Hello Friend,
Today we’re looking
at 5 ways to improve your punching technique.
Punching is common to
nearly all the Martial Arts (MA for short) discipline’s you’ll come across...
However, the techniques and their use in each particular style can differ greatly.
I have put together a
guide that can be used by any Martial Artist and by aspiring Martial artists
too.
We are starting with:
Warm up & Stretching
The starting point in
pretty much all MA sessions. Some people skip the pre warm up and go straight
into the stretching, depending on the temperature. It is better to gently warm
the muscles up through functional movement... To include a lot of upper body
movement.
Then into the stretch
we go, although we are punching, it still has to be a full body stretch,
including all the main muscle groups. Once this is complete, we move over into
our...
Exercises
For the purposes of
improving your punching, we will place more emphasis on our upper body
including the torso... We‘ll start with the good old press up of which there
are varying levels and onto the plank, a few variations of this and we are
ready.
Next is the hanging punch
bag. – Work on increasing the time on the bag between rests. Then the focus
pads, which as the name suggests. Gives you something to aim for.
Practice
Ideally with a
sparring partner, the idea here is to initially work through your technique,
trying out different punches, from different angles, long and short ranges,
high and low, getting your movement right.
Also work on reading
your opponents movement and timing to allow you to find your openings to land
your punches... You are in effect, playing with different options.
Then it’s time to step
it up and try what you have just played with, at a more realistic pace and this
level can be raised continually as long as both parties are happy.
Alternatively, if no
partner is available, there is shadow
boxing, which is doing all the above except with an imaginary person...
This may sound quite easy, but the lack of a real person there will increase
your work rate significantly... Making this style of training demanding. But with
great results.
 |
| keep practicing |
More Power
Once we have this running
nicely... You may want to focus on more power. All the previous activities will
be developing power in your punching to a degree. So, we’ll look at a couple of
ways you can do this...
Firstly, by the power
of intention... That’s right, Simply state to yourself internally an affirmation
that says’ ‘I am increasing my punching
power’. Then go for it.
The other
consideration for power is your anchor, how you stand or move around during the
punching has a great deal to do with the delivery of the power.
More Speed
Stay light on your
feet, stay relaxed in your body and go directly to the target. By that I mean be
economical with your action of the punch.
Also practicing slow
deliberate punching drives the pattern of delivery deeper into your
subconscious. Allowing for a faster delivery when required.
Bonus double whammy: Accurate and stealthy punching
For better accuracy. Try this – Practice using focus pads. But rather than
looking at the point of focus on the pad use your peripheral vision when
punching, until you can hit the point accurately, peripherally. Do this slowly
at first till you get it working before speeding it up.
For better
stealth. Try these – Distraction.
If you can take your opponents attention away from the ‘real’ punch, you’ll be
more effective. You can do this by faking or surprising her.
Also using a
combination of punches at speed works well. Sometimes with pre determined ‘real’
punch hidden in there somewhere and sometimes to create an opening you can take
advantage of.
So there you have it.
The best way to incorporate this into your skill set is to take them one at a
time and practice them slowly, with intention. Over time, they’ll become yours.
Hope this post was
useful. If you’d like to know more, have any questions or just want to comment,
then please do so in the box below.
If you’ve enjoyed
this post, please pin it to your Martial Arts pinboard on pinterest.
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