How to punch harder. Basics of self-defense: how and where to hit so that the blow is serious

For many people, boxing is a way of life and they are willing to make great sacrifices in pursuit of fame as professional boxers. Whether you're well on your way or just starting the battle to achieve your boxing dream, don't procrastinate and start taking the steps necessary to become a professional boxer.

Basic theoretical principles of delivering a strong blow:

1. Speed ​​is not strength. Force is acceleration. That is, strength is not only speed. You need to have a weight that you will accelerate. A quick punch won't be powerful unless you put some of your body weight into it.

2. Move your body. Remember Bruce Lee's famous "inch punch" theory: moving your entire body weight one inch (2.54 cm) will have a greater effect than moving one arm one foot (30 cm). To obtain maximum force, the entire body must move during the impact. The difficulty is that you do not need to focus on moving the body weight over a long distance, it is important to move the body at the same time (explosive mode).

3. Use your feet. The largest muscles in the body will provide the most energy. Those who throw punches using only the weight of their arms will never achieve serious punching power.

4. Stay within your striking range. Even the hardest punch will be wasted if your arms straighten too much (you don't reach). Your punch will be stronger if your fist hits the target a little before your arm is fully extended. Don't stretch out!

5. Strike from different angles. Such blows will be stronger; There will be more opportunities for strikes and the damage from them will be greater.

Energy flow

• Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• The heel of the back foot (the right heel of a right-handed boxer) is always slightly raised.
• Upon impact, your feet will rotate (or twist) in the direction of impact.
• When throwing a series of punches, your feet will rotate (or twist) in one direction or another depending on which hand you punch with.
• When striking with the right hand, the heel of the right foot is raised while the left foot is completely on the floor. When striking with the left hand, the opposite is true.
• When you throw your strongest punch, both feet should be firmly pressed to the floor. (We will break this rule later when we learn how to throw punches with rotation/twisting).

• Legs slightly bent at the knees.
• When striking, sit up slightly (body weight goes down), bending your knees.

• Rotate your hips towards your opponent as if you were throwing a hip strike.

BODY CASE

• Your torso should rotate with maximum amplitude and your punch will “fly” due to this rotation.
• Rotation of the body with a large amplitude and a small “reach” of the striking arm gives a stronger blow than a small rotation of the body with full straightening of the arm.
• Don't lean forward, don't try to "get" your opponent - instead, rotate your body!

• Keep your shoulders relaxed to increase speed and strength and conserve energy.
• When hitting, raise your shoulders higher - this will increase the force of the blow due to the work of the shoulder muscles.

FOREARMS

• At the beginning of the strike, the forearms are relaxed.
• When you throw your punch, your arms fly towards your opponent and straighten until they touch the opponent's body.
• Do not strike too long (do not try to reach the enemy), otherwise you will run into a counter strike.
• Do not pull your fist toward you before striking. This is called "telegraphing", which allows a skilled fighter to see the blow before it is thrown and deflect it.

HANDS

• When you are not striking, your hands are relaxed. You can form a fist, but you don't have to clench it.
• When you throw a punch, your fist turns into a brick that you deliver to your opponent.
• Your glove starts from your face and ends there.
• For straight punches, you move your fist horizontally before making contact. When delivering side blows to the body or head, the fist can stand vertically (“cup-shaped”).

• Exhale hard on every beat.
• The eyes are 100% ready. When striking, you need to look straight at the target.
• Lower your chin slightly to hide it behind the shoulder of your striking hand.

Everything I just described is called energy flow. You need to feel how the energy passes through your entire body from your feet to your fists. If one part of your body is lazy or you don't feel it participating in the strike, you need to train more so that that part also becomes actively involved in the process of striking.

Aiming

• Study the distance of all your strikes while standing still and then quickly stepping forward. Try to keep all your shots INSIDE this range.
• Shots from too long or too short a distance will not have maximum force.

Jab (straight left punch)

• A quick step forward will make this hit much stronger.
• Extend your throwing arm and lift your shoulder so you can really drive your jab into your opponent.
• Don't lean forward when throwing a jab. Save this for your next shot, the right cross.

Straight right or right cross

• Rotate your body, rotate your body and...rotate your body.
• The PERFECT target for this shot is not directly in front of you. I'll show you where she is. Do this: Extend your left arm as if throwing a jab. Extend your arm fully and leave it in this position. Now imagine that your opponent has ducked to the left of your jab and his face is now about 30 centimeters from your outstretched left hand. This space of 30 centimeters is the place where your right blow will be most powerful. Don't believe me? Try checking it on the bag. Stand not in the center of the bag, but slightly to the right and apply a right straight, rotating your body counterclockwise as much as possible. Do you feel the force of the blow? Great!

Left hook (left side)

• While throwing left side punches to the opponent's body, lower your elbow. If you throw a side kick to the head, raise your elbow.
• Learn to stop your side kick. You don't want it to fly through your opponent. Practice stopping this blow the moment your fist is directly in front of you. This will give that same “pop” from the blow (like from a whip) and will not allow you to “twist” your body.
• Well, forget to turn both feet so that they are facing to the side at the moment of delivering this blow.
• When throwing a left side kick, lower your right heel to the floor and lift your left to bring all the energy of your left leg into your strike.

Right hook

• When throwing a right side kick, shift your body weight from your back foot to your front foot and quickly move your head, bringing its weight into the blow, without taking your eyes away from where you are striking.
• When throwing a right hook, make sure that your head does not move to the side, but forward - directly towards your opponent. (This is not easy to do, but it will give your punch more power, although sometimes you will have to make a significant forward movement of your head for defensive purposes.)

