how importante is the punch

[Manny]

How important is the punch or hand tech for you?

For me the hand techs inside tkd are as important as the foot techs, I am not as fast as I did before, so I need my hands/arms to protect me and to counter in short distance and my legs are used from medium to long range distance.

If I am defending myself I will use my hands period, but if I am atacking I will use my kicks firsth of all. That´s why I use my hands equeally to my feet.

When doing kyorugi I like to punch, to get inside the guard of my oponent and punch to the mid section (cause it's not allowed contat to face), it just feel so good to catch or nail the other guy.

Offcourse deliver a nice kick to the head is the nicest thing but most of the times is not so easy.

Manny

 

[StudentCarl]

It's important to me. We do some boxing specifically to build hand skills, and I like using elbows and ridge hand as well.

 

[Gemini]

Hand techniques are every bit as important as foot techniques and we spend a fair amount of time on them for a few reasons. They're less forgiving (joints) if executed improperly than most kicks are. They're also effective for a wider varity of practitioners than kicking. I mean, not everyone has the physical kicking abilty of a Steven Lopez, but pretty much everyone can be taught to punch effectively.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I agree with all above, punching is very important. I really notice the difference when I spar someone who can kick AND punch, they are just so much harder to spar than someone who relies soley on kicks alone.

 

[jthomas1600]

Of course punches are important. You need to be able to fight at every range with as many tools available as possible.

Even at our school were hand techniques are somewhat discouraged during sparring just moving your hands and feinting with them opens things up a lot. It keeps your opponents eyes busy if nothing else. I see a lot of TKD practitioners sparring with their hands down at their sides and they use them for little other than keeping their balance. That drives me nuts.

 

[igillman]

When I was sparring one time I had just performed a roundhouse kick which they had blocked but their block left them wide open so I started punching at their chest protector. They didn't know what to do and stepped backwards so I just kept on punching rapidly (Wing Chun ish style) and I managed to back them all the way across the fighting area and into the mirrors. Our instructor would have stepped in when we left the fighting area but he was laughing too much.

Punching can have an effect on sparring even if it doesn't score points. Imagine if you got a good punch or two in the chest every time you ended up close to your opponent. It would not take long for your body to start to get tired and slow down or for you to avoid any moves that end with you being within punching distance of them.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

When I was sparring one time I had just performed a roundhouse kick which they had blocked but their block left them wide open so I started punching at their chest protector. They didn't know what to do and stepped backwards so I just kept on punching rapidly (Wing Chun ish style) and I managed to back them all the way across the fighting area and into the mirrors. Our instructor would have stepped in when we left the fighting area but he was laughing too much.

Punching can have an effect on sparring even if it doesn't score points. Imagine if you got a good punch or two in the chest every time you ended up close to your opponent. It would not take long for your body to start to get tired and slow down or for you to avoid any moves that end with you being within punching distance of them.

I have to agree that it can have an affect even if no points are scored. I used to train with a guy who was very unflexable and had slow predictable kicks and when he sparred his first move would be a huge upper cut to the chest protector (he threw very very powerful punches) and it would usually drive his opponent backwards and in the air. By the time his opponent had recovered both physically and mentally from the uppercut he had proceeded to hit them with a barrage of kicks and punches. It was just the last thing they were expecting so it worked almost everytime. Ive also trained with a girl who would throw 2 punches to the chest guard and as soon as her opponent lowered their hand to try to block the punches she would kick their head. Everyone knew she would do it yet it still seemed to work for her more often than not.

 

[Manny]

Of course punches are important. You need to be able to fight at every range with as many tools available as possible.

Even at our school were hand techniques are somewhat discouraged during sparring just moving your hands and feinting with them opens things up a lot. It keeps your opponents eyes busy if nothing else. I see a lot of TKD practitioners sparring with their hands down at their sides and they use them for little other than keeping their balance. That drives me nuts.

It dives me nuts too. I would rather prefer a kick to the hogu than a kick to the face.

