Does the size of someone’s muscles determine how strong they are, or how well they can punch? I don’t believe it does but I could be wrong. You have muscular people like bodybuilders or even 50 cent, and I’m sure they’ll knock my lights out if I were punched in the head by them, but would someone who doesn’t appear as muscular, but has trained in the art of punching and inner strength, a Shaolin monk for example hold more power in the punches. If it just false perception that the bigger muscles you have, the stronger you are.
Damn straight! You're completely right! It takes a long time but those trained in the internal arts get their alignment correct and may use the strength of tendons! It's actually MUCH stronger than just brute muscular strength! Hope this answers you question!
No it doesn't. Like if your loading up on the 'roids your strength to weight ratio decreases dramatically because your muscles just fill up with excess tissue so you look way stronger than you actually are.
Your legs, hips and torso are much more powerful than your arms could ever be - it's just the matter of learning how to harness their energy. If you have big muscles you not only have to worry about slower muscle contractions (because of the bulk), but when you punch, you have a lot more weight to carry in the punch. If you lift weights your muscles will become good at lifting weights and not much else. If you practice punching with your whole body your muscles and body will be used to punching. Simple. What can accelerate faster, a tractor engine mounted on a motorbike, or a motorbike?
If what you said was the case, then the biggest man in the world would therefore be the strongest man in the world. Not true. Check out some posts on the health and fitness forum for some more information.
Maybe i wasn't articulating myself well. I meant to say exactly what you're all saying...simply that having huge amounts of muscles does not equate to power and that in fact tendons and joints become far more powerful after careful training...
The power in a punch is determind mostly by how you punch. The strength in a muscle, the reaction time of the muscles and the stamina a muscle has are all determind by the composition of the muscle fibers. There are three basic fibers types for each attribute i just mentiond. A large muscle trained for fast explosive reactions like those of a sprinter will be extremly fast and powerfull regardless of how big it gets. However better technique can produce just as good results. And a combination will produce even better results.
-While I would definitely agree that technique makes the most out of one's potential for power. I'd also agree that by using your whole body (espescially w/ hip rotation) will always beat arm strength in punching. However, the garbage about more muscle mass slowing you down and extra tissue is pure ignorance. Muscle is what moves the body. That is like saying that a fighter jet is slower than a sparrow because it is heavier and has more mass. Just as the jet has far more horsepower to movee it, so does greater muscle mass. Fat does not carry it's own weight, muscle does. -Technique makes the most of your potential for power and IMO needs to be the first priority. I'm sure we've all seen large muscular guys who don't use good mechanics when they throw a punch and have seen smaller, less muscular fighters who hit much harder because they made the most of what they've got. OTOH, if the guy with the greater strength and muscularity were to develop better form, he too would get better efficiency and would have a greater potential to draw from. -This is the scenario that few like to contemplate: the powerful athlete who is a good technician. There is no reason why a more muscular person can't develop just as good, if not better technical excellence than his less muscular counterparts. If he does this, using proper training methods, he will hit a lot harder and faster than his counterpart. The rest of the put downs are just ignorant promotion of myths that have fallen to the wayside under any real research.
It's interesting to see these views being posted on an internal board! While muscle does not incur and problems with power and in fact helps (but hardly compared to proper alignment) the manner in which someone attains these muscles is different. If you are born with naturally large muscles, fair enough, but most people lift weights and such to gain this additional tissue. This is not helpful at all. In lifting weights you are (no matter how good you think your routine is) creating tension in your body. This is clearly far from beneficial, especially considering much internal power comes from internal space and proper alignment. Also why would you want to spend time lifting weights when it could be spend standing or training??? This is NOT intended to be a hostile post and i apologize if i have angered anyone and would welcome your comments...
An utter crock. Find me some scientific peer reviewed papers on "internal power" and I will think more about what you said. Until you can, I think I will stick with the whole idea of FACTS, such as proper strength training being proven time and time again to improve power. Try telling a boxer to take up tai chi or ba gua instead of weight training and see what reaction you get. Don't get me wrong, I like tai chi and the principles of chi flow etc. but I don't think for a second that properly done weight training is detrimental to power generation in a punch.
Again i am finding myself wondering why someone is posting on the internal board. May i suggest finding a good teacher to show you the difference? I suggest Bruce or Chris Ray Chappelle (about the two best westerners available at internal) and watch the difference. I have first hand watched Chris (a small man in all respects) crush a Sarasens player against the wall. The sarasens player was from the second row and they basically "scrummed" each other and Chris trashed him. N.B. For those of you who don't know i'm talking about rugby and a proffesional player (of a good team) being destroyed at what he specialises in by someone who has never done such a thing. I think you need to go meet Bruce and see the difference... Oh and there has been almost no western research on the matter, which is why there are no western facts for you...NOT because the theory and practice is unfounded...
-To BGMaster X, I am not posting to create a flame war with you or anyone else, But you do presume quite a bit and it is way off base. What am I doing posting on an internal arts thread? Well, as a master instructor who has went through the greater kan and li or kundalini, I have quite a bit of experience and knowledge to share. Going by your profile, I have been involved in the internal arts longer than you have been alive and unlike many on MAP, I recognize their value. However, your comments on weight training are still in error. This does nothing to hamper (though can be a good method for developing) the flow of chi. Internal and external power are not opposed to one another, but rather compliment each other. Though I do admit that many will only develop one or the other. I would recommend further study before you make such comments.
BGMaster X I'd also have to say your talking bull about weight training. While over training or a poorly constructed regime can cause problems these problems are not limited purely to tension in the body. Proper balanced weight training has no illeffects. Why would it? Your bodys muscle mass is constantly changing as you go through periodes in life where you need to be stronger and periodes where you can let it go a bit.
I take all your points into consideration but i'm going to stick with what i've been told and i've been tought by the best (Bruce and Chris Ray Chappelle)...I don't want to start a flaming war either so let's drop it ok? Oh and please don't use age against me as that has little factor and is no substitution for good training and teaching...
Look i'm sorry that was a little agressive. I'm still learning (as everyone does till they die!) and can be a little hot headed at times...SORRY!!!
I don't think they are directly using your age against you BaguaMaster_X. But I am certain that they are using your years of experience against you. Most "internal masters" discount the practice of weght training. But these same people advocate such activities like chopping wood (ala Rocky Balboa in Rocky 3). The human body does not know what kind of weight you are moving. It just perceives outside stimuki abd adapts to it.
