Punching with power is really your “bread and butter” when it comes to fighting/self-defense. Being able to hit hard, deliver concussive force, and cause your aggressor extreme pain is probably the quickest way to force them out of the fight either emotionally and/or physically. This is one of the reasons that we practice striking, movement and relative body positioning in class so much i.e. we want to strike not only from an advantageous position, but also one where our aggressor/opponent is in a disadvantageous one – this is where we have maximal effect. This article is the first in two, where I want to look at common errors when striking, why they occur and how to fix them. The two issues I want to address in this piece are: elbows flaring/lifting out/up when striking, and the back foot lifting up when striking with the rear hand.

Elbows flaring outside of the body is one of the most common issues I see with people learning to punch for the first time, and something that even experienced martial artists do, when tired and exhausted – sometimes adding a “swinging” motion to their strike, at the expense of the linear, forward motion that should power the punch.

To utilize the full power of the forward momentum of the body, and the turning of the back/hips, the arm needs to travel in a direct, straight line, with the arm extending at the elbow, keeping the fist, elbow and shoulder aligned. For most of the journey of the punch, the elbow should be pointed towards the ground, and only turns outwards when the fist rotates from a vertical to horizontal position, towards the end of the strike. If the elbow flares out not only is power lost, but the punch becomes easier for an aggressor to detect because the silhouette of the torso changes i.e. your shape breaks.

One common reason for the elbow lifting is that the fist turns over to early in the strike. If you hold your arms vertical in a “guard” position, and make a fist, with the knuckles pointing up, and then try and turn/rotate them to point forward, you will feel that your elbow will start to lift. For the wrist to rotate in the strike, and take advantage of the shoulder muscles, the elbow needs to turn outwards. If you do this before the arm is about 80% extended, the elbow will flare, and power will be lost.

Another reason the elbows can flare, is down to a person’s fighting stance having the arms not held vertically but at an angle, where the elbows are positioned outside of the body, rather that tucked/positioned by the sides of the ribcage. If your elbows are already flared before the strike starts, they will stay flared throughout the strike.

Another common issue I see, is the back foot leaving the ground, or having no weight placed on it, when a rear strike/punch is thrown. Both legs should be active at all times, for a variety of reasons, and this means keeping them not only in contact with the floor, but with an element of weight on them, so that they can be used if necessary – if you literally end up with all your weight on your forward foot, you are punching on one leg, and the other has little use other than as a counterbalance to keep you upright. If there is no weight on the back leg, it is impossible for the hip to turn/push forward, and extremely difficult to employ the back muscles in the strike. All the strike really comprises of is the body’s forward momentum.

One of the reasons why the back foot may lift, is a desire to put “all” of the body’s weight into the strike, literally throwing everything into the strike. When I talk about being “committed” to the strike, I refer to committing all the different components of a strike, as one; not about one part overriding all the others. With a rear strike, an absolute maximum of 70% bodyweight should be on the front foot, and the head, should sit over the shoulders, and the shoulders over the hips, so that the torso is upright for the back muscles to turn it, which in turn allows for the arm to travel further, and for the hip of the rear arm to drive it forward. If you are leaning forward, and standing on one leg this is almost impossible to do.

A quick remedy for this, and one that will add more power to your strike is to sink the hips, as this will force weight to be pushed into the legs and feet – despite having weight on both feet, they should also feel active, and light: heavy hips, light feet. Staying upright will also put weight back into the rear foot, if you find you have a tendency to lean forward when you punch (leaning forward often comes from the punch leading the body, rather than the body driving the arm forward).

Whilst you want to put everything you can into the punch, you want to do so whilst staying balanced, and able to move. A good check for this is to see how quickly you are able to move after you have thrown a combination. If you find that you have to do a lot of re-setting of weight, before you can move, you are probably over-committing your bodyweight to the strike.

Next week’s article will look at punches which push rather than drive, and how to get “snap” into your striking.