How to relax while striking?

[Joab]

This is a question, how do you relax while striking? I was told by my self defense guru to relax, yet the more he told me to relax the more tense I became. How do you relax while striking, either punching or kicking? All informed opinions appreciated.

 

[Koshou911]

both my senseis say the same thing about me, I am too stiff and sometimes my technique is too robot like. I need to loosen up. I think this happens naturally with time, but for now when you do notice that your shoulders are tight when you punch drop them instead of holding them up.

 

[Sukerkin]

In swordwork, the concept is termed tenouchi.

Right up to the point of impact, the whole 'linkage' that terminates with the blade is relaxed. It is only as the blade begins to cut that the 'rope' becomes 'solid'.

What tends to make techniques 'robotoid' is muscular tension throughout the move rather than just at the point where it is required.

 

[seasoned]

It is on going, and an ever present feeling in the beginning. When I teach new students, I start by having them do their techniques, one at a time. Take the punch for instance, from the ready stance. Right fist out left fist back in chamber. Hold that position, now check your right fist for tension, if it is still tight after the punch, it will make the next punch, slow and tight. In between each hand technique you need to mentally check for the holding of body tension. I mention punching because it is generally the first technique taught. You want the fist tight at the end of the punch cycle, but loose during it’s travel out. There is a drill I used where you stand in the ready stance, with both fists out, in front of your body, in punching position. Take a breath in and make sure your whole body is loose, then breathe out, squeeze the fist, and with shoulders down, tighten the whole body. Once the body is tight, relax keeping the fist and arms still out in front of you. Repeat this drill a number of time, so you can feel yourself releasing the tension once you have tighten up. Over a period of time, starting slowly, do multiple punches, with both hands, and making sure you are tight at the end, but loose between each punch. In my style of Okinawan GoJu, we strive for fast but strong techniques, by using the above drill, and a combination of a kata called Sanchin.

 

[mook jong man]

Think of the striking limb as being loose and empty , something akin to a dead weight .
After many , many repetitions your body will begin to only use those muscles that are needed to accelerate the striking limb .

 

[Meathook]

This is a question, how do you relax while striking? I was told by my self defense guru to relax, yet the more he told me to relax the more tense I became. How do you relax while striking, either punching or kicking? All informed opinions appreciated.

I like to put on some relaxing music during self training or listen to nature if im outdoors. The only way i can describe the actual mechanics is that the punch, strike or whatever shouldnt become a punch or strike until it is sinking into the target. Its just a passive movement until it sinks in... That being said, tension coupled with conditioning can get you by just the same but youll use more energy.

 

[Marginal]

It's one of those things that just comes with practice in my experience. It's always rough when you still have to think about how the technique has to be done etc.

One way to get a better sense of it though is to just let your arm hang limp. Just by torquing your hip and letting your arm move freely, you end up with a motion that's almost a punch.

That same basic motion can be rolled into an actual punch once you get the sense of how your arm should feel, and see that it'll move quickly just with the hip action.

 

[hkfuie]

Lots of great replies here.

You were called a robot, too? LOL! I used to be called a robot! I could not figure out what my teacher was talking about! He would laugh at me and I hated that!

It was probably when I was yellow or green belt that he said that. For me, I realized I was trying to control my motion at every point along its path. I was such a careful student, very conscientious...but I decided to try to let go some. I had to decide to let my technique be sloppy! I had to let go and let it be what it was. When I let go, I eventually learned to trust my body to do what it was supposed to do without thinking.

My instructor had already trained me on technique (he's an uber-strict technician), so I did not become sloppy, I just became more free.

Thanks for asking that question...helps me to remember it.

 

[kidswarrior]

Right up to the point of impact, the whole 'linkage' that terminates with the blade is relaxed. It is only as the blade begins to cut that the 'rope' becomes 'solid'.

This is the analogy I use, too. The striking implement (fist, palm heel, foot, whatever) is a rock on the end of a rope. The rope only becomes taut at full extension.

What tends to make techniques 'robotoid' is muscular tension throughout the move rather than just at the point where it is required.

Yes, the rope is loose until the rock takes up all the slack...or reaches the end of its rope, as per the old saying.

