Mixed Martial Arts gladiators circling the eight-sided ring, searching for the chance, and, WHAM, somebody is punched out. The roaring crowd, the price of the ticket, they are worth it if you can see a good knock out. What most people don't realize is that a good knock out, with the help of a little practice, can be done easily.
Forty years ago, in Kang Duk Won Karate my instructor told me that A tight fist is a heavy fist. Man, what good advice. Just make the fingers into steel bands, tie it together with a thumb, and, zingo bingo, you have yourself a brick busting fist.
The trick, of course, is to be relaxed before, and to be relaxed after. This is the concept of focus, and it is vital to a good, knock out punch. Hard to do it the way they wrap hands and put them in gloves these days, but there it is.
Think about it like this, a radar station is looking for planes, it is looking, and what would happen if the skies all filled up with static? The radar operator would be blind, he wouldn't be able to see the planes for the static. So when you relax, and make your fist loose, you are trying to get rid of the static, make it so you can perceive what is going on around you.
Then, your perceptions picking up the path of an incoming fist, the emotion, the very intention of the attacker, your fist will move faster because it is empty, and it will hit harder when it becomes tight. Muscular tension will not bind your motion and slow down your fist, and it will fly fast, your radar will better help it find the target. The moment of truth and your fist gets tight, and that increases the weight and mass of the fist, making it hard enough to knock somebody unconscious.
So there are two things a fighter, whether in the UFC or on the street, must do if he is going to get knock out power. The first, of course, is to be empty, loosey goosey, not tied in place by his own muscular tension. This frees the inner radar to pick up the attack, and enables the MMA fighter to move faster because he is not thinking of his body as weighty and heavy.
The second thing is to tighten the fist upon impact, and loosen it immediately afterwards. This is real microsecond stuff here, but it is guaranteed to work. The energy focuses, the power comes to bear, and that which was empty and quick suddenly becomes full and heavy.
If you are an MMA fighter in the UFC or strikeforce, or even a spectator, think about the physics I have described here, and figure out how to use them in your strikes. Empty/full is actually a classical concept from traditional Karate, and it is used extensively in the ancient Shaolin types of kung fu like Hung Gar or Choy Lee Fut. Emptiness and focus, these are the keys that will lay anybody out for the ten count! - 31373
Forty years ago, in Kang Duk Won Karate my instructor told me that A tight fist is a heavy fist. Man, what good advice. Just make the fingers into steel bands, tie it together with a thumb, and, zingo bingo, you have yourself a brick busting fist.
The trick, of course, is to be relaxed before, and to be relaxed after. This is the concept of focus, and it is vital to a good, knock out punch. Hard to do it the way they wrap hands and put them in gloves these days, but there it is.
Think about it like this, a radar station is looking for planes, it is looking, and what would happen if the skies all filled up with static? The radar operator would be blind, he wouldn't be able to see the planes for the static. So when you relax, and make your fist loose, you are trying to get rid of the static, make it so you can perceive what is going on around you.
Then, your perceptions picking up the path of an incoming fist, the emotion, the very intention of the attacker, your fist will move faster because it is empty, and it will hit harder when it becomes tight. Muscular tension will not bind your motion and slow down your fist, and it will fly fast, your radar will better help it find the target. The moment of truth and your fist gets tight, and that increases the weight and mass of the fist, making it hard enough to knock somebody unconscious.
So there are two things a fighter, whether in the UFC or on the street, must do if he is going to get knock out power. The first, of course, is to be empty, loosey goosey, not tied in place by his own muscular tension. This frees the inner radar to pick up the attack, and enables the MMA fighter to move faster because he is not thinking of his body as weighty and heavy.
The second thing is to tighten the fist upon impact, and loosen it immediately afterwards. This is real microsecond stuff here, but it is guaranteed to work. The energy focuses, the power comes to bear, and that which was empty and quick suddenly becomes full and heavy.
If you are an MMA fighter in the UFC or strikeforce, or even a spectator, think about the physics I have described here, and figure out how to use them in your strikes. Empty/full is actually a classical concept from traditional Karate, and it is used extensively in the ancient Shaolin types of kung fu like Hung Gar or Choy Lee Fut. Emptiness and focus, these are the keys that will lay anybody out for the ten count! - 31373
About the Author:
Al Case has analyzed Shaolin for 40 years. He has written hundreds of articles for the magazines, and had his own column in Inside Karate. You can pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts, or get the straight skinny on hitting harder at Punch 'Em Out
