Punching into the thin air

[-N-]

Right, and while you may not have been hitting things, your form was enough to outdo those who relied on brute force. Had you had a few years on the bag as well, you may have been kicking significantly harder.

That's why I tell people to do both.

Though the blackbelts that were asking me didn't have just brute force. They were pretty skilled and had their own commercial schools and students and competed.

They thought I was BS'ing them when I told them I just kicked air.

I made sure they felt it though. I didn't want them going around saying that kung fu was flowery and weak.

They were pretty cool. They all would get excited and cheer when I sparred their blackbelts.

Later on, one of their students quit and came to train with me at the park instead. Not that I asked him to. I tried to discourage him. Kept telling him to think about and come back next week if he was serious. He kept coming back, and after three weeks I kind of had let him try the class.

We used to hit those carnival punching bag things that tell you how hard you hit. I had a friend who was pretty small and was always getting like a 3rd of what everyone else got. With like 5 minutes of explanation and demonstration on how to properly align a punch, he was outdoing guys bigger than him that were just forcing it. Not after practice, like right away. So of course practicing kicks in the air and developing good form is an asset, for sure.

Form and relaxed coordinated body mechanics. Most beginners have more power than they can use effectively. More often, I'm struggling to get them to relax so they can deliver their power.

I always have to tell them, "You're supposed to be fighting the other guy. Not your own self." and, "Well, at least you are getting a lot of exercise struggling like that..."

[YouKnowWho]

Of course most of the time, the truth is in the middle. When something is bending toward one direction (90% of the TCMA people strike into the thin air. Only 10% of the TCMA people may train on the heavy bag), in order to straight it up, you have to bend it toward the other direction first (over emphasize heavy bag training).

[Jimbo]

Of course most of the time, the truth is in the middle. When something is bending toward one direction (90% of the TCMA people strike into the thin air. Only 10% of the TCMA people may train on the heavy bag), in order to straight it up, you have to bend it toward the other direction first (over emphasize heavy bag training).

This is very true, and the principle of over-correcting can apply effectively to many aspects of training.

[Syn7]

Word!

I always have to tell them, "You're supposed to be fighting the other guy. Not your own self." and, "Well, at least you are getting a lot of exercise struggling like that..."

I always wondered at that quote that suggest a person is their own greatest opponent or whatever. That you can will yourself through anything. That's simply not always true.

Being pinned by a high level wrestler that is bigger than you, or being outclassed by a better striker isn't always about heart.


Anyways... equilibrium is your friend.

[Hebrew Hammer]

The fabulous aspect of bag work and striking air, is that you remain undefeated and you will be lord of all you survey. Lifting weights is overrated.

[YouKnowWho]

a person is their own greatest opponent ...

I don't like that statement either. First, you will never have to fight against yourself. Second, even if "today's you" is better than "yesterday's you", if a 20 years old can still beat you up, the "today's you" is still very bad.

[Kevin73]

I think time should be spent on all three aspects,

1) Conditioning of the body/weapon
2) Air punching for proper form and delivery
3) Striking an object to get feedback and make proper adjustments

rinse and repeat.

One thing I have noticed about people who ONLY do striking on a heavy bag is that sometimes they "push" their techniques because they want the movement that they get from a bag and don't understand it.

One thing I have noticed about people who ONLY do air striking, sometimes they don't have good distancing or minor misalignments that don't mean much in the air but are very obvious when hitting something.

I prefer to have students learn the proper form first and really ingrain that before hitting an object because EVERY TIME, I have had someone try to hit the pads without really having a strong base from air punching, their form goes out the window as they just try to "hit hard" and end up winding up and throwing a punch like a person with no training at all.