Uppercut

• Forget everything you saw in the movie "Street Fighter".
• A real uppercut is a short and quick blow. The punch doesn't go all the way up, it actually goes forward.
• Imagine throwing a long right cross. Now make a new cross, but only now turn your fist so that your palm “looks” up. Now throw your right hand straight at your opponent's head.
• The uppercut does not have to be applied strictly from the bottom up, it is better to throw the arm from your waist diagonally upward. This blow is not vertical, it has a horizontal movement.

In the modern crime situation, it is very important to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones. Mastery of any self-defense techniques can always be useful to you at a critical moment. At the same time, it is important that you, while offering resistance to the enemy, do not suffer from your own actions. To do this, it is important to correctly follow the technique of performing the technique. Let's look at the main nuances of punching.

We hit with our fists

1. Firstly, in order to understand how to punch correctly, you need to form it correctly, otherwise you risk seriously damaging your hand, and even breaking your thumb. When forming a fist correctly, the thumb should be on top of the rest. It cannot be hidden inside, otherwise the entire force of the blow will be directed specifically at it, and, most likely, the incident will end in a dislocation or fracture.
2. Considering the striking technique directly, it should be noted that it is better not to hit with knuckles. Use the flat surface formed by the first phalanges of tightly closed fingers.
3. The most effective blow will be one in which the athlete’s weight is invested, this means that at the moment of moving the fist towards the enemy, the whole body must work, including the arm, shoulder and thigh.
4. It is advisable not to fully extend your elbow at the moment of impact. In general, it is better to fix it in the position: the arm is raised parallel to the floor, and the elbow angle is 90 0. Working with your whole body will make the blow stronger from this position.

For example, a right hand strike from the right side in boxing is carried out as follows. The right leg is tightly fixed on the floor, the main support of the body falls on it, then, along with the movement of the body, energy moves from the legs to the hand, clenched into a regular fist - the body gradually turns, the movement of the lower back and waist turns into the work of the entire torso. It is the boxer’s body that is the main source of energy, the fist is only the means by which this energy is delivered to the opponent.

Video - instructions for placing a strike

Tips from Bodyuk - how to properly prepare your fist

Finally

Now that it has become clear how hard to punch, you can practice the blow, but not one article or training video will give you the same effect as real training in the gym with a trainer who will control the entire process and guide you on the right path. Constant training and self-improvement can bring you and yours into excellent shape. After which you will feel much more confident on the dark streets of the city, and your body will automatically, without your control, respond to the attacker at a critical moment.

Here is a guide to striking for boxers, fighters and all those who want to deliver the right and strong blow! Learn the knockout punch now!

Before starting a conversation about a strong blow, it is necessary to master the theoretical foundations of the generation of energy by the human body. Then we will learn to place the body in the correct position so that all of your strength and all of your weight effectively “flows” into your blow. You will then learn proper striking techniques that will make your punches stronger. Lastly, I'll give you some tips on how to increase the damage of the hits you land on your opponent.

Basic theoretical principles of delivering a strong blow:

1. Speed ​​is not strength. Force is acceleration. That is, strength is not only speed. You need to have a weight that you will accelerate. A quick punch won't be powerful unless you put some of your body weight into it.

2. Move your body. Remember Bruce Lee's famous "inch punch" theory: moving your entire body weight one inch (2.54 cm) will have a greater effect than moving one arm one foot (30 cm). To obtain maximum force, the entire body must move during the impact. The difficulty is that you do not need to focus on moving the body weight over a long distance, it is important to move the body at the same time (explosive mode).

3. Use your feet. The largest muscles in the body will provide the most energy. Those who throw punches using only the weight of their arms will never achieve serious punching power.

4. Stay within your striking range. Even the hardest punch will be wasted if your arms straighten too much (you don't reach). Your punch will be stronger if your fist hits the target a little before your arm is fully extended. Don't stretch out!

5. Strike from different angles. Such blows will be stronger; There will be more opportunities for strikes and the damage from them will be greater.

Energy flow

• Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• The heel of the back foot (the right heel of a right-handed boxer) is always slightly raised.
• Upon impact, your feet will rotate (or twist) in the direction of impact.
• When throwing a series of punches, your feet will rotate (or twist) in one direction or another depending on which hand you punch with.
• When striking with the right hand, the heel of the right foot is raised while the left foot is completely on the floor. When hitting with your left hand, the opposite is true.
• When you throw your strongest punch, both feet should be firmly pressed to the floor. (We will break this rule later when we learn how to throw punches with rotation/twisting).

• Legs slightly bent at the knees.
• When striking, sit up slightly (body weight goes down), bending your knees.

• Rotate your hips towards your opponent as if you were throwing a hip strike.

BODY CASE

• Your torso should rotate with maximum amplitude and your punch will “fly” due to this rotation.
• Rotation of the body with a large amplitude and a small “reach” of the striking arm gives a stronger blow than a small rotation of the body with full straightening of the arm.
• Don't lean forward, don't try to "get" your opponent - instead, rotate your body!

• Keep your shoulders relaxed to increase speed and strength and conserve energy.
• When hitting, raise your shoulders higher - this will increase the force of the blow due to the work of the shoulder muscles.

FOREARMS

• At the beginning of the strike, the forearms are relaxed.
• When you throw your punch, your arms fly towards your opponent and straighten until they touch the opponent's body.
• Do not strike too long (do not try to reach the enemy), otherwise you will run into a counter strike.
• Do not pull your fist toward you before striking. This is called "telegraphing", which allows a skilled fighter to see the blow before it is thrown and deflect it.

