Some heavy bag training.

[JowGaWolf]

There is a mirror along the side of the wall that I have a bad habit of glancing at to check on my form and feet positioning. It is a bad habit I am trying to break. My fighting style is mostly Kenpo with some Judo.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to keep my elbows more tucked in.

Video yourself doing your drills, kata/forms, and techniques. This way you can get a true picture of what you are doing correct and what you are doing wrong. Your techniques will always be wrong as long as you are trying to look at yourself in the mirror while you are doing your technique. Replace your mirror checks with video checks.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Nah, those were pushes.

You're right. First time watching i was watching on my phone while eating, so was not paying too much attention. Looking again, I still do not have an issue with his 'push-punches' though. Only issue I do have is with his guard before the punches, especially at the beginning. Ironbear-your arm is cocked back farther than your face would like in a fight, and your elbows tend to stick out a bit.

Yeah, but here's the thing. If you're throwing shade with a look away kick, it shouldn't be a half-assed kick, ya know? Like the Sheriff crushing the Dixie cup in jaws. Fails to overwhelm.

Hey! No one ever accused a kenpoist of having a good spinning kick!

 

[Ironbear24]

Yeah, but here's the thing. If you're throwing shade with a look away kick, it shouldn't be a half-assed kick, ya know? Like the Sheriff crushing the Dixie cup in jaws. Fails to overwhelm.

Are you saying the kicks were underwhelming? If so how can they be improved?

 

[drop bear]

Are you saying the kicks were underwhelming? If so how can they be improved?

Why do you want to throw that kick specifically? It might be a bit boring but it is safer to never turn your back.

Then spin when everything else is neatened up.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Are you saying the kicks were underwhelming? If so how can they be improved?

Yes, to me (and bear in mind that I am expert in nothing, just a student, OK?) the kicks were slow, telegraphed, underpowered, and delivered incorrectly. But as I also said, I don't know your style, so maybe that's how your style does it. I don't know your instructor or what you've been taught. My best advice would be to do what your sensei tells you to do and ignore what anyone else tells you, including me.

If you want to know how *I* would deliver such a kick, I can break it down for you. First, I don't do those kicks! Some of our younger guys do, but I don't typically practice them.

In the kind of kick you were doing, you want to keep your eye on the target to the extent possible. You turned your head away and never looked at the target again. An opponent would simply step back out of kicking range, or step to the side and wait for you to deliver to the target that was no longer there, then blast you from behind. You threw your hands around to assist your body turning, but without using them either defensively or offensively; they were simply counter balancing your body. That creates openings for your opponent and fails to defend your head at the same time. Your foot was facing up, you delivered the kick with the side of your heel. Some styles do it this way, so it's hard for me to criticize it, but I would not deliver the kick this way. I'd turn the foot (in this case towards the camera) and deliver with the heel as if it was a sideways ax kick. This also allows you to use the lever action of the knee to provide more power. What you have is a club. Clubs can hurt, and they can move things, but they don't typically create the kind of fight-ending damage you're looking for. Your landing was also off-balance, you staggered around for a second to get your footing. If you had missed with the kick, you would have fallen down. If you didn't fall down, if your opponent had simply stepped outside your kicking range when he saw you wind up, he would have made you fall down at that point.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. This is not me, I can't kick this high or this pretty. I am also not a TKD stylist, as this gentleman apparently is. However, to my mind, his form is excellent. Eyes on target (look closely you will see), hands in defensive position, heel properly aligned to target, balance strong (when you only have one leg to balance on, you want a good one-point).

 

[Buka]

Are you saying the kicks were underwhelming? If so how can they be improved?

To me, this is the attitude every good Martial Artist and/or fighter should have.
Bravo.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

To me, this is the attitude every good Martial Artist and/or fighter should have.
Bravo.

I absolutely agree. And my comments were not meant to be taken personally. I also have to be very careful. You never know what a person is being taught, and I don't want to (and have no authority to) contradict anything someone is being taught. And as I said early on, it takes a lot for a person to put themselves out there like that, so bravo to that too.

 

[Ironbear24]

This is the exact reason why I wanted to post the video. So it could be critiqued and I know what to improve on. I appreciate all the help and advice and will always welcome it. I know I am good, but I want to be better than good and be incredible.

 

[Flying Crane]

I don't have a problem with what people are calling a push in the punch. As long as it is follow-through on the punch, part of that same energy, I'm completely fine with it.

However, if you first impact the bag and then push through it, almost as a separate movement that becomes a deliberate push, then I agree it is not a good punch.

 

[drop bear]

Double post.

 

[drop bear]

I don't have a problem with what people are calling a push in the punch. As long as it is follow-through on the punch, part of that same energy, I'm completely fine with it.

However, if you first impact the bag and then push through it, almost as a separate movement that becomes a deliberate push, then I agree it is not a good punch.

There is not so much push in a ko punch as far as I can see.

A really good example. The hand hits and you see the force transfer into the head.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Are you saying the kicks were underwhelming? If so how can they be improved?

I'm not sure what part of your foot your hitting with, you drop your guard, and you're not following through are the two biggest things for me. Your letting your foot bounce off the bag afterwards, and on the second one your practically walking away before it even landed.
If you have someone who can hold bags for you, id suggest get him to do that, and make sure after you kick your landing forward, with your kicking foot towards your uke in a fighting stance, it'll help you from stopping the kick once contact is made.
Your partner could also tell you if you're looking away from him or dropping a guard, not sure what to do about what part of the foot your kicking with besides focus on it (unless I am mis-seeing it).

