Workout to double your punching power

Many people are simply not satisfied with only doing push-ups, jogging, lifting weight etc. They want something more out of their bodies, so they turn to martial arts. Martial arts offer everything, physical shape,learning techniques for dealing with an opponent, and there is even a spiritualaspect, especially in those martial arts that come from Japan and China.Roughly, martial arts can be divided into those based on punching and kicking andthose that are about making deadlocks and throwing the opponent. The mostpopular example when it comes to first group is karate, although there are alsotaekwondo, muay thai, kick boxing etc. As for the other group, there are judo,aikido, jiu jitsu etc.

Punching

Even though punch/kick martial arts also include blockingand evading, the focus is on hitting the opponent, which means that punchingand kicking power should be at the maximum. How to achieve that, what is thebest workout to double your punching power? At first glance, it might be saidthat for punching power development, the most important thing is the strengthof the arms! Wrong! Muscles in the arms, although they should be developed, are not essential. Actually, the entire body is needed for throwing apowerful punch and for landing a kick. Let’s take a simple direct punch for an example. The body isnot facing the opponent directly; it has to be moved a bit to one side, armsare bent in elbows, with fists covering the face. This guard position is excellentfor blocking the incoming blows and for fast deployment of punches. Usually,front arm is a weaker one, it jabs, while back arm is prepared for a devastating punch.When fist starts moving, the entire body moves too. When the back arm stretchesup front, the torso also rotates to that side. Not only the torso, but the hips are also performingthe same motion and corresponding leg is rotating towards inside, while leverage onthat foot is transferred from heel to toes. When the punch connects, the speedof the arm is at peak, and in that moment, the muscles in arm contract forincreasing the punching power. What doesthis tell us? The entire body has to be developed in order to throw a good andstrong punch.

One-inch technique

This is more of a myth, although there are people who claimit is a complete truth. It regards Bruce Lee, one of the famous martial arts practitionerand an actor. It is said that his punch with moving a fist for just one inch couldpush the opponent several feet away, just as a normal punch would do. This mighttell us that the technique is much more important that brute strength, at leastwhen it comes to martial arts.