweens at all. Your brain will send low level impulses along the motor nerve pathways involved in the movement. On some level, your mind will also try to cause your actual strikes to imitate the incredible speed of your mental practice. This is how I developed a jab that amazed my jujitsu instructor who had boxed for eight years.

Continued in "Elements of Punching, 3"

Elements of Punching

I want to write about the elements of punching because recently in the comments section someone expressed some skepticism about a statement made on one of the videos that proper punching technique takes months or years to learn. I want to tell why martial arts instructors say that, and also relate some possible ways to become competent at striking in much shorter time.

Speed vs. Mass

First, you have to understand that any strike involves a transfer of energy from the striker to the target. And this energy transfer is a function of mass and speed.

Force = Mass x Velocity squared

This formula shows the relative relationship of force to mass and velocity. Force is directly proportional to the mass. Thus, if you double the mass, you double the force. This is the physical foundation of the saying, "If it doesn't work, hit it with a hammer. And if it still doesn't work, get a bigger hammer."

A less well known corollary of this formula is that force is directly proportional to the square of the velocity. Thus, if you double the velocity, you quadruple the force.

Martial arts and combatives training seek to maximize striking with both mass and velocity. You learn the various techniques taught in your school for putting your whole weight behind your punch (throwing the hip into the punch, dropping energy, etc.)

The result is that you learn to punch with, say, 160 lbs of body weight rather than 14 lbs. of arm weight. Of course, it takes time to not only learn to punch with your whole body, but also to do so without overextending, thus losing balance and mobility.

Once you learn to practice this consistently, however, the only way you can use it to increase your power is to increase your body mass. For every pound you add, your punching force increases proportionally. But the real multiplier is speed.

If you can put all your body weight behind a punch, you can hit with X lbs. of force. If you can triple your speed, you can hit with 9X lbs. of force. But to increase speed you will probably have to enter into a process of unlearning and learning.

Most beginners want to hit hard. And, since they know that hitting hard requires muscular effort, they tense their muscles as they punch. (This goes for all types of strikes, not just punches.)

Tenseness while striking causes opposing muscle groups to work against each other. For example, the act of straightening the arm utilizes the tricep muscles. If the biceps, which bend the arm, are tense, however, they are causing "drag" on the work being done by the triceps. Ergo, the motion is slowed down.

Thus, punching (or any striking) becomes faster as you learn to contract only the muscles necessary to the movement while relaxing the opposing muscles. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not so much.

There are some drills that will help develop speed in striking.

Continued in "Elements of Punching, 2"

Sucker Punch, 6 (From Reaction to Action)

Continued from "Sucker Punch, 5 (Defense Against)"

In summary so far, defense against the sucker puncher requires:

1. Perception of surroundings and acknowledgment of reality (vs. denial);
2. Non-challenging defensive posture;
3. Line in the dirt;
4. Startle response launches combat wedge technique.

Everything up to this point is designed to protect you from the initial assault. But if you do not follow up the combat wedge technique, you have only postponed an inevitable beating. If your wedge is powerful enough to drive that assailant back or throw him off balance, you may be able to get away.

If not, you must strike with palm-heel, edge of hand, knees, elbows and feet until you open an opportunity to escape. My book, 12 US Military Combat Techniques That Could Save Your Life explains and illustrates a dozen of the most simple and effective blows, in the best tradition of WWII combatives. In any case, the combat wedge is generally going to be your opening move, not the closing.

Once more I give you a link to a video clip by Tony Blauer. In it, he demonstrates that the combat wedge is simply a Bridge to the Next Move. (You may find some of his language offensive.)

That about wraps it up for the sucker punch. If you would like to review from the beginning, go to "Sucker Punch (Overhand Right)" and follow the links through this series of posts.

Sucker Punch, 5 (Defense Against)

Continued from "Sucker Punch, 4 (Defense Against)

Your natural reaction to a sudden movement toward your head is the startle response. I have previously given you -- and warned you about the language in -- this link to a video by Tony Blauer dealing with the flinch or startle reflex. The advantage of the startle response is that it is wired-in by the Designer and that it's extraordinarily fast.

The startle response is fast enough to stop the overhand right sucker punch you saw in the first post of this series. It's fast enough IF you already have your hands in front of you (non-challenging defensive posture). This reflex provides you with the foundation for an effective physical response.

In other words, you train yourself to use the startle reflex as a launching pad for your defensive technique. The particular technique is to thrust your hands forward so that your forearms form a wedge. Tony Blauer's trademarked term for it is a SPEAR, but to me it's a wedge. Blauer explains and demonstrates the technique in this video clip (language, again).

Note the advantages of this technique:

1. It's the extension of a reflexive response, so it's very fast;
2. It's the essence of simplicity, which means an accelerated learning curve;
3. The same move can be used for an attack from the right or left and for a hook. overhand or straight punch.