 

[Kreth]

Any golfers? It's kind of like taking a nice smooth practice swing. Then when you go to hit that little white bastard, you tighten up, ruin that smooth swing and shank the ****ing thing into the woods... :lol:

 

[searcher]

Breath man. Chun said it best to Remo, "If you don't breath correctly, you will not move correctly." One of the hardest things to do. Try little breathign drills like, exhaling every time you perform a technique while sparring. Inhale on seperation.

 

[Grenadier]

Sometimes, though, in order to relax the shoulders, it may be necessary to tense a different part of the body in a good way.

I've had some big folks in the dojo, who just couldn't relax the shoulders with a conscious thought. No matter how many times you tell them to relax the shoulders, they simply can't stay relaxed for an extended period of time.

An easier way of getting them to relax the shoulders, and remove the non-productive tension, is to replace that non-productive tension with productive tension. They can tense the abdominal muscles (try tensing the shoulders and abs at the same time... not easy), which generally helps them relax the shoulders, without having to think about it. They can also try tensing the muscles under the arms as well.

 

[dancingalone]

Sometimes if you are naturally stiff, it pays to understand tension first before relaxation. I don't have time to go into it right now, but this is precisely the approach used in goju-ryu karate where a dynamic tension kata, sanchin, is practiced from the very beginning of your studies. Eventually the student learns to explode into his punches by understanding which muscle groups are held tightly and which are rested.

 

[sparky12]

Think of tension as your arm trying to push and pull at the same time. It reduces your speed and robs you of power. Try closing your fist just before impact and opening just after impact. This will teach you to relax because you won't be clenching a tight fist until the end of the punch. Good luck

 

[Nomad]

Practice, with relaxation in mind. Check after every punch (or couple of punches, that the shoulders are down and relaxed. If necessary, do a couple of shoulder rolls and get the tension out of the neck & shoulder area, then continue.

After awhile (months to sometimes years) of consciously removing the tension from your techniques, it will become an unconscious habit. Concentrating on proper breathing also helps in a big way.

 

[jarrod]

it's a little goofy, but i have different visualizations that help me. if i'm boxing, i imagine my arms are snakes. snakes are so fast because they are loose & fluid. for kicking, kreth's comparison to golf is dead on, though i picture my kicks more like a baseball bat. i mean i literally imagine my leg is a giant baseball bat that i'm swing at somebody. in my grappling class one time my students made fun of me because i said "when you're pummeling, your arms should be like smoke; always looking for holes to pass through". well, it makes sense to me, damnit.

jf

 

[sgtmac_46]

This is a question, how do you relax while striking? I was told by my self defense guru to relax, yet the more he told me to relax the more tense I became. How do you relax while striking, either punching or kicking? All informed opinions appreciated.

A glass of wine....back rub.....an expensive cigar.....

 

[Zyaga]

I don't know if it will help you out or not, but I wrote an article about what helped me with this problem.

You can find the article here: Aggressive Relaxation.

Feel free to comment, here or there. Both negative and positive criticism is welcomed.

If you solve your problem, be sure to let us know what fixed it for you.

 

[championmarius]

slow down. I mean really slow down. as a drill, take a technique and work it at maybe quarter speed, tops. Its easier to spot tension points and consciously relax them. I find this to be the greatest tool in the training regime available. You can spot technical errors, posture problems, breath flow interruptions, placement and aim errors etc. And correct them without fear.
Visualize your arms or legs to be loose lengths of rope or chain, and imagine a wave of water rolling along under your skin from the shoulder or hip outwards. Make the wave motion exaggerated, it prevents you from tensing the muscles and making a nice smooth roll. As you get more comfortable with it, the wave gets smaller and smaller.
Breathing exercises help too. Consciously focusing on breathing tends to take the focus off of other muscles. Breathe in on the approach, out on the impact, or breathe in during the entire technique, then do the technique again while breathing out. play with breathing while moving and sparring/fighting.


In my experience, I have found that the more tense folks are afraid of failing, either at the technique or drill, or being a disappointment to the instructor. Whether this is subconscious or not is not for me to say. They seem to take it as a contest. By working at a greatly reduced speed and power, they are forced to take that competition out of it, and relax.

just my two pence, YMMV.

 

[yak sao]

It's been my experience that everyone tries to go too fast too soon. By doing this the movements become stiff and jerky.

I remedy this by having my students go slow and soft with the movements. As they repeat this numerous times they start to get smoother. As they get smoother, they get faster, yet they're still relaxed.