Newsletter 792
The Power of the Punch

Work out quick!

Rain is coming in So Cal!
Of course, I can always work out in the house.
Simply draw a shoulder width square on the floor
and do your forms on the square.
Easy squeezy.
Teach you all sorts of things about motion in a closed space.

I am fond of telling people
that martial arts happen in a phone booth.
This is because you don’t need big, swinging punches.
You need short, little effective punches.
Consider the following facts.

If one punch comes from six feet away,
and the other comes from six inches away,
they will have the same power
if they have equal weight upon impact.
Of course,
you can see the one that is six feet away,
and it is easier to block.
The one that is six inches away,
that one is hard to block.

The power of a punch is measured not by speed or weight of arm,
but by how much weight is transferred
to the other body upon impact.
Understand this,
and you will have to drastically rethink
the value of muscles,
the angles inherent in the arm/body/etc.,
the value of speed,
and so on.

This last point was amply illustrated
by a fellow name of Matt Hamill.
Matt was a fighter in the UFC.
He was deaf,
and he wasn’t fast.
In fact,
he was slow.
But his punches were devastating,
they contained more weight than faster fighters.
Faster fighters would hit him,
but eventually he would land one of those hands of his,
and the other fighter would fold.

People think it is how hard you hit.
No.
It is how much weight goes into the target.
Weight is not dependent upon speed.
Yes,
you can increase weight by increasing speed.
But speed as the sole factor doesn’t equate.
So there is something more than speed.
What?
Intention to travel through a target.
Intention to deliver weight to the target.

What is Intention?
What you desire,
especially as evidenced, proven,
by a plan.

So when you train,
and especially when you do your forms,
pay a lot of intention to the plan of the form:
to increase body weight
by grounding your weight,
by aligning all body parts,
and so on.

And,
it goes without saying,
but I’ll say it anyway,
one of the goals of matrixing,
one of the plans of matrixing,
is to educate you as to the construction of your body
so that you can use it as one unit.

Man,
this will really build your intention,
and really increase the weight of your punch.

Remember,
it’s not power you seek,
but efficiency in transferring weight.
Odd concept,
but if you think it through
you’ll find the truth of the martial arts.

Here’s the course for the week.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/hard-punch/

Check it out and remember:
knowledge is power!

Have a great work out!
Al

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei