How do i improve my chain punches?

[Sharky]

When i do it on my 4ft punchbag i'm fine. When i do it with my mate holding a focus mitt, i fvck up, It isn't flowing, it isn't powerful, and i can hit about 30495739573987593895 times harder if i use a jab, cross, and hooks. Can anyone help me get more fluidity - and more importantly, more power? If i finish it off with a turning punch (or basically a "fa jing" type punch, this kinda thing is powerful, but im not good enough to set up my body the way it needs to be, if i were in a fight.

I have a wallbag but ain't set it up yet. Will that help my power? i want KNOCKOUT POWER.

will it help to practice my chain punches more in thin air? occationly i will bust a couple of thousand, but not too often, as i practice on the punchbag. what advantages are gained from punching like this (in thin air)?

I am quite physically strong, so i got good results from using more boxing type punches - or mixing it up - ie. 4 chain punches then a right cross to finish off.

I couldn't hook without gloves on, i'd break my fist/fingers. With gloves on though, my rook rocks :)

Anyways, back to the original question - how do i get knockout power (and extra speed) from my chain punches?

Thanks

Edd

My anus is superior™

[whippinghand]

Stop trying to achieve knockout power, and you're 10 steps closer to getting knock out power.

Stop chain punching, work on hip power, and you're 10 steps closer to better chain punching (if you feel it necessary to chain punch, that is)

Stop hitting obstacles to practise your punch. Throw punches in the air, then test it on an obstacle.

Power against a device is deceptive. Punches in the air will give you the truth.

[OdderMensch]

I will say that if you are a strong person already this might "weaken" your punching power(at least while going chain punchs/"yat chi chun kuen"). I think this is because "strong" people will (sometimes) try to muscele(sp) punchs. Focus on powering from the elbow and conecting the punch to the gound via your stance. I think that punching the wall bag has helped my chain punches a lot.

also growing a mullet might help ;)

[Martial Joe]

Ill second what Whipping Hand said...

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/lolup.gif IXIJoe KaveyIXIhttp://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/lolup.gif

[Ars vitae]

Holy chain punching, Batman!!! Whipping hands hasn't aggravated anyone and I'll have to third Martial Joe's nomination. ;) Focus on your structure, it's where your strength is generated from.

[maestro]

I agree with the others about the structure.

If you already have good structure, try some plyometrics to build good explosive power. Since you have a good amount of strength, you can try to "convert" it to speed strength. Do some clapping pushups or lie on your back with a medicine ball and throw it up in the air. You could also work on the punches with a bungee cord.

Maestro :cool:

Swimming is not a sport, it's something you do to keep from drowning.
Fighting is not a sport, it's something you do to keep from dying.

[dzu]

If you want power, you need to train your horse and body at the most basic level first. Training your arms to get stronger will just force you to rely upon local muscles for power. Ask your sifu about the role of the pelvis, body alignment, and rooting.

Your punching technique has to find the right groove for your body type to be as efficient as possible. Once this is found, you need to practice within this groove until all your punches consistently find it. This is training your nervous system so that the neural pathways fire efficently every time you punch. Practice in the air and then when you find the groove, use a wallbag. The wallbag will test and give you feedback on your alignment. The shock from impact should go to the ground if yor alignent is correct. If you feel a jarring motion then the shock is still inside of you and will affect you instead of just the target. As my Sifu said to me once, "Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent, so be careful of how and what you practice!"

We already have several messages on this board about how to find the proper arm alignment by having someone push on your punch or using the wall/floor and your own body weight. I suggest you go read through those.

Stay away from quick fix methods like boxing until you get the basics down or else you will never develop your WC.

regards,

Dz

[EmptyCup]

just adding my bit :)

1. Air punching allows you to punch faster and develop more strength because you have no resistance and therefore you can punch as fast as you can without anything slowing you down, and you can punch out fully without anything solid stopping you from exerting all your potential power

2. Wall bag punching develops feels for correct distance from target and arm positioning. It also conditions the hands and gets you used to hitting solid objects which in turn, will prevent you from breaking your hands the first time you punch somebody in the face hard :)

3. Hanging bag's basically the same stuff as the wall bag but heavier (which is good) and moves when you hit it. This gets you used to hitting a solid moving object and one that is heavy swinging BACK at you after every punch. This makes you aware of stance shifting and proper punching as if you punch it anywhere but at the "centerline" it will spin in stead of absorbing the full force of your punches... This means you become acutely aware of always hitting the center so that your punches don't glance off and make the bag spin...

4. When chain punching make sure your fists are travelling in a chain with one track and not two tracks as most people incorrectly do. Your fists should always travel along the centerline and not beside it

5. As stated elsewhere in this forum on other posts, punches are more than just your fist moving. You must punch with your fist, your wrist snapping, your elbow in, your waist torque, and your stance shift. Basically, you are punching with your whole body.

6. Aim through your object when punching. If a head is your target, aim for the wall behind the head...that way you won't "stop short" right at the target but your punch will go straight through the head...you learn not to stop just at the target this way, but constantly improve your strength and power because you removed the psychological wall

7. Keep you hands open until right before impact. Closing your fists just before impact does a few things: it makes your punches faster because a closed fist slows you down, it makes your punches stronger because of the force right before impact, it makes sure you don't hold the force in your fist or elbow but go through the target, and it makes it easier for use of "chuen ging" or inch power

these are all my opinions so if anybody disagrees with them, that's cool :cool:

[BeiKongHui]

When I train the chain with focus mitts I go for speed, relaxation and a "snappy" punch that gives a real short popping sound on the mitt. I tend to go by the sound to judge the effectiveness of the punch.

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
--Khalil Gibran

[whippinghand]

"You must punch with your fist, your wrist snapping"
-very dangerous

"Aim through your object when punching"
-very dangerous
-not true power

"Keep your hands open until right before impact"
-very dangerous

"Closing your fists just before impact does a few things"
-very dangerous

"it makes your punches faster because a closed fist slows you down, it makes your punches stronger because of the force right before impact, it makes sure you don't hold the force in your fist or elbow but go through the target, and it makes it easier for use of "chuen ging" or inch power"
-misconception

"it makes it easier for use of "chuen ging" or inch power"
-that is not inch power

[BeiKongHui]

Why not give an explanation then O Mysterious 'n' Wise One?

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
--Khalil Gibran

[Sedgimax]

:confused:

[chi-kwai]

Without a mullet, no one can do chain punches properly. I suggest growing one right away.

--
chi kwai

[EmptyCup]

whipping hand...why waste time typing up "dangerous" or "very dangerous" when you're not going to explain your absolute knowledge? ;)

[Nexus]

a while back on this topic:

Earlier Instance of Wing Cun Talk on Punching (http://forum.kungfuonline.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=126197291&f=769195302&m=343199414)

Freedom is what you do with what is done to you. - Sartres

[Watchman]

chi kwai is correct.

[whippinghand]

I think my response is quite straightforward and self-explanatory. Punching that way is dangerous. For it not to be dangerous, don't do it that way. What a mystery...

[Sihing73]

Hello WH,

While you may feel your response is straightforward others, apparently did not. Why not provide a little more detail as to why you feel things are "dangerous"? Will it really hurt you to elaborate a little bit more?

Please remember that there are several different lineages represented here. Some may indeed do things quite differently than you do and it may work very well for them. There are two sides to every coin. Yin and Yang represents a duality. One can not exist without the other so perhaps there is good in even the worst techniques. Oh no, I am starting to sound a bit cryptic too, to many old kung fu movies ;)

Seriously, don't you think it would be better to share your knowledge than to try and mask it behind half statements and innuendos? If you are not interested in sharing fully then I would ask you to ask yourself why are you here?

Peace,

Dave

[whippinghand]

exactly...

[MasterPhil]

Sometimes, I feel like I'm reading a good old bad kung fu movie script when I read these threads...

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs...

[EmptyCup]

haha :) I bet when Whipping Hand talks in real life his mouth moves a few seconds slower than his words ;)

Sihing73, don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over agin to Whipping Hand??? :)

[whippinghand]

do you?

[Sharky]

troll.

My anus is superior™

[ng mui rules]

first of all, chain punches are not supposed to be knock out punches. if they were, there would be no need for there to be a chain of them. knock out power should come from one inch punching, ie-useing your choh ma (sitting horse, which is a violent shifting of the hips while rotating on your heels). for that to be knock out you kneed to use like 2 good powerful punches with your shift, instead of a barage of quick stinging punches (chain punching). but if you want more fluidity with your chain punching on the mitts, start slow and have perfect form while punching the mitts. perfect practice makes perfect. you can also try doing chain punches with 1 to 3 pound wights. im sorry but i disagree with everything whipping hand said, because i know from experiece that what everone else said about developing your punches works. it worked for me. i made 230 pound sparring partners jaw hurt for 2 weeks using my shifting in my punching with boxing gloves on, and i only way 135. so i know that this trainging works. you might want to inquire about whipping hand's whipping power. it might be interesting and then you can use both ways of having power, its like doing shaolin and tai chi. one is hard power one is soft. both are good to have.