After training with Steve Morris, I have altered the way I teach people to punch. I start with what he calls the sequential punch. This involves whipping the body toward the target with the fist following. The basic movement is quite easy to get, although sometimes people struggle to move their hips separately to their shoulders, which is a bit of a hindrance.
The action requires a loading at the shoulder, so the hip is slightly forward of the shoulder. The hip moves forward, then the shoulder and then the arm, with the fist (or elbow) striking the target. So its, hip-shoulder-arm, at least to begin with, this is the basic movement, but greater power can be accomplished by moving adding a snappy plyometric action to each segment of the sequence. This involves a rapid backward movement before the segment moves forward toward the target. This all sounds complicated and it’s easier to show than describe, Morris blogs about this here. He talks about the head leading the whole movement, which really does fire the strike. I get beginners to throw the body first and add the head part once they get a basic idea.
Now, while this sequential punch is similar to a Tyson punch I’m going to use Mike Zambidis as a model. This clip is an excerpt from one of his fights with the finishing hook being a good example of the sequential, whipping punch. If you watch the slow-mo replay a few times you can’t fail to see the movement described above.
Using the body to whip through a strike in this manner really delivers exceptional power, Zambidis is good at delivering strikes in this way. In this, exquisitely edited clip, there are plenty of examples of the sequential, whipping punch. It’s noticeable that Zambidis uses this ‘delivery system’ to fire off any number of strikes, including devastating round kicks, a subject I recently blogged about. Watch him, he’s very good.
Originally posted 2009-03-25 08:49:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
[...] fact, the final movement provides a template for the whipping punch described in a previous post, the hip-shoulder-arm action. Unfortunately this section of the kata is often performed in a manner [...]
[...] fact, the final movement provides a template for the whipping punch described in a previous post, the hip-shoulder-arm action. Unfortunately this section of the kata is often performed in a manner [...]
Karate_Stylist (KS) on “Whipping Punch–Follow Up on ‘Form Over Function–Saifa Kata’.”
KS can join with author when KS saw a recent MMA bout on TV between a seasoned MMA fighter and a new Shotokan karate-based MMA competitor. The Shotokan-based competitor came into the octagon with all sorts of confidence, firing off some flashy karate moves.
In contrast, the seasoned MMA fighter looked dead serious.
What happened? The seasoned MMA fighter basically wiped out the new Shotokan-based competitor, with better striking. The fight didn’t get anywhere near out of the 1st round. The analogy to the dispacted opponent above is strikingly (no pun intended) similar. WHY?
As the author has examined in his appraisal & criticism of traditional karate training, this was a clearcut cut case (IMO) of Form-Over-Function on the part of the karate-based competitor, who as KS remembers was supposed to have a black-belt. The Shotokan karate competitor had no credible defense against decent striking. Morevover, he didn’t seem to be mentally prepared to face the violence of having someone punching you hard in the face.
Form without function is useless in a real contest. When you come up against the fully functional fighter, whether having the advanced striking skill displayed in the video above, or the seasoned MMA-type fighter KS witnessed on TV, your karate form had better be top @ functioning.
KS fully agrees with the author that the only sensible goal in fighting to make sure you are functioning (i.e. striving to function) @ the highest levels. Merely looking good, performing tradition ritualistically, relying on form without substance is, against the competent fighter of any style, a ticket straight to defeat.
KS’s karate doesn’t emphasize the whipping-type punch demonstrated above, that I am aware of that is. Is the whipping-punch a strike one should consider using? IMO-sure.
Karate_Stylist
KS could you reveal the fight in question please, I’d like to have a look
In your opinion is there anyway in which Traditional Karate addresses this problem? I found this side of training missing, there was an assumption that it would all come together in the heat of the moment. In your insightful observation this is clearly not the case.
Personally, I was not taught the whipping punch action during my Traditional Karate years although I did see some Karate people using a whipping action. I was shown the whipping action within saifa kata and even given a demo and pad drill based around this action, although it was largely ignored in general training, there was more of an emphasis on ‘push’ over ‘whip’, which is greatly less effective.
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Karate_Student (“KS”) @ JL on “UFC Fight Where ‘Shotokan’ Stylist Gets Wiped Out.”
KS saw this on TV about 2-3 months ago. The bout was not memorable, really forgetable from a karate perspective. Actually, it was a good example of the fighting acumen of a seasoned MMA figher. I’ll see if I can find it on you-tube. I’m pretty darn sure that this 1st fight for the ‘Shotokan’ competitor was his last MMA showing. Embarrassing (for him) really.
It was a routine match, no established, recognizable names to me. Sorry.
Karate_Stylist
[...] do like Zambidis, he has a great whipping punch, moves enough to avoid too much damage and can kick too. Most of all he is very well conditioned [...]
[...] with the stamp, followed by a rotation and ending with a straight punch. This is similar to the sequential whipping punching action but with greater emphasis on the involvement of the foot, however, the stamp can power any type of [...]
Now I’m older I often see things supposedly new when they’ve actually been around for years…
Your article was interesting to me because it contained aspects of body movement taught to me in the early 1970’s when I first studied Shukokai karate. What you rightly refer to as a whipping action, we called RECOIL.
The founder of ‘Shukokai’ or Tani-ha shitoryu was Chojiro Tani – now deceased. You may be interested in some words from his book – Karate- do from the Tani Karate Research Institute, Japan. I could never afford a copy of the book at the time but paid my brother to copy it out word for word… I can only guess that photocopies were also too expensive for me!
We were always taught to load up or shock the shoulder of the punching arm prior to releasing the punch. This was done by moving the hip forward first with the shoulder lagging behind.
To quote Tani Sensei’s book:
Recoil
Before twisting your hip forward, you must twist it backwards. We call this movement RECOIL. There are many similar everyday movements which use the same actions e.g. hammering in nails, batting a ball. Most sportsmen and physical workers use reaction or recoil.
People use recoil to make the acting parts of their bodies relax (zero).
A relaxed body makes the action stronger and this strength comes from speed. Without recoil you can never obtain maximum speed.
The related elements of recoil follow:-
recoil—zero—speed
For further examples we have picked out the recoil actions being used in other sports.
Up and down movement – - Basketball, leaving the blocks in swimming, high jump, shot put
Left to right movement- – Volley Ball, soccer (when player throws ball into field)
Most karate movements are based on hip action and this takes the form of the double hip moment explained previously. Your use of recoil will decide your technique.
At that time certainly, Tani Sensei and his students at the Shukokai were one of the few karate organisations questioning their techniques and looking to learn from natural movements seen in other sports etc.
Whipping punch: After training with Steve Morris, I have altered the way I teach people to punch. I start with what he http://bit.ly/kGsDEg
[...] to successfully get the tornado ball moving is the same as that required to successfully manage a whipping punch and to produce power at the waist. Mastering the tornado ball will help you power your punches and [...]