As always, if you're currently training with a sensei, show the video to your sensei, and tell him the advice you received. Since it's his style you are learning, and he likely knows you better than we do, his advice is much more important than our own.

 

[Flying Crane]

There is not so much push in a ko punch as far as I can see.

A really good example. The hand hits and you see the force transfer into the head.

I'm not sure what you are trying to tell me.

 

[GiYu - Todd]

I've never used wraps or gloves for heavy bag work. I use a smooth bag and a canvas bag, but limit my impacts to about 100 per week since I'm getting older. In a fight you're not going to be wrapped/gloved, so it's a good idea to train as you would fight. However, you need to be careful to avoid injury by building up slowly. As with many newbies, I got careless and tried to kill the bag before my form was any good... typically rolling my wrist inward and setting my training back until I healed. Extended "push punches" are also not necessarily bad when developing arm/wrist positioning. As your skill improves and you gain wrist confidence, the punches should be faster/harder and should pull back swiftly to avoid giving the opponent something to grab.

Glad to see you're willing to seek critiques. That's a healthy attitude.

 

[Ironbear24]

Why do you want to throw that kick specifically? It might be a bit boring but it is safer to never turn your back.

Then spin when everything else is neatened up.

1. Because it is fun.
2. Because it looks cool.
3. Because it has lots of power and can be tied into combinations.

 

[Ironbear24]

More training.

More training.avi

I tried keeping my elbows tucked in more and look at the camera alot less this time, I notice the difference in that alone as I am quicker now than the last one. I did less "pushing" punches this time too, but as always any critiques, and other forms of advice of advice is welcomed.

 

[Dinkydoo]

Couple of pointers.

I'm not sure if it's part of your style or not, but that guard leaves a lot of room for people to land strikes on your chin and both sides of your body. If you're tired then it's going to be really hard to block an accurate shot to any of these places quick enough (I do the same thing by dropping my hands a bit when I'm tired, it really just makes everything so much harder for myself in sparring).

Try to turn your hip more into the roundhouse kick rather then rely on the flicking motion alone.

Don't stop the bag with your hands, either time it on the move or enter close range and let it bounce off your guard to stop it moving.

Move around the bag as if it was a person you're fighting.

Well done for posting another video. It's easy to sit here and point out things we'd do differently.

 

[JowGaWolf]

More training.

More training.avi

I tried keeping my elbows tucked in more and look at the camera alot less this time, I notice the difference in that alone as I am quicker now than the last one. I did less "pushing" punches this time too, but as always any critiques, and other forms of advice of advice is welcomed.

You can try this if you like. It's the way I learned how to punch the heavy bag.
Before you start measure your distance. Make sure your punch range is so that bag rests against the lead fist without the bag moving. What I noticed when watching in slow motion, is that your lead punch is isn't extending which means you are too close on the bag. Your lead punch is actually shorter than your reverse punch and that shouldn't be the case. You are leaning into your reverse punch and you shouldn't be doing that, unless you are a boxer.

Step 1: start off with gentle punches. Not tapping but gentle punches with speed. Work on trying to hit the bag without making it move a lot. You want your punches to be fast but with control. You want it to be a real punch without the power. This will help train your ability to pull your fist back fast. What you'll begin to learn is that the longer you leave your fist out there the more it pushes the bag. Start with punching the bag one arm at a time, no combination punches.

Step 2: when you feel that you have "mastered" Step 1, add a little more power. With the same goal of trying to hit the bag with out it moving. Continue this process until you can hit the bag with 50% power with very little swinging motion in the bag.

Step 3: Hit the bag with 70% - 80% power. At this point you should be give the bag a good hit without it moving everywhere. A visualization of this is to think of your fist as transferring force into the bag and quickly depositing that force into the bag. Or think of it as someone daring you to punch a hot heavy bag that will burn your fist if you leave it on the bag too long.

This is the way I trained my punches and it may help you as well. Keep in mind that punching is more about technique than about power. You can't have power without technique so focus on the technique of your punch and how your were trained to punch when not hitting a bag.

 

[Danny T]

More training.

More training.avi

I tried keeping my elbows tucked in more and look at the camera alot less this time, I notice the difference in that alone as I am quicker now than the last one. I did less "pushing" punches this time too, but as always any critiques, and other forms of advice of advice is welcomed.

Awesome that you are wanting constructive critique.
As already posted not knowing your particular style I question your open flared elbows in your guard. This leaves your body open to attacks. Bring your elbows in toward your body more. (approx 1 fist from your body). Stop reaching out to stop the bag move and angle into the movement and attack the bag as it returns toward you. Part of learning to do bag work is when to strike it as the ranges and angle change. Treat the bag as an opponent. Would you reach out and hug your opponent with your arms or hands the way you do the bag? I wouldn't. When punching rotate the body and bring the shoulder toward your jaw (the shoulder helps protect your jaw when the fist is extended away from guard position as well as giving good alignment from the fist to the core of the body for power transfer into the target. Turn the hips; power comes from the hips and the ground use them whether it be punching or kicking. There are monsters who have great power in there arms and legs but most of us regular people need good proper fundamentals and alignment for power development and transfer. Use your hips and drive from the ground. Get with your instructor for critique and view a few power punchers. Note their body movements, positions, and range (distance for the target) and do an honest comparison of what they are doing to what you are doing.

 

[Flying Crane]

My advice is to get your corrections from your instructor. I have to assume there is a systematic methodology that you are learning, and that affects everything you do. The advice you are getting here may be valid in its own way but may also be contrary to the method you are supposed to be learning. Following advice from a bunch of strangers online can get you all mixed up, and then your instructor needs to help you correct it all. So, use caution about what advice you take to.