HANDS

• When you are not striking, your hands are relaxed. You can form a fist, but you don't have to clench it.
• When you throw a punch, your fist turns into a brick that you deliver to your opponent.
• Your glove starts from your face and ends there.
• For straight punches, you move your fist horizontally before making contact. When delivering side blows to the body or head, the fist can stand vertically (“cup-shaped”).

• Exhale hard on every beat.
• The eyes are 100% ready. When striking, you need to look straight at the target.
• Lower your chin slightly to hide it behind the shoulder of your striking hand.

Everything I just described is called energy flow. You need to feel how the energy passes through your entire body from your feet to your fists. If one part of your body is lazy or you don't feel it participating in the strike, you need to train more so that that part also becomes actively involved in the process of striking.

Aiming

• Study the distance of all your strikes while standing still and then quickly stepping forward. Try to keep all your shots INSIDE this range.
• Shots from too long or too short a distance will not have maximum force.

Jab (straight left punch)

• A quick step forward will make this hit much stronger.
• Extend your throwing arm and lift your shoulder so you can really drive your jab into your opponent.
• Don't lean forward when throwing a jab. Save this for your next shot, the right cross.

Straight right or right cross

• Rotate your body, rotate your body and...rotate your body.
• The PERFECT target for this shot is not directly in front of you. I'll show you where she is. Do this: Extend your left arm as if throwing a jab. Extend your arm fully and leave it in this position. Now imagine that your opponent has ducked to the left of your jab and his face is now about 30 centimeters from your outstretched left hand. This space of 30 centimeters is the place where your right blow will be most powerful. Don't believe me? Try checking it on the bag. Stand not in the center of the bag, but slightly to the right and apply a right straight, rotating your body counterclockwise as much as possible. Do you feel the force of the blow? Great!

Left hook (left side)

• While throwing left side punches to the opponent's body, lower your elbow. If you throw a side kick to the head, raise your elbow.
• Learn to stop your side kick. You don't want it to fly through your opponent. Practice stopping this blow the moment your fist is directly in front of you. This will give that same “pop” from the blow (like from a whip) and will not allow you to “twist” your body.
• Well, forget to turn both feet so that they are facing to the side at the moment of delivering this blow.
• When throwing a left side kick, lower your right heel to the floor and lift your left to bring all the energy of your left leg into your strike.

Right hook

• When throwing a right side kick, shift your body weight from your back foot to your front foot and quickly move your head, bringing its weight into the blow, without taking your eyes away from where you are striking.
• When throwing a right hook, make sure that your head does not move to the side, but forward - directly towards your opponent. (This is not easy to do, but it will give your punch more power, although sometimes you will have to make a significant forward movement of your head for defensive purposes.)

Uppercut

• Forget everything you saw in the movie "Street Fighter".
• A real uppercut is a short and quick blow. The punch doesn't go all the way up, it actually goes forward.
• Imagine throwing a long right cross. Now make a new cross, but only now turn your fist so that your palm “looks” up. Now throw your right hand straight at your opponent's head.
• The uppercut does not have to be applied strictly from the bottom up, it is better to throw the arm from your waist diagonally upward. This blow is not vertical, it has a horizontal movement.

Striking

It is very important to learn how to hit hard. You can’t just strike hard when you feel like it. We must learn to seize the moment for such a blow. Your distance must be correct, not only for the first shot, but also for the next one.

When is the best time to hit hard?

• When the opponent hits himself. A counter strike always causes more damage.
• When the opponent does not expect the blow. This can be achieved by breaking through his defense or striking in a ragged rhythm. Fast boxers do this by throwing a very fast straight right or left hook.
• At an angle. Hitting at an angle can cause more damage, stun your opponent faster, or at least prevent him from preparing another hard blow.

Most common mistakes

• Lifting the foot off the floor. Lifting the foot during the strike removes almost all body weight from the strike.
• Trying to reach (pulling). Such a blow will not be strong. Moreover, you become an excellent target for a counter strike. If you hit in such a way that you have to reach too far to reach your opponent, you are limiting yourself to just that one strike, whereas striking with balance and poise allows you to hit in a series.
• They forget about the jab. If you don't jab, you'll never be able to prepare a really hard punch. Use your jab! A short, strong jab will stun your opponent (or distract him) and help you set up your signature hard punch.
• Episodes are too fast. What happens when you get excited in a fight and start throwing a lot of fast punches with just the weight of your arms, i.e. don't put the rest of your body weight into your punches at all? Of course, you have a lot of energy and your strikes all seem quite strong to you, however, over time, your arms will get tired and the force in your strikes will disappear completely.
• Telegraphing. Do not, under any circumstances, move your fist towards you before striking (as if swinging). So many boxers do this in the ring and their punches become predictable. Try standing at the bag without moving and throwing a punch at someone's unexpected command. You shouldn’t jump back and forth at a rhythm that is predictable for your opponent.
• Stay away from lifting weights. Trying to hit a powerful punch with the bench press is the same as trying to break the sprint speed record by lifting the barbell to develop your leg muscles. There are many conflicting articles written on the usefulness or otherwise of training with weights for hitting hard, but the science is simple: when you lift weights, your body becomes stronger with a slow movement (the punch is a fast movement). Moreover, training with weights will noticeably increase your strength in a very limited number of movement types. The body will develop unnatural muscle sizes that will have little endurance. If it were possible to build really strong and fast muscles for boxing, a great middleweight boxer could easily become a great heavyweight boxer, right?

