The chins of the opponents taking the punches vary greatly. A punch that is actually harder may not have those picturesque qualities we rave about. Fighters are sometimes KO'd by arm punches they do not see coming.
When a fighter has his weight behind a punch this, too, occurs to varying degrees. Done properly, weight can be transferred forward as little as two inches and have full momentum on it. Two to four inches is enough. Bruce Lee demonstated it with one inch. Not only is the puncher tranferring his body weight forward, he is twisting explosively from the shoulders and hips. His big toe digs into the canvas. It is all about the synchronization of these features with the forward momentum.
Since the forward momentum varies and can be very small, it is sometimes difficult to see all the contributing features of power in action at the same moment. Whenever I am asked a question like this, I answer with one knockout, because all the features are so clear in this particular example. Every element that contributes to power is visibly and dramatically in play when Tyson KO's the white buffalo. I am sure there are other examples just as illustrative, but I like to use this one. Check it out for yourself, I am too lazy for a link. Oh, all right.
Skip to 20:30 for the KO. Notice that Tyson's forward momentum is such that he keeps right on walking into his follow through and manages a little foot jig to avoid stepping on his opponent.
Notice particularly what is called the fall step of Tyson's left foot, which happens almost simultaneouly with the punch landing. As he falls forward his forward momentum is transferred into the punch. Dempsey was a foaming evangelist of the fall step as one of the essential keys to power.
Watch it several times, paying attention only to Tyson's left foot. Do the same with the right foot. Next, watch only his arm and shoulder and the line the punch takes.
Dempsey was so into analyzing power punching that he even includes that the boxer must keep his fist loose, suddenly clinching it tightly at the last moment with a snap, to transfer additional power into the punch. Jack would have been proud of Mike on this punch. One even wonders, knowing he was a foamy fan of Jack's, if ol' Mike clinched his fist only at the last moment to get that little extra surge of power.
The chins of the opponents taking the punches vary greatly. A punch that is actually harder may not have those picturesque qualities we rave about. Fighters are sometimes KO'd by arm punches they do not see coming.
When a fighter has his weight behind a punch this, too, occurs to varying degrees. Done properly, weight can be transferred forward as little as two inches and have full momentum on it. Two to four inches is enough. Bruce Lee demonstated it with one inch. Not only is the puncher tranferring his body weight forward, he is twisting explosively from the shoulders and hips. His big toe digs into the canvas. It is all about the synchronization of these features with the forward momentum.
Since the forward momentum varies and can be very small, it is sometimes difficult to see all the contributing features of power in action at the same moment. Whenever I am asked a question like this, I answer with one knockout, because all the features are so clear in this particular example. Every element that contributes to power is visibly and dramatically in play when Tyson KO's the white buffalo. I am sure there are other examples just as illustrative, but I like to use this one. Check it out for yourself, I am too lazy for a link. Oh, all right.
Skip to 20:30 for the KO. Notice that Tyson's forward momentum is such that he keeps right on walking into his follow through and manages a little foot jig to avoid stepping on his opponent.
Notice particularly what is called the fall step of Tyson's left foot, which happens almost simultaneouly with the punch landing. As he falls forward his forward momentum is transferred into the punch. Dempsey was a foaming evangelist of the fall step as one of the essential keys to power.
Watch it several times, paying attention only to Tyson's left foot. Do the same with the right foot. Next, watch only his arm and shoulder and the line the punch takes.
Dempsey was so into analyzing power punching that he even includes that the boxer must keep his fist loose, suddenly clinching it tightly at the last moment with a snap, to transfer additional power into the punch. Jack would have been proud of Mike on this punch. One even wonders, knowing he was a foamy fan of Jack's, if ol' Mike clinched his fist only at the last moment to get that little extra surge of power.
Not only does one want to get as close to the foot hitting the ground, as the hand hits the target, but, if one can make this movement of the foot hitting the ground and fist contacting target simultaneous, the punch will greatly increase in force. This is because all the stepping energy goes into the punch and is not subtracted from the foward momentum. A variation is when the foot hits a bit early to sink the weight and twist the hips violently to redirect this energy that would be lost....this is a principle in Chinese Northern Long Fist styles of combat, or Hsing Yi, one of the Chinese mother systems along with Tai Chi and Ba Qua (eight hexogram boxing).
Gotta be that Tyson KO over Marvis Frazier, dude was out cold before he hit the ground and Tyson hit him 3 or 4 more times before he even hit the canvas.
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