Manny

 

[maft]

Of course punches are important. You need to be able to fight at every range with as many tools available as possible.

I see a lot of TKD practitioners sparring with their hands down at their sides and they use them for little other than keeping their balance. That drives me nuts.

Hey guys, totally agree, punches are very important, especially when you opponent is close to you and you can't use kicks any more.

I could never understand if you are sparring why would you keep your hands down? Shouldn't they be used to throw and block punches?

 

[seasoned]

Kicks are good, but once someone gets inside of your legs, you better have a hand game. Legs and hands go together to form a total package. I don't like to stay outside for long, so I use my leg to gap distance, strike and prepare for a take down.

 

[terryl965]

I do not really understand the question because hands are one of the mostimportant parts to a encounter. Nobody here or anywhere is going to say hands are no good. So just to echo everyone else hands good, sometimes very good sometime very bad, if you do not train enough with them.

 

[Gemini]

I took the initial post to be more concerned with self defense than sparring, because they're two completely different scenarios.

Regarding competition, the rules of engagement play a big part in whether or not it makes sense. I'm affiliated with WTF, so my response is based solely on that. I'll defer to others to speak to their affiliations, the rules that govern them and the techniques that are considered best practice.

Sparring with your hands down is an advanced technique that's common for sevaral reasons which, in all respect, have been covered ad nauseam, so I'm not going to open up that whole can of worms again. I will only say that if you're sparring someone at an advanced level (again, WTF style) with their hands down and you think they're not going to be able to block or punch, you're mistaken. The fact that the best (WTF) fighters in the world do it should be a good enough indication that there's a reason for it.

So, don't let it drive you crazy...life's too short.

Regards,

 

[Manny]

I do not really understand the question because hands are one of the mostimportant parts to a encounter. Nobody here or anywhere is going to say hands are no good. So just to echo everyone else hands good, sometimes very good sometime very bad, if you do not train enough with them.

Yes Terry you don't got the question. In WTF dojangs almost all the training is aimed to the legs (kicks), in my dojang is that way, sambonim focuses soo much in kicking techs and the hand techs practicing is very low. Because of that the students don't know how tu punch the right way, and also they don't know how to use the hands for a counter or for an atack, it's sad.

Myself and Roberto are the exeption, I study on internet the videos of diferente martial arts like karate for example and practice the mechanics of the punch also I have practiced (inside dojo) other martial arts that are hands related, so I use my hands and arms to deflect or to block and to punch too.

It really scares me see the kids sparring with a low guard, I told them to put the gurd up but sometimes in the heat of the fight they reverted to the low guard position.

I understand TKD is a kicking art but, don't undertand why fight with a low guard.

Manny

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Yes Terry you don't got the question. In WTF dojangs almost all the training is aimed to the legs (kicks), in my dojang is that way, sambonim focuses soo much in kicking techs and the hand techs practicing is very low. Because of that the students don't know how tu punch the right way, and also they don't know how to use the hands for a counter or for an atack, it's sad.

Myself and Roberto are the exeption, I study on internet the videos of diferente martial arts like karate for example and practice the mechanics of the punch also I have practiced (inside dojo) other martial arts that are hands related, so I use my hands and arms to deflect or to block and to punch too.

It really scares me see the kids sparring with a low guard, I told them to put the gurd up but sometimes in the heat of the fight they reverted to the low guard position.

I understand TKD is a kicking art but, don't undertand why fight with a low guard.

Manny

I agree, the guard should always be up and the training of punches should be given just as much time and effort as kicking. Ive never really understood why tkd is called "the kicking art" as even the word tkd translated mentions the hands. We train hands a fair bit at our club and I wasnt even aware that tkd was "the kicking art" until I started reading about it on the internet.

 

[bluewaveschool]

I tap my students in the head during sparring every time they drop their hands, to remind them that in the real world someone will be punching them in the face for doing so. Most of my instructors fight hands up and open, and will grab any limb you leave out for too long and pound on you. The kids figure out real quick that it's about more than kicks.