Training for hitting hard

• Strike slowly. This is one of my favorite tips. I force my players to hit as hard as possible, but slowly - at half speed. Almost everyone I've coached has been surprised by the fact that when they hit slowly, the power of their punches is greater compared to the power of their fast punches. The reason is that no person's body can move faster than their arms. Usually the hand completes the blow before the body begins to rotate. Throwing slow punches allows you to engage your entire body in the punch and really helps make the punch really powerful. Exercise: Stand in a front stance next to the bag or opposite a partner with paws. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder width and alternate right and left crosses. It is important that before each blow the boxer pauses for two seconds, as if posing in front of a photographer. Try it! There are many exercises for developing speed, however, at this stage our goal is to hit slowly!
• Swimming is a great way to build strength throughout your entire body. There are not many exercises to develop strength and endurance that are as effective as swimming!
• Isometric exercises. Stand against a wall, bend over slightly and place your fist on the wall and push your fist as if your punch is stuck. Apply maximum effort for 10 seconds; then change hands. 15 reps and 3 sets per arm. This exercise trains the body's ability to conserve energy. It's as if you force your body to become a rubber band - as soon as the obstacle in the path of the fist disappears - BAM!

To learn to hit harder, you must be willing to forget everything you know and try something new. Like anything else, there is always room for improvement in boxing. Boxers who think they know everything will never learn to punch harder. Keep an open mind and pay attention to techniques and strategies that you have never used yourself, and you will achieve results. Respect other people's striking techniques and explore the possibility of incorporating them into your own.

MENSBY

4.4

A quick and strong punch is a skill that will come in handy in difficult and extreme moments of life. How to punch hard? How to take your punching skill to a professional level?

Punching fast and hard is a basic skill. Mastering such a strike begins with improving physical fitness and learning to perform a strike in such a way that the source of force is not only the arm, but the whole body. By learning how to properly aim and hit within striking distance, you'll be able to add more speed to your punches, and by using training techniques that help you instantly increase muscle mass, you'll be able to build strength. If you're ready to take your punching skill to the next level, then move on to step one.

1. Work on physical fitness

1.1 Take the correct stance. For a good punch, the placement of the feet and legs is of great importance, since such a punch requires the work of the whole body. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart so you can easily pivot toward your target and throw your weight behind the punch.

If you are hitting with your right hand, your right foot should be slightly back and your right heel should be raised.

During the impact, your legs will tend to move in the direction of the impact. When you strike hard, they should not leave the ground. If you elevate your feet, you take some of your body weight out of the equation and your punch won't be as powerful.

1.2 Keep your eyes on the target. Your concentration should not leave your target. Never close your eyes or look away; In order to aim correctly and execute a blow with power and accuracy, maintain concentration. Tuck your chin in slightly so that it is protected by the striking hand during the strike.

1.3 Generate force through your hips and core. As you kick, rotate your hips and body toward the target. Try to position yourself so that the rotation is as complete as possible, even if you are very close to the target. Your punch will be stronger if you can turn completely instead of just shifting slightly. When throwing a punch, you should really feel the weight of your body.

When practicing punching, pay attention to your hips. Rotate them quickly and forcefully towards the target, as if you were about to strike it with your hips rather than with your fist. This will help you develop the power needed to hit hard and quickly.

While spinning, you should not have to lean forward or try to reach the target. If you have to reach towards the target in order to hit it, you will lose power.

1.4 Throw your hand forward. Your shoulders should be free until you are ready to strike. When ready, throw your arm forward to easily reach the person you are hitting. While your hand isn't moving, keep it relaxed and then make a fist to throw a heavy punch.

When making a fist, clench all four fingers except the thumb and wrap them last. Make sure your thumb is bent behind you, otherwise it will get caught in your strike.

Pre-bandaging your hand will help you avoid injury and make the blow more powerful.

Don't plan your punch before throwing a punch - this will allow your opponent to figure out your plan before you try to punch. This is called "wiring" and results in lost matches.

1.5 Make contact and exhale. Once you have made contact with the target, exhale. It may take practice to time your breathing so that you exhale with each beat, but getting into the correct breathing rhythm is well worth the effort. Inhale before the strike and exhale as it strikes, putting every ounce of your energy into the strike.

After landing a strike, jump back to your starting position to prepare for the next strike.

Remember to tuck your chin in so you are ready for a counterpunch if one comes.

2. Increased speed and strength

2.1 When throwing a fist, consider the distance. You should only throw a punch if you are at the ideal distance to deliver it with maximum force. This means being close enough to hit without deflecting or leaning forward. You should be able to deliver the punch with your arm extended, but not too extended.

If you have to lean forward to make a shot, a lot of the power in your shot will be lost.

Practice on the punching bag until you understand how far away you should be from the target when hitting. This distance will depend on the length of your arm and your range of motion.

2.2 Move your whole body. The importance of using your entire body, not just your arm, to throw a punch cannot be overstated. Even if you can move your arm quickly, without rotating your entire body, your punch will be less powerful when moving just your arm.

Using your leg muscles will allow you to generate power and speed when hitting. The leg muscles are the largest and strongest muscles in the body and must be behind every punch.

Remember not to lift your feet off the floor during the impact, as this will throw you off balance and take away some of your power. Keep your feet quick, but keep them close to the floor.

2.3 Hit from different angles. In combat, you won't hit the same way every time. Learn to determine which type of strike will be most powerful in each specific situation. To improve your fighting prowess, work on mastering your strikes from the following basic angles:

Right or left cross: This is one of the strongest shots. If you punch with your right hand, your left leg should be behind you. Conversely, step your right foot back if you are punching with your left hand. Turn your body sharply during impact.

