It’s a common theory that you must tense the muscles during a punch or kick. I can see where that comes from and respect the folks that believe it. However, one of the major hindrances of powerful punching, is the negative aspects of antagonistic muscle activity. The problem with indiscriminate tensing, is that even the muscles that aren’t needed tense right along with the others. Remember, if you think about it, maximum tension equals zero movement!
The concept I have in mind is to throw the punch (kick) loosely, let the bones, acceleration and thought create the force for impact. This gets tricky in trying to protect the wrist (ankle) from rolling, but in time you can learn to control the wrist position and strength without tensing muscles that would impede the issuance of power.
Relax. Learn to “throw” relaxed. Control the shape of the hand (fist, knife hand, ridge hand etc.) without unnecessary tension. Think penetration versus focus. Bullets don’t focus; arrows don’t focus, knives don’t focus: the idea is to penetrate your force through the target. Throw your move as though the target is simply “in the way” of your power – throw right through it.
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Would you recommend practicing punches on a heavy bag (or willing participant) to learn how to avoid rolling the wrist?
Practice lightly on a heavy bag at first. Don’t just go in swinging without getting the feel of it. Then add a little more power as you see how to support the wrist etc. Never use full power on a heavy bag. It isn’t necessary. Most targets on a human being are very sensitive requiring little power to affect.
I’ve been rolling my wrist for 2 years and have only recently learned to relax and punch with a triangular fist and use waist rotation. What a big difference! Also, as you have taught us, the chi goes where the mind goes. This is very effective for punching through the bag/target/opponent with very little power in the fist.
Keep training hard and with proper technique in mind. It will all come together and feel great… and powerful. Thanks for commenting.