The wedge is not reflexive in and of itself. This means you must practice. But the fact that it launches from a natural reflex and is so simple will shorten the time it takes to become proficient. Practice slowly to imprint the movement, then work up to full combat speed. Practice against various punches from the left & right.

Just one more post on this subject should do it. I'll wrap it all up in "Sucker Punch, 6"

Sucker Punch, 4 (Defense Against)

Continued from "Sucker Punch, 3 (Overhand right, hook)"

Let's consider the defense against a sucker punch:

The stranger approaches. Your spidey sense sends a shiver down the back of your neck. You have a pretty good idea what's coming. What do you do about it?

Even if you know it's coming, the sucker punch can catch you flat-footed. You want to be ready, so first, you go into the non-challenging defensive posture. Second, you draw a psychological line in the metaphorical dirt. Third, you remain alert so your Startle Response can set you into motion as soon as the orc makes his move.

At this point, classical martial arts (and their derivative self-defense systems) will tell you to block the punch and then strike back (punch, kick, elbow, etc.). Wing Chun and Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do recommend that you begin your counterstrike BEFORE you begin your block (or check). These systems can work, but they require years of practice before you become proficient.

You must learn five or six basic blocks. Then you must learn to do them with both hands. Then you must learn to respond with the block that is appropriate to various attacks. Then you must practice, practice, practice until the responses become automatic.

This is the path followed by most martial arts. This is also why someone who has trained for two or three years and thinks he's proficient will often take a beating at the hands of a street predator. The punch lands before he can choose which of ten or twelve responses he is going to make.

If you choose this approach, you can succeed, but not right away. You must train intensively for automaticity of response. Moreover, it will take a long time for you to become proficient against the surprise attack of the sucker puncher.

OR . . . you can build on your natural responses and develop a single technique that you can use against any sucker punch. You can reach an acceptable level of proficiency at this in days or weeks, rather than years. If you are a martial artist, you can use this to augment rather than replace the moves you learned in your style. If you are a non-martial artist, begin with this and then, if you feel the need, add other moves to it.

I will give you the details of this technique in "Sucker Punch, 5 (Defense Against)"

Sucker Punch, 3 (Overhand Right, Hook)

Continued from "Sucker Punch, 2 (Overhand Right, Hook)"

Yesterday's Sucker Punch Video has at least one lesson in common with the Street "Fight" Video: both victims could have benefited from increased threat awareness. In the street beating, the bigmouth let the assailant walk right up to him and nail him with an overhand right without any sign that he expected to get hit. The man in the fast food restaurant got tagged on the jaw when he turned away from a potential threat.

Of course, it was an unusual situation. Orcs don't usually mug people in restaurants. They wait until a potential victim gets away from the crowd.

Certainly, the fast food place was relatively deserted -- possibly much less crowded than the street outside. I don't know how far he stalked his victim, but perhaps he figured the relatively quiet burger joint presented his best opportunity. Nevertheless, he did attack in front of a witness -- the counter person.

The intriguing question here is why the predator chose this particular man as his prey. He was an older gentleman, but did not appear sick or unfit. This leads me to believe that something about the victim's attitude or mindset caught the orc's attention.

My own guess is that it was probably the victim's unawareness -- the very thing we notice in the video that marked him as easy prey. He had just come from a big sporting event, and he was desensitized to the people around him. Predators choose people who walk around disconnected from their surroundings as targets.

But maybe the victim was aware that mugger was following him. Maybe he was in fear and denial. Street hoodlums can sense that, too.

Well, after analyzing the situations and seeing how you might have avoided them, we need to focus on how to defend against the unavoidable sucker punch. I plan to do just that in "Sucker Punch, 4"

Sucker Punch, 2 (Overhand Right, Hook)

Continued from "Sucker Punch: Overhand Right"

If you watched the video from the link in the previous post, I hope you found it disagreeable and unsettling. Such reactions can lead to new levels of readiness. In this post I want to address some of the more obvious lessons from the video.

1. If you look for trouble long enough and hard enough, you'll find it. The trash-talking bigmouth kept pushing until he got hit. In the street, the cleverest answer may not be the smartest.
2. In a potentially hostile situation, you need to remain alert. Bigmouth let the hitter walk right up to him, and he evidently did not pick up any signals of an impending attack. This leads directly to the next point.
3. When a stranger approaches, go into the non-challenging defensive position (hands at chest height, palms outward). Bigmouth evidently suffered from overconfidence -- he believed his woofing made him the big dog. Confidence does not substitute for readiness.

In the video you saw last time, the victim actually provoked the attack. Here's another video of a sucker punch that comes out of the clear blue. In this one, the punch is more of a hook than an overhand punch:

Sucker Punch Video

In the next post, I want to talk about this video and lessons to be learned.

Sucker Punch (Overhand Right)

A former bouncer whose experience I trust has stated that an overhand right is one of the two punches favored by sucker punchers (FYI: the other is a hook). I ran across this short video of a street fight in which the overhand right is the deciding factor. Actually, since the overhand right was the first punch thrown, and the other guy went down immediately, I guess calling it a fight is misleading.