Jab or straight punch: To initiate this punch, move the foot on the side of your throwing hand forward. If you hit with your right hand, then your right foot should be in front, and if you hit with your left, then your left. As you execute the punch, shift your weight slightly forward and rotate your arm slightly inward. Make sure you don't have to reach the target.

Left or Right Hook: If you throw a left hook, your entire body should turn to the right during the strike. As you throw your arm forward, your right heel goes down and your left heel goes up. For a right hook, take the opposite approach.

Uppercut: When throwing a punch, rotate your fist so that your palm is facing up and strike from your hip diagonally upward. A strike made in a diagonal direction will be more powerful.

Choose the right moment. Since distance is very important when you want to punch with the most force, it is important to understand that not every punch will be the strongest. If you're a little out of optimal range, your shot will be a little weaker due to the fact that you'll be trying to get into the right position for a more powerful shot. A good moment to deliver the strongest blow comes when the following conditions are met:

If your opponent is in the process of striking, as he will be less focused on what you are doing.

If he let his guard down. You can create this situation by throwing irregular strikes or attacking from unexpected angles.

If he is stunned by a previous blow. To prepare for a powerful right cross, try starting with a quick jab.

3. Training to Improve Your Punch

3.1 Practice hitting slowly. The hardest hits aren't really the fastest. Your arm may be moving faster than the rest of your body, so waiting for your body to catch up with your arm slows down the strike. Even though a strong punch is generally slow, there will be times when you have just the right amount of time to land a slow but extremely powerful punch. It's worth practicing punching at a slow speed so you can feel the force that comes from giving your body time to become the support of your fist.

When training, try hitting twice as slow. Force yourself to slow down and concentrate on using your leg and core muscles to maximize the power of your punch.

When you hit at full speed, don't forget where the force for the hit comes from. While you won't be punching at half the normal speed in the ring, you can still focus on using your legs and core to generate as much power as possible.

3.2 Train on a pneumatic bag. Speed ​​is just as important as strength because if you are too slow your opponent will have time to throw a lot more punches. Train with a punching bag and pay attention to how fast your arms move. Maintain proper training form and remember to move your thumb away from the knuckles during impact.

The pneumatic bulb should be suspended so that its largest part, the belly, is located at the level of your nose. If you hang it too high, you will perform the wrong workout form.

Concentrate on keeping the bag in constant motion and in control at all times. Begin slow alternating strikes with your right and left hands. Once you have control of the bag, speed up your punches.

3.3 Do strength training. A little strength training is a great way to keep your body in the best shape possible, but it alone will not make you a stronger or faster boxer. You need to train your punching muscles by hitting, not by lifting weights. Therefore, a strength training regimen that strengthens your legs and core to throw maximum power punches is a great idea.

Try deadlifts to build overall strength in your legs, core, and arms.

Squats, push-ups, and pull-ups are good exercises for building strength, which corresponds to improving your punching.

3.4 Do cardio exercises. The best types of cardio to get into the shape a good boxer needs are swimming and jumping rope. When you need a break from regular exercise, consider these types of exercise as an alternative. Running, cycling and other types of cardio are beneficial, but they don't provide the strength gains that specifically help your body perform hard in the boxing ring.

3.5 Try isometric training. Isometric muscle contraction occurs when muscles contract without changing their length. You can train this type of contraction by pushing as hard as you can on a stationary object, such as a wall. Using isometric arm training will teach your body to build strength that can be quickly released with maximum energy. Try the following arm training regimen:

Make a fist and press it against the wall as hard as possible. Rest your entire body against the wall for ten seconds, and then repeat the exercise on the other arm.

Try to do 3 sets of 15 sets per workout. Doing this exercise daily will strengthen your muscles.

Adviсe

Study anatomy so you know which spots will cause more damage when hitting them.
Remember that balance is the key to striking quickly.
Try the left-right combination.
Don't exercise in your everyday shoes. Regular everyday shoes will chafe your feet.
Don't hit the punching bag with your bare hands; you risk damaging your wrists and knuckles. If you injure your hands, they will need to heal before you can resume training.
Always take into account the height difference between you and your opponent.
Don't hit people without good reason. Beating is not a productive solution to any problem.

Jet Li fight video

The main thing in battle is the blow. Only a blow will bring you victory over the enemy. Martial arts schools can prove as much as they want the advantages of holds, painful holds and other tricky actions, but not a single trick can compete with a strike. It is simpler and faster, and uses less energy. A correctly placed blow can knock a person down, break his bones, even kill him.

Remember a simple formula: you have to hit quickly, brutally and accurately.

You won’t have a second chance to hit your enemy, and even more so, no one will wait motionless until your fist or heel reaches the target, so you need to try to knock down, break the attacker with one poke. You're not in a boxing ring or in a friendly fight. The blow must be crushing, hit a vulnerable point, and cause maximum damage.

Many people remember from their school physics course that momentum is the product of a body’s mass and its speed. So, let’s say, a falling brick has a relatively low speed, but a very decent mass. A flying bullet has negligible mass, but enormous speed. Being hit by both a brick and a bullet is very dangerous for a person, often fatal. We need to achieve approximately the same effect in striking.

I think everyone has heard what “setting a shot” is. With these words, the average person imagines dry Japanese old men poking their straightened fingers into a wooden block for hours, or kickboxers methodically tapping their feet on a suspended bag. This is all very good, but you probably won’t be able to devote two or three years to daily training, after which you will be able to pierce your opponent’s temporal bone with a poke of your finger? So I think not. So, first of all, you should prepare your knuckles for a blow, since in battle nothing is used as often as fists. To “harden” your joints, perform a long fist stand, like doing push-ups. You can do this in between other exercises, or separately, in the evening or during your lunch break. It will hurt at first - you will have to endure it. It’s better, by the way, not just to stand, but to sway a little, as if rolling on your fists.

