How much mileage from a punch?
- Thread starter Flying Crane
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Developing good punches is a critical part of any striking martial arts' fundamentals. If you can't throw a good punch, then you need to work on your basic technique, until you're capable of doing so.
How much mileage can you get? A lot... After all, those who practice boxing (yes, it's a martial art) are going to be formidable opponents in and out of the ring. Outside the ring, where a fight is going to be a quick thing, using only one kind of punch could very well be enough to finish the fight. Furthermore, you're not likely to be going up against highly skilled fighters on the streets.
However, if it's in the ring, then the opponent is going to be a skilled fighter, and will develop strategies to counteract that one technique, at which point, the individual is going to run into a roadblock.
The same holds true in Karate, where a good lead hand punch, and a good reverse punch can certainly be plenty for street fighting purposes, but for fighting against skilled opponents, you're going to need more than that, since skilled fighters will adjust.
Think of it this way... It's like preparing food for someone. If they're in need of a quick snack, then some bread can do the job, and do it quite nicely. However, if they're in need of a full fledged meal, then the old saying of "man cannot live on bread alone" applies here.
How much mileage can you get? A lot... After all, those who practice boxing (yes, it's a martial art) are going to be formidable opponents in and out of the ring. Outside the ring, where a fight is going to be a quick thing, using only one kind of punch could very well be enough to finish the fight. Furthermore, you're not likely to be going up against highly skilled fighters on the streets.
However, if it's in the ring, then the opponent is going to be a skilled fighter, and will develop strategies to counteract that one technique, at which point, the individual is going to run into a roadblock.
The same holds true in Karate, where a good lead hand punch, and a good reverse punch can certainly be plenty for street fighting purposes, but for fighting against skilled opponents, you're going to need more than that, since skilled fighters will adjust.
Think of it this way... It's like preparing food for someone. If they're in need of a quick snack, then some bread can do the job, and do it quite nicely. However, if they're in need of a full fledged meal, then the old saying of "man cannot live on bread alone" applies here.
OP
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
- Thread Starter
- #23
Thanks everyone for your answers and thoughts here.
Here's kind of what I'm thinking about...it's pretty easy to fall into a bunch of complicated responses in dealing with an attack. Guy punches at me, I gotta step here and do this block and then hit him like this here, and like that there, and then this other way here...
or guy grabs me, I gotta step here and then do this fancy move to release his hold, and then I can hit him 10 different ways...
Maybe this is just my kenpo background talking, but it just seems like it's really easy to think that we need a bunch of complicated maneuvers to deal with these things.
But I've been thinking, what about something simple, like a punch. Not necessarily just one punch. You might need to punch him a couple or several times. But do we really need all the fancy escapes and whatnot?
Guy throws a punch at me: avoid the punch (those particulars may be for another discussion), then punch him.
Guy grabs you by the shirt: punch him.
Guy grabs your arm: punch him with your other hand...
Guy trys to push you, just punch him...
See where I'm going with this? Maybe in a lot of cases (I'm not saying ALL cases) this is all that is really necessary. Just punch him.
This is not to discount the need for other things. Sometimes you get grabbed in a way that you cannot simply punch. You need to know how to break his hold and reposition yourself. Sometimes you get that punch or kick coming at you, and you need to know how to step to evade, and block or jam that attack first before you can punch him. He may try to push you and he's coming in fast, you need to deflect or otherwise deal with that push first, before you can punch him. But maybe, like CLFSEAN mentioned, that punch itself can even serve at least some of those needs. The punch can jam, the punch can block...
So I recognize the need for some more skills in the arsenal. But just maybe the need for those other skills doesn't really come up all too often. Maybe in a lot of cases, "just punch him" is all the answer you need.
Just thinking again...
Here's kind of what I'm thinking about...it's pretty easy to fall into a bunch of complicated responses in dealing with an attack. Guy punches at me, I gotta step here and do this block and then hit him like this here, and like that there, and then this other way here...
or guy grabs me, I gotta step here and then do this fancy move to release his hold, and then I can hit him 10 different ways...
Maybe this is just my kenpo background talking, but it just seems like it's really easy to think that we need a bunch of complicated maneuvers to deal with these things.
But I've been thinking, what about something simple, like a punch. Not necessarily just one punch. You might need to punch him a couple or several times. But do we really need all the fancy escapes and whatnot?
Guy throws a punch at me: avoid the punch (those particulars may be for another discussion), then punch him.
Guy grabs you by the shirt: punch him.
Guy grabs your arm: punch him with your other hand...
Guy trys to push you, just punch him...
See where I'm going with this? Maybe in a lot of cases (I'm not saying ALL cases) this is all that is really necessary. Just punch him.
This is not to discount the need for other things. Sometimes you get grabbed in a way that you cannot simply punch. You need to know how to break his hold and reposition yourself. Sometimes you get that punch or kick coming at you, and you need to know how to step to evade, and block or jam that attack first before you can punch him. He may try to push you and he's coming in fast, you need to deflect or otherwise deal with that push first, before you can punch him. But maybe, like CLFSEAN mentioned, that punch itself can even serve at least some of those needs. The punch can jam, the punch can block...
So I recognize the need for some more skills in the arsenal. But just maybe the need for those other skills doesn't really come up all too often. Maybe in a lot of cases, "just punch him" is all the answer you need.
Just thinking again...
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At work so I can't read everything. One punch has worked well for street fighters for ever, so I do feel that you can get a lot of milage out of it. They do call it the sucker punch...........
