My punches suck

Tkd10

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I'm sharp with the legs but my punches are weak. What can i do to increase my punching power for kyokushin ? Sometimes i'll shadow box with light weights and do push ups on my knuckles.

Would it look ridiculous to just punch a tree or other hard surface lightly at a park or something since i live in an apartment and a makiwara would probably make too much noise ?
 
How long have you been training Kyokushin?
 
I'm sharp with the legs but my punches are weak. What can i do to increase my punching power for kyokushin ? Sometimes i'll shadow box with light weights and do push ups on my knuckles.

Would it look ridiculous to just punch a tree or other hard surface lightly at a park or something since i live in an apartment and a makiwara would probably make too much noise ?

Punches just like kicks where over 90% of it is technique and the rest from power within. If your punches are as bad as you express, have someone that really knows what they are doing analyze your technique work with you and then practice "slowly". Focus on technique and once it becomes natural then the speed and power will come.

I am not familiar with Kyokushin but I am familiar with punching and martial arts and boxing. Trust me, it's over 90% technique with practice. If you practice with lousy technique all you will have is a lousy punch.
 
I'm not familar with that martial art but what helped me in Muay Thai is don't try to hit hard. Relax the shoulders and focus solely on speed/accuracy and not having any wind up. Over time, your trajectory on your punches gets so much cleaner, faster, and more powerful.
 
Would it look ridiculous to just punch a tree or other hard surface lightly at a park or something since i live in an apartment and a makiwara would probably make too much noise ?

Nah man, it wouldn't look ridiculous. Make sure you're wearing your karate costume so people know that you're not a looney toon and you are in fact a trained martial artist.
Go up into the mountains and practice your katas under a waterfall and try punching out candles using your ki energy.
Slap ice water to condition your knuckles and hands and get your friends to drop a medicine ball on your abs when doing sit ups.

This will compliment your shadow boxing with lil pink dumbbells whilst taking up valuable gym space.
 
Punches just like kicks where over 90% of it is technique and the rest from power within. If your punches are as bad as you express, have someone that really knows what they are doing analyze your technique work with you and then practice "slowly". Focus on technique and once it becomes natural then the speed and power will come.

I am not familiar with Kyokushin but I am familiar with punching and martial arts and boxing. Trust me, it's over 90% technique with practice. If you practice with lousy technique all you will have is a lousy punch.

Where do you get these statistics? That sounds almost as dumb as when someone tells me it's "70% diet 30% training" to lose weight.
 
You need two things to improve your punching power.

A coach who can point out the corrections to your form.

Enough proprioception, intelligence and discernment to self correct from shadow boxing in front of mirrors, sensing the force of varying application on heavy bags.

There is a seemingly genetic component to power, some can never increase much. Practice is a large part of it.

Sit into your punches, recruit your hips, drive from your feet, snap don't push.

Stand up forum is really where you want to search. It's most definitely not about increasing strength but punching with your whole body behind the blow.
 
Where do you get these statistics? That sounds almost as dumb as when someone tells me it's "70% diet 30% training" to lose weight.
I will give you that, it was a best guess number based on 12 years of Tang Soo Do; 3 years kickboxing and some Muah Thai, and 6-months boxing. BTW I learned more in 6-months in boxing than the other 2 combined especially when it comes to punching.
 
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I will give you that, it was a best guess number based on 12 years of Tang Soo Do; 3 years kickboxing and some Muah Thai, and 6-months boxing. BTW I learned more in 6-months in boxing than the other 2 combined especially when it comes to punching.
I apologise upfront for the smart-arse answer, I would be surprised if you didn't learn more with regards to punching in 6 month's of boxing, seeing as the main focus of boxing is using the hands. If you wanted to become proficient at punching, boxing is the art/sport to learn above all others.
 
I apologise upfront for the smart-arse answer,I would be surprised if you didn't learn more with regards to punching in 6 month's of boxing, seeing as the main focus of boxing is using the hands. If you wanted to become proficient at punching, boxing is the art/sport to learn above all others.
Not only that, but what you learn is the technique where you can be in tight quarters, little movement, and throw a very powerful punch. My coach got me to the point when I struck the body-protection I literally elevated him off the ground and the movement I executed wasn't much. Which is why I say it time and time again: technique first and the power and speed will come. Technique is key!!!!
 
Serious answer: punching power comes from your back (lats) and putting your entire body into it (legs/abs). Sounds counterintuitive but work a lot on lat pulls. That will add a lot of snap into your punches, since you'll be better at retracting them. Also make sure to pivot on the balls of your feet when throwing a punch. And you are already doing pushups and whatnot, but you might try getting a medicine ball and putting it under only one hand, and doing pushups that way. That'll better simulate the punching motion, than doing benches or pushups normally would.
 
Nah man, it wouldn't look ridiculous. Make sure you're wearing your karate costume so people know that you're not a looney toon and you are in fact a trained martial artist.
Go up into the mountains and practice your katas under a waterfall and try punching out candles using your ki energy.
Slap ice water to condition your knuckles and hands and get your friends to drop a medicine ball on your abs when doing sit ups.

This will compliment your shadow boxing with lil pink dumbbells whilst taking up valuable gym space.
Lol looks like someone had a bad experience with karate. Easy there Vegeta, we all know what happens everytime after all that smack talk :)
 
I'm not familar with that martial art but what helped me in Muay Thai is don't try to hit hard. Relax the shoulders and focus solely on speed/accuracy and not having any wind up. Over time, your trajectory on your punches gets so much cleaner, faster, and more powerful.
Thanks, Kyokushin is knockdown karate. We punch bare knuckled close range except no punches to the face, it's pretty similar to muay thai.
 
It's nothing like Muay Thai
You and I usually agree Flash, but for once I have to disagree, there are similarities between the two in my opinion. Certainly more than most styles of Karate when compared to Muay Thai (and I've done both).
 
You and I usually agree Flash, but for once I have to disagree, there are similarities between the two in my opinion. Certainly more than most styles of Karate when compared to Muay Thai (and I've done both).

I've done Thai as part of my MMA training and I've done Kickboxing, but I've never done or rated any type of Karate. I've seen Kyokushin, and don't see any similarities other than you kick and punch your opponent.

I don't rate Karate at all. I think that any martial art where you stand in front of your instructor throwing single punches and shouting is pants.. Don't get me wrong, its awesome for the individual who wants to get fit and be active, or for a child, but as a fighting sport there are better choices. This is just my opinion.

We have two karate black belts in my work, they're both fat (not that that's a problem, but for someone trying to convince me that Karate is good and they're the guys representing it I just think that they're full of shit) and seem very narrow minded when it comes to fighting sports. One of them argued that some grand master karate guy could beat a top UFC heavyweight in a no holds barred fight... he seemed completely deluded to me.


Unless there's something I don't know, but having a 'martial arts' background with Kickboxing for almost 10 years and MMA for 5 I just don't see how Karate is even comparable to an actual full contact real fighting sport like Muay Thai.
 
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