Hitting a punching bag or other simulator also helps to set up a strike. Everything is simple here: if you hit powerfully and quickly, your fist did not jump off the target, and no sharp pain flared up in your wrist and forearm - you did everything right. So don’t rush from the very beginning, listen to your feelings. Dashing guys, trying to defeat everyone, sometimes pound their fists on a concrete wall. As a result, their knuckles become flattened, the mobility of their fingers decreases, and all sorts of bad chronic diseases develop from constant damage to their wrists. I wish you not to repeat the mistakes of idiots. By the way, these include ideas about the “correct” striking technique: karate “screwing in”, boxing “poke” and all that stuff. Don't bother yourself with this. If the blow harms the enemy and does not harm the striker, it is correct. And the rest is lyrics.

But even with strengthened knuckles and a wrist accustomed to impact, it is difficult to get rid of the numbness that appears in the hand after punching something hard - for example, an opponent's jaw. There is one dishonest trick for this: hold something in your hand. An ordinary penny lighter or an object of similar dimensions will do. It is important that you can fully clench your fist when your “pig” is in it. Otherwise, your fingers may get hurt.

The punching distance should be almost your entire outstretched arm. As the fist flies, it accelerates, and the longer it accelerates, the higher its final speed. That is why, when a short boxer and a tall boxer meet in the ring, the one who is smaller in stature strives to get as close to his opponent as possible. Not only does he reach his striking range, but he also finds himself where the big man’s strikes have not yet reached their maximum speed.

The blow must be delivered with a single coordinated effort of the muscles of the entire body. Moreover, ideally, you should not care from what position and in what direction to hit - you need to develop yourself comprehensively, so that preferences in trajectories are minimal, and the strikes themselves do not require any special preparatory movements such as a large swing or straightening of the body.

“How can we do without a swing? – the reader will ask. “After all, it was literally just said that the greater the distance the blow flies, the stronger it is!” This is true. But the swing betrays your intention to hit the enemy. We need to do without it. In addition, the swing itself does not involve any additional muscles in the strike: the effort is the same whether you hit it backhanded or simply straighten your arm with force. To add force to the blow and prevent the opponent from predicting it, you need to twist the body. For example, you slightly turn your body to the left - you don’t move your shoulder, pay attention, but you turn your body. And after that, pushing with your left foot, you turn like a spring, and your left fist flies to the target. In this case, the body not only returns to its original position but also twists slightly to the right. Due to this additional twisting, force is added to the already launched strike, and a new strike with the second hand is prepared. The kick can be done both forward and backward - kick on the offensive and on the retreat. In the end, the trajectory of the blow can be anything, it’s just that your fist “shoots” not only due to the biceps and triceps, but also due to the powerful back muscles.

Immediately after the blow hits the target, the hand should jerk back and return to defense. No need to “accompany” the target– if the opponent falls, it will happen because of the force of your blow, and not because you push him. In general, learn to freeze both before and after a blow. I have already said that any immobility or tightness is dangerous.

Fig.3. Direct punch to the face.

Direct blows to the face and body- the basis of everything, but they can also turn out to be the most useless actions (Fig. 3). You can put enough force into them, but their trajectories are too predictable and easy to defend against. However, direct strikes, used wisely, can decide the outcome of a fight. Try to punch by turning your fist so that the back of your palm faces up. Leave your elbow down at the beginning of the strike, do not move it too far to the side so as not to open your side for a preemptive attack by the enemy. When striking, you can bend your knees a little more to position yourself lower and direct the strike under your opponent's arm. You can, on the contrary, hit above your hand, then it will be more difficult to defend against a direct blow. Be ready to strike at any moment, keep your opponent on his toes. An eyebrow broken by a direct blow can fill his eyes with blood. You shouldn’t count on it, but you shouldn’t discount the possibility itself either.

Fig.4. Uppercut to the jaw.

Uppercut- a very recognizable blow that ends more than one fight in television boxing and martial arts films (Fig. 4). The hand arcs upward from your body and aims at the chin from below or at the enemy’s body - at the liver, spleen, under the stomach. In this case, the enemy literally “puts himself” on his fist, and your striking hand simultaneously protects you from a counterattack to the body. When making an uppercut, you do not need to fully extend your arm - it should continue to lean on the body, giving it additional force. If you throw an uppercut from the wrong distance and your arm extends too much, most of your momentum will miss the target. The advantage of the uppercut is that it is very difficult to defend against, but the disadvantage is the close range from which it must be executed.

Fig.5. Hook to the jaw.

Side punches, or in boxing terminology, "hooks" do not require almost any swing and allow you to put your entire body weight into the blow by twisting the body (Fig. 5). When hooking, the hand should also not be fully extended, so that the blow hits the target with the knuckles, and not with the inside of the fist. During a side impact, the elbow rises to almost the same height as the fist. The main targets of the hook are the opponent's liver and jaw. One missed hook can knock you unconscious, one correctly executed hook will bring victory over your opponent.

The trajectories of punches are simple and understandable. For any attack you need to guess the moment. The enemy spread his arms to the sides - extinguish him with a direct blow into the opened gap. Moves to the side - hit a hook. His elbows are not in your way, he opened up or waved his fist at random - an excellent moment for an uppercut.

