Is my punch effective?

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by Lennert, Apr 30, 2005.

  1. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    Hey there, I've been working on my punch for quite a while now, and I think I've made quite an improvement. But what would be a good way to measure if my punch is at a respectable level for a serious MA practioner?
    Perhaps something like: "if you could break a plate of ...(ice?) measuring ...cm's thick.." (to take a weird example ;) )

    all the best,
     
  2. Leo_E_49

    Leo_E_49 Valued Member

    Full contact sparring. Get some gloves and punch a training partner. (If you don't want to do head contact that's ok just aim gut-wise) If they groan or collapse you've got a good punch. :)

    Don't bother with breaking, hitting stationary objects is a waste of money. :bang:
     
  3. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    Thanks for your reply, I've thought of doing something like that ofcourse, but it's not really an option for me since serious martial artists aren't actually widely spread in my region ;) So I don't have any good training partners I could compare with or spar against. (I'm not going to hard spar against an inexperienced person, I think you'll understand :p )
    Those people I do spar against would probably dislike me after I would've actually hit them in sparring.. (they're just not used to full contact sparring in my country anyway.. it's forbidden in many schools to even touch your oponent in sparring)

    So that's why I'm looking for a somewhat odd way to do this.. (I don't know about the waste of money part ;) )
     
  4. Leo_E_49

    Leo_E_49 Valued Member

    Well, if you try working on a heavy bag and manage to dent it with your punches, I'm pretty sure that's a good indicator that the punches are solid. (Wear gloves when you're doing it, otherwise it's too easy and you could hurt yourself) Of course, there's no real substitute for a proper sparring partner. The ultimate aim of a punch is to hurt or injure an opponent. Only a real person can tell you whether the punch hurt or not, otherwise you're going on faith.

    Think about the amount of money spent on breaking. Say I kick a baseball bat in half, that's what $15US down the drain (for a cheap bat). That's what I mean by breaking can get expensive.
     
  5. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    In that case I'm pretty sure my punches are good enough for now.. I don't really worry about hurting myself with punching things.. I can hit a wall flat out without being impressed by the pain in any way. But if a hole in a bag is enough, I think punching through 6cm's of ice will be enough too. Thanks for the info! :)
     
  6. Visage

    Visage Banned Banned

    You...Hit...Walls...

    :cry: WHAT DID WALLS DO TO YOU??? :cry:

    (And, isnt that a bit of a daft thing to do anyway??? :rolleyes: )
     
  7. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    No, I just wanted to be sure that I wouldn't hurt myself when trying to break something, (like a wooden plate) in case it didn't break.. I figured it would hurt as much as hitting a wall, so practised untill I could hit a wall without being afraid to hurt myself. That way I can try breaking something without worrying about it not breaking :eek:
     
  8. Visage

    Visage Banned Banned

    Or you'll just seriously damage all the bones in your hand... This is a much more likely outcome.
     
  9. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    Your probably right, but I'm practising that for several years now and I haven't experienced any serious problems with my hands, they are kind of robust I guess. So don't worry so much ;) I started of with wood, padded with some textile, and then just half powered punches to the wall, and now full punches, but it really seems harmless now. I don't think I could break any bones in my hand anymore by doing this.

    *But yes, it is a daft thing to do.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2005
  10. Doublejab

    Doublejab formally Snoop

    Seriously mate you have to be careful hitting solid objects. Impact will cause stress on the joints (esp with the fist, less so with palms/kicks) and over time this will wear down the cartelige in them. When this is gone the bones scape together and its hello arthritus.

    A good bag is just as good as a wall for improving power and a cloth bag of ball bearings is better for conditioning.

    Just a tip for testing your power, try and get a good punch on the punch bag when it is swinging away from you, much harder to do and a bit like hitting someone fro real!
     
  11. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    Ok, I don't have much difficulty taking the word of more experienced martial artists, so I'll just stop doing this, and buy a good bag :)
    What do you mean exactly by a cloth bag of ball bearings? I guess you can't mean a full size punch bag full of steel balls, that would weigh over a ton :rolleyes: You mean just a small bag to toughen the fists? (Remember englisch isn't my native language, I get things all backwards sometimes ;) )
     
  12. Doublejab

    Doublejab formally Snoop

    Sorry, I wasn't very clear! Yes a small bag made of thick cloth about a 45-60cm long. Martial art stores often sell them. You can also it to condition other parts of your body such as stomach, arms, shins etc by striking yourself with it (yes it sounds stupid but it does work!)
     
  13. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    For someone who hits walls it doesn't sound that weird to be honest :p thanks for the info :) I gues I'll purchase one of those, if I can find one that is..
     
  14. Jang Bong

    Jang Bong Speak softly....big stick

    OR - the wall might fall down. Check your insurance :D *joke* :D

    In a previous job I found that punching the partly open draws of filing cabinets to be very satisfying. The 'give' of them closing means you don't risk damage, but they make a very loud noise. :D

    What you are looking for is some form of calibrated punchbag that you can hit and it will print a 'report' on how many times it was hit and HOW HARD. Sounds expensive (if it exists at all) :(
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2005
  15. Leo_E_49

    Leo_E_49 Valued Member

    Don't punch walls or punch a bag without gloves. Being honest, punches weren't meant for hard objects like that. They were meant to punish soft tissues. Ultimately subjecting yourself to stress like what you're doing now will injure yourself and will prevent you from ever using punches in later life.

    When you punch your bag use gloves or hand wraps to protect your bones. Either that or use open handed techniques like palm heel or that sort of thing. :)
     
  16. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    Thanks a lot for your replies! The idea with the filing cabinets sounds very nice :p (about the walls falling down, my moms house has some serious dents by now :cry: ) but I guess my neighbours would start complaining even more ;)
    So I'll need a bag then.. and some gloves. I think at this point it would be quite unlikely that I could hurt myself hitting a real person anyway, so continuing this would be useless in every way right?
    But I'm afraid I'll have to find a gym or dojo where I can practice my punches, my room here at my moms house just isn't large enough for that kind of stuff, and my own appartment is rented, and I'm not allowed to hang anything to the ceiling other than lamps :cry:
     
  17. hitsuzen

    hitsuzen New Member

    I managed to put 2 small holes in my walls. I don't recommend it - even though I just got off with some bruising on the knuckles, it hurts like hell for a week or so, and repairing walls sucks :cry:

    It's perfectly fine to practice in the air.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 2, 2005
  18. JACKOFALLTRADES

    JACKOFALLTRADES Banned Banned

    put on a boxing glove and punch a friend in the gut if he drops then there good enough.
     
  19. Lennert

    Lennert Valued Member

    I'm quite positive I can achieve that, but I'm to sweet of a guy to do such a thing with my friends :p
     
  20. Leo_E_49

    Leo_E_49 Valued Member

    Don't punch in the air with full force or full extension, it can damage your ligaments in the long term. Best way to train is against a resisting surface. :bang:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 2, 2005

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