Training for Power

[arnisandyz]

This thread goes along with my "training for speed' thread.

It can be said that if you increase your speed you increase your power, but what are other ways to develop power in your strikes? If one does in fact increase speed how do you apply that speed to make it "sink in"?

 

[kaliace]

Andy,



The keys to Power in a strike are foot work and body Mechanics. Work on that foundation and the power will be there.



Michael G Olive

 

[bart]

Power striking for at least ten minutes non-stop in the air while practicing footwork will build power. Do this three times a week and you'll notice improvement.

Power striking on the tire stack or a heavy bag under the same time constraints as above would also show an increase in power.


While doing this in a lead leg stance, imagine a kinetic chain originating in your front foot and moving along through the tip of your stick. Initiate the strike from there and feel how your body moves and can generate force as it moves from the ball of your foot to ankle to knee to hip, how your back leg adds to the energy and boosts it to your waist to shoulder to elbow to wrist to the last three fingers and then into the tip of the stick. Kaliace is right. It's all in the footwork and body mechanics. Try it static and then moving with either leg and eventually both.

 

[lhommedieu]

While doing this in a lead leg stance, imagine a kinetic chain originating in your front foot and moving along through the tip of your stick. Initiate the strike from there and feel how your body moves and can generate force as it moves from the ball of your foot to ankle to knee to hip, how your back leg adds to the energy and boosts it to your waist to shoulder to elbow to wrist to the last three fingers and then into the tip of the stick. Kaliace is right. It's all in the footwork and body mechanics. Try it static and then moving with either leg and eventually both.

Bart's description of the mechanics of striking is correct. An alternative method would be to keep the front foot "light" and initiate the movement from the back foot (the kinetic chain that he describes would therefore move in a spiral fashion from the back foot, through the torso, and into the lead shoulder, to the arm and hand, and to the stick).

Turning hips, waist, and shoulders in conjunction with either method also adds a lot of power.

Best,

Steve Lamade

 

[MJS]

In addition to doing some power strikes in the air, I'd also recommend doing some strikes on a target. At my school, we have 2 tires tied end to end, hanging from a heavy bag stand. It offers a good striking surface.

Mike

 

[loki09789]

Power is tricky to train as an isolated atheltic component in MA/FMA. Power is different from endurance and needs to be trained in very low numbers of reps with lots of recovery in between.

Generally, to start, a ratio of 10:50 (10 secs work at max with 50 secs recovery in any configuration ex. 20:100....) if you are using time as a measure or

reps of no more than 8 (more than that creates fatigue which shifts the energy source for the activity from stored energy to oxygen and begins developing endurance) of any activity with at least 1-4 minutes of recovery so that you are back to 100 % are important.

The above go for any activity from wieght training or sports/martial arts performance.

That said, I think that the above suggestions are more realistic for martial arts training because of the time issue. Power will improve with the other suggestions, but as a residual affect of the interval/endurance development that the other suggestions are really targeting. It makes more sense with the time issue - have to maximize the minimal time we have for training.