Words of caution:

1. The events leading up to the overhand right include a barrage of offensive language from the bigmouth guy who eventually gets his lights punched out (I turned the volume all the way down);
2. The person capturing the event on video is part of a crowd, and I think he/she tries to remain in the background without calling attention to his/her activity -- thus, people do move in and out of the way of the action;
3. The beating that the sucker puncher gives the unconscious bigmouth is brutal and disturbing, but I recommend you watch it a) to recognize the orc mindset you may have to deal with and b) because after the beating, the initial punch is played again twice in slow motion.

This video is disturbing not only for its brutality, but also for the quickness of that first punch. It's hard to catch it at normal speed. Bigmouth did not, I'm sure, see it coming until a millisecond before everything went black.

Street "Fight" Video

Could you defend against this kind of attack? The subject receives further discussion in "Sucker Punch,2: (Overhand Right, Hook".

Speed Training: Palm Heel Jab

Several years ago, my jujitsu instructor saw how dejected I was after our pre-sparring training session. He asked me,"What's wrong?" I explained to him how discouraged I was that I could not get a single punch past his defenses.

Then my instructor told me that he had boxed for eight years, and that when I jabbed, he had to draw on all his experience and training to stop me. And for all that, he was barely succeeding. I found comfort in that, for he was not one to exaggerate or lie just to make a student feel better.

That meant my speed training was working. I practiced my jabs while I walked my rounds on my security job. About 25% of the time, I actually threw punches, but 75% of the practice was in my head. I had previously practiced the jab in slow motion to teach the movement to my muscles and nerves (and also to eliminate telegraphs and extraneous motion.

Still, I needed something more -- something to put snap and speed into the punches. For some reason, a memory popped into my head of the crude animation I played with in grade school. At the bottom edge of my writing tablet, I would draw a circle, and then put the features of a frowning face in it.

Then, in the same place on the next page, I'd trace the circle and make a smiling face. By flipping the page up & down, the face appeared to go from smiling to frowning and back again. Using the same technique, I could make a stick figure dance.

That memory prodded me to think of the jab in only two positions: ready and fully extended. I would leave everything in between to muscle and nerve memory from the slow motion practice, and I would visualize my jab as though the in-between did not exist. In my mind, I practiced my jab seeing only those two positions. Ready. Jab. Ready.

It was incredibly fast (in my mind). After a time of mental practice, I tried the actual jab. I found that I had improved my speed -- considerably. That's the little edge that gave a 50-year old student the speed to beat his instructor. Well . . . almost.

Try it with your palm heel jab. Let me know if you see a difference.

To find out more about the palm heel, click this link:

Fight Like a Girl: Palm Heel Chin Jab

Palm Heel Strike

I have tried to wean myself away from punching in favor of the palm heel strike. In my book 12 US Military Combat Techniques That Could Save Your Life, I make my case against striking with a closed fist. The major point is that punching hurts -- the puncher.

Boxing used to be done without gloves. (I don't know why they punched instead of using the palm heel strike). The transition from bare knuckles to gloves changed the "sweet science" forever. Padded gloves protected the contestants' hands, and they, consequently, could punch harder without damaging their hands. They could also hit the head harder and more often.

Boxing gloves protect the puncher, not the punchee. Conversely, punching with bare knuckles hurts the puncher. That became obvious from my years in hospital security . . . . EMTs bring two drunks into the emergency room. One had punched the other out, and both are sent to radiology for x-rays. Invariably, the one who got punched in the head is either okay or suffers from a mild concussion. In 24 hours he'll be pretty much over the ordeal. The puncher, however, has broken a bone in his hand and will wear a cast for weeks.

When you see the foregoing scenario played out over and over, you begin to get the idea that punching may not be a good idea. That's why I favor the palm heel strike. The palm is naturally padded, and bone injuries are a lot less likely if you strike with it. Also, hitting with a fist requires proper alignment to avoid wrist injury, whereas if you strike with the heel of your palm, proper alignment is automatic.

Some instructors will say, "Punch to the soft areas and palm heel strike to the hard ones." That's good advice, as long as your target doesn't shift. But if your opponent bobs or weaves, your punch to his (soft) nose may land on his (hard) cheek bone or forehead.

During my karate training, my sensei talked about making a fist properly to avoid injury. Nevertheless, when we sparred, we wore gloves. All the striking arts wear them for sparring. The purpose is to protect the fist from injury. If you use a palm heel strike, you will be much less likely to hurt yourself and much more likely to hurt your opponent.

It's the very effectiveness of the palm heel strike that requires you to use caution in your training. Practice in slow motion (using follow-through) with your training partner. Practice full speed strikes on focus mitts or body shields.

The palm heel strike is not the only effective way to hit an attacker, but it is one you should definitely know and practice.

Click the link to go to my post entitled "Palm Heel Strikes Video"