Are you punching to your potential?

Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

What brings this topic up was that had my lungs checked out lately; seems they are working at 85% potential.

Then translating this idea to punching power when striking the heavy bag.

Started off hitting a heavy bag without gloves, questioning, is this really making an impact?

Continuing bear fisted, my wrists were not strong enough to hit the bag with full impact, using full body weight distribution behind the punch. .

Changing to hitting the heavy bag with some decent training cloves, that wrap the wrists twicw, being able to be hitting alot harder to the point of bruising and bleeding knuckles inside the gloves.

Changing once again to punch the heavy bag with only MMA gloves, that also wrap around the wrists twice, better but was still bruising and bleeding knuckles below striking potential.

Then finally found that wearing the training gloves under my MMA gloves gave me the stability around the fist and wrists, needed to hit the heavy bag with full potential without self harm.

Now at the gym discovering this double glove method enabling me to hit at potential, feels really good, as this is obviously very disturbing to on lookers not privileged to the occasion.

Are you hitting at your potential and how so?

Would you consider double gloving, as I suppose this is what it is now called?

Wastelander · KF Sensei

Honestly, I don't wear wraps/gloves when hitting the bag, at all. I have tried it, after having person after person insist that I will be able to hit the bag harder if I do. Apparently, I'm weird, because if I do that, then I hurt my wrists, which DOESN'T happen when I punch bare knuckle. I'm so used to hitting with the knuckles that the curved surface of the glove makes the impact feel wrong, and it feels jarring to my wrist, and makes my carpal tunnel flare up.
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Shorin-Ryu/Shinkoten Karate | 2010-Present: Yondan, Renshi | Sensei: Richard Poage (RIP), Jeff Allred (RIP)
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Fat Cobra · Green Belt

I don't hit the heavy bag much anymore, mainly just hit the makiwara. When I do hit the heavy bag, I usually just wrap once and use bag gloves.
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bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

When I hit the bag, it is almost always with bare knuckles. At times I'll wear some light weight gloves, but not often, and when I have, I have not noticed that I've been able to hit the bag any harder.

There have been times where I've felt the stability in my wrists to be lacking, and that's when I'll throw on some wrist wraps for stability.

I rarely get bloody knuckles punching the bag any more, either. I used to get them, but that was when I noticed a flaw in my punching technique. I was punching into the bag, and then pushing the knuckles further through the bag, instead of pulling the punch straight back. Once I corrected this issue, my knuckles didn't get damaged nearly as much, resulting in more bag time and improved technique.
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Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

The setup I use is a combination of light speed bag, that I can dodge bob n weav to, heavy bag for Manovering around and a metal vertical beam for practing short range hard body shots.

This training session lasts three hours, with the help of a little motivational music.

Boxing music with timer
https://youtu.be/qEH8Po-E0m4

How is your setup?

How are you

sensei8 · KF Sensei

In my 54 years on the floor, I've never used any glove and/or wrapping while training on any heavy bag, and the like. Maybe that's because that type of concerns were never uttered once to us from Soke and/or Dai-Soke; this was the way it was no matter the training aid we were engaged with.

This practice transitioned to my students from day one in my own dojo. To do other wise would feel alien to us. Albeit, I never discouraged my students or the entire SKKA Student Body from using gloves and/or wrappings and/or whatever they felt they needed.

In short, I wasn't the glove/wrapping/etc police to my students and/or the SKKA Student Body; I had far more important things to be concerned with.

Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

Potential is something we can never know but try for.

Improving performance in different areas are for each individual to discover.

Change is inevitable as getting older performance practice takes on a new light, as perhaps speed has dropped where accuracy and efficiency have prevailed.

Most important keep going, keep moving, keep improving and discovering potential in oneself wherever possible.

Enjoy the journey...

Punching potential could also include going beyond just punching power.

Utilising the use of combinations as in punches in bunches.

Being able to strike effectively from a variety of angles.

Strategic footwork for defending and for maximising the impact of blows.

Creating openings and set ups and capitalizing on the opponent weaknesses with quick actions and reflexes.

Potential is an umbrella word that covers a wide spectrum of possibilities.

Chosen base system being Wing Chun, also am fully versed in boxing, combining using and fusing every element of elbows possible (this approach maximises my stand up game) for upper body fighting potential without compromise; keeping in mind that there is always room for improvement...

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