But the striking surface of the hand is not only the fist. Swing blows can be delivered, for example, with the base of the fist or the inside of the fist, where the thumb is. And the hardest and injury-resistant surface of our hand is the base of the palm. Here, however, you can’t do without training. Remember how when you fall, you put your hands up so that you fall not on your chest, but on these very bases of your palms - and strike in the same way. A sharp direct poke to a vulnerable point will be worse than a blow from a fist hitting the same place (Fig. 6). In the end, a direct blow to the nose will break it, at most, and a poke from the bottom up can drive the nasal bone into the skull.. And even if this does not happen, the pain will be incomparably stronger.

And, of course, when attacking with the heel of the palm don't spread your fingers. It is best to tighten them altogether, bending them in the second and third phalanx - this is the position the fingers are in when standing at attention. Or just bring them together and keep them tense so as not to accidentally dislocate.

Hand-to-hand combat specialists call two types of strikes in their arsenal of open-hand actions: "ramming" And "whip" When carrying out the first, they rely on mass, the second - on speed.

Fig.6. Hit under the nose with the heel of your hand.

In a ramming blow you need to put the weight of your whole body, in a whip blow you need to “snap” a limb like a whip, here speed is more important than weight. A ram strike is more dangerous because it is more likely to break bones and rupture blood vessels and ligaments. A whipping blow is more painful, it is more likely to disorient the enemy, and also hits “deep” targets - that is, if it hits the “meat”, it damages internal organs.

With a ramming blow, everything is clear - the main blows with fists are exactly like that. Whip blows are a little more difficult, you'll have to learn them. When whipping, first the elbow goes forward and only then the hand, all joints are relaxed, the hand seems to “smear” the target with a drawbar. A hard blow is made with the fingertips, the back of the palm, and sometimes with the edge of the palm, as in karate. At the moment of contact of the “projectile” with the target, the hand should tense, thereby acquiring rigidity. Moreover, you need to tense your hand only at the moment of impact, not earlier. In order to prevent your muscles from “getting ahead of things,” when practicing, imagine that the target is not on the surface of the “pear” or “paw,” but in its depths or behind it. After all, in fact, this is the case - you need to hit not the enemy’s “meat”, but the internal organs covered by this meat.

It is better to whip not vertically or horizontally, but diagonally in front of you, as if drawing a cross. At the same time, please note that diagonal strikes from the bottom up are less convenient and intuitive for you, so you need to spend more time practicing them. But they are more difficult to predict and more difficult to reflect.

The blow, by the way, is stronger the smaller the contact surface between the hand and the target. It was in order for the impulse to fall on a minimum area that the ancients began to sharpen their weapons. Imagine what is more dangerous - a poke with the handle of a shovel or the same poke, but if the handle is sharpened like a pencil? The hand has fingers as such a “point”. With straightened, clenched fingers, you need to hit the enemy’s vulnerable spots - the eyes, throat, subclavian notch, solar plexus, genitals. A hand with straightened fingers is longer than a fist, so you will have a slight gain in distance.

We will talk about the points at which the blows should fall a little later, when we understand the technique. But now I want to say a couple of words that you need to remember.

You need to hit where it is easiest to hit and where your blow will cause maximum pain and cause maximum damage. There is little point in hitting the enemy on the forehead or cheekbones - he most likely only eats and smokes with his head; he does not need it to think. But he will definitely feel a broken nose or a twisted jaw. But it’s easy to defend against blows to the head. So also work with your fists on the middle and lower levels - below the ribs on the right is the liver, and if you beat it off, the enemy’s desire to continue the fight will disappear. “In the gut,” that is, in the solar plexus, is a blow to the middle of the body, above the abdominal muscles and below the point where the ribs meet. Hit from the side on the ears, with a direct or upward blow to the Adam's apple, from top to bottom on the nose, on the collarbones, with the back of your hand or fingers - backhand to the eyes. Forget about rules and conventions, do not spare the enemy - he will not spare you.

And don’t forget to cover your own body while striking. The hand that is not hitting at a given second is where it should be - covering the head or body. The hand immediately returns after the blow, ready to cover or strike again.

In addition to fists, in real combat you must use your elbows. Unlike a fist or an open palm, the elbow itself will not be damaged when struck; the blow is delivered from a short distance, so it is much more difficult to resist. Finally, with an elbow strike you can not only attack, but also actively defend yourself, knocking down the enemy’s blow.

The trajectories of elbow strikes are intuitive because they are the same trajectories as punches. The technology for their implementation is the same: a twisted body transmits force, the shoulder directs the movement. Only the arm does not straighten, and instead of the knuckles, the exposed elbow hits the target (Fig. 7). The main directions of an elbow strike are from bottom to top (as with an uppercut) and circular inwards and outwards (as with a hook) (Fig. 8). In addition, you can use your elbow to attack an opponent who is on the side without turning towards him. The elbow is also excellent for finishing blows from above, if your previous blow caused the opponent to be bent in half (and this, of course, should be strived for) (Fig. 9).

Fig.7. Counter straight elbow strike. It is applied in a counterattack: ahead of the enemy’s blow, you take a step forward and simply suddenly raise your forearm.

Fig.8. Side elbow strike. It is especially convenient to apply it to the temple.

Fig.9. Overhead elbow strike. Apply along the collarbone, and, if possible, along the back of the cervical vertebrae.

Similar use your knees for finishing and counterattacks at close range (Fig. 10). It is difficult to hit with your knee except near you, and besides, oblique and side blows with it deprive you of stability. Therefore, it is best to strike with a knee while fixing the enemy (that is, in a grip), and in other cases, the main targets are his groin, knees and hips. And get out of your head the idea that hitting you in the groin is unmanly. It's not like a man to be defeated by a street scumbag, and the winners are not judged. You won’t throw a stick or brass knuckles because your enemy is unarmed? Seizing the moment, grab the enemy by the shoulders, head or elbows and pull him towards you and down, while simultaneously delivering a knee strike to the face, chin or stomach. You can hit from the side in hopes of breaking the ribs (Fig. 11). You can add an elbow on top.

Fig. 10. Direct knee strike from below. Apply to the groin or stomach. If you manage to grab the enemy by the head and sharply pull him down, knee him in the face.

Fig. 11. Side knee strike: a – in the hypochondrium, b – in the thigh.

Elbow and knee strikes should be short and sharp.

Strength is imparted to them by almost all the muscles of the body and pelvis, respectively, so they need to develop mainly speed. Modern man is not used to moving quickly (except for briskly tapping his fingers on the keyboard), so you have to work hard on the speed of your strokes.

But in general, knee strikes are not the main kicks that need to be mastered and used. Kicking has a lot of benefits. First, you're wearing shoes in most situations, so your feet have extra protection and often useful rigidity. The steel toe of a modern military shoe or the narrow toe of a cowboy boot can be considered your weapon. Secondly, the legs are longer than the arms, so they can attack from a greater distance while remaining out of the enemy's reach. Thirdly, kicks at the lower level are much more invisible, and it is almost impossible to defend against them - only to remove the foot, and this is not always possible.

You need to hit with the heel and toe of the shoe. Just don’t try to repeat what Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme do in the movies - kicking at the top level, especially with a turn or jump, is a waste of energy. Not only are they very difficult to perform and require good stretching, development of the hip joint and a toned stomach, but you are also very unstable and vulnerable at the moment of delivering such a blow. In the ring, you can also try “mawashi” in the ear. Forget about him in battle.

Kicks should not go higher than the opponent's stomach.– the range of your fists begins there. The simplest movement is a heel stomp on the opponent’s toes and instep (Fig. 12). It is designed to disorient and inflict pain rather than cause any serious damage, but if you are lucky and you are wearing heavy shoes, and the attacker is wearing, say, sneakers, then you can with a well-placed blow render him unable to walk.

Fig. 12. Hit the opponent's butt with the heel from above.

A side kick with the outer edge of the foot can be quite effective. Its targets are usually the lower leg, the point under the knee, the knee itself, the stomach and groin, and the liver. Depending on your maneuver, you can hit straight or from the side (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13. Side blow with the outer rib of the butt under the kneecap.

A direct blow with the toe of a boot (“bump”) is almost always effective. It should go slightly from top to bottom so that at the end point the entire mass of the descending body is invested in the impact. If the sole of your boot is hard enough, try to break your opponent’s knee or ankle; if it’s soft, hit him in the groin (Fig. 14).

Fig. 14. Hit with the toe of a boot: a – in the shin, b – under the knee, c – in the groin.

Similarly, you can hit with your toe when extending your leg. The blow comes from the bottom up, it is very painful and traumatic if it hits under the kneecap, especially when it is applied not in a straight line, but slightly from the side. This “kick” can also be used to counterattack the opponent’s hands if he hits low enough. There is no need to talk about the finishing value of the toe strike at all - and so everything is clear. By lifting the foot, or better yet, with the shin, it is also effective to hit from the side, under the bend of the knee, in order to deprive the opponent of stability.

Fig. 15. Side kicks: a – the so-called low kick is applied with the shin to the opponent’s thigh or knee joint; b – the leg hits the knees from behind, and the right hand moves in the direction opposite to the leg and pushes the opponent to fall back.

You can kick an opponent behind you with great force, throwing your leg back from the hip and trying to hit the knee or groin with your heel.

When throwing any kick, start it with the knee, not the foot. Keep the heel of your other foot off the ground to maintain stability. Don’t forget to twist your body and pelvis in the same way as when punching (Fig. 15). Do not straighten your kicking leg all the way, because otherwise you may damage it. Of course, kicks need to be practiced no less, if not more, than punches.

You can not only kick with your feet, but also make sweeps. Using the instep of your foot or its inner edge, hit the opponent’s shin from the side or behind so as to move his leg from its place. With a side sweep, the attacker's legs cross, and with a back sweep, one of the legs (usually the one that was already in front) is brought forward strongly. In both cases, this does not add stability. The hook itself is unlikely to knock a person down, but if it is immediately followed by a blow or even just a push, the likelihood of a fall is high.

Don't neglect to hit with your head too. Yes, at first it is scary and uncomfortable. To some extent, there is a risk of damaging your face if you hit inaccurately. But the head is the largest and hardest striking surface of your body (Fig. 16). By the way, it is not necessary to hit forward - with the same force you can hit to the side, back, and even in an arc, as if “twisting” the blow (Fig. 17).

Your target when hitting your head is the enemy's face. It’s just very important to hit the face (nose, jaw), and not the forehead. If you hit your forehead against your forehead, you can lose consciousness yourself.

Fig. 16. Impact surfaces of the head.

Rice. 17. Side header.

You can try to hit your head in the collarbones, butt your opponent in the ribs, if you feel that you are capable of this, but this is more likely if you have well-developed neck muscles and you can hit your head accurately - let’s say, it will be useful for those who are young played football. You can hit not only by contracting the neck muscles, but also by jerking forward, putting the movement of the entire body into the blow.

The disadvantages of a header are obvious: low accuracy, danger of getting hit in the back of the head, stress on the cervical vertebrae. Advantages - it is difficult to predict and it is very fast.