There is a lot of BS about the effectiveness of certain moves and diciplines. With the popularity of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), it is soon discovered that most martial arts suck and while some are very pretty, they are not effective in the real world. Mostly, Muay Thai kicks and punches dominate the majority of standup fighting while Brazilian Ju-jitsu dominates the ground. I am by no means an expert, but what I am is anal and have studied what is most effective and thus have tried to teach myself what will be effective if ever a fight occurred. Because submission wrestling, the only real way to teach it is to show it with 2 people rolling around on the floor, I will not cover it here. Instead, I will cover some punches and kicks I find effective, and are easy to learn and teach yourself. My primary emphasis is on effectiveness (so nothing pretty) and POWER as well as speed and easy of execution. You see Jean-Claude Van Damme do flying kicks etc.. Pretty, but not realistic in combat. So effective, fast, easy to learn, generates a lot of power. Those are the goals covered here.
All I have been able to find on the internet is talk about this is better or that is better, without teaching you anything and without justification. So Trools and their talk is worthless. Then there are those who want you to pay $$$ for their video that teaches you nothing. Then there are those who are very good MMA'ers but can't tell you how to become one, because they don't understand, they just know how to do it and can't teach it. Hopefully, I (and this website) will fill the niche that is missing on the internet.
A good "healthy" amount of physics is needed to effectively understand what I am writing. If you don't understand physics, you are in a world of hurt as you won't understand why "my" punches and kicks are so much more powerful. Not because I say so, but because I give you the physics behind why it is so. It if wasn't effective, I wouldn't be using it and posting it!
While the list looks fairly short, I can promise you it will cover 98% of your needs. Muay Thai is often called "The science of 8 limbs" as it uses 2 fists, 2 elbows, 2 knees, and 2 legs to attack. And it's a fairly offense based sport. Never get into fights you don't need to, but if you do, then it's for real and so use anything and everything you can, to give yourself the advantage. That includes weapons (see my gun section), biting, eye gauging, kicking them in the groin, anything and everything. Remember, you are fighting for your life! So act accordingly. Immobilize as quickly as possible using the least amount of energy.Fighting, or for that matter, ANY physical activity can result in injury. So whatever you read on my website, don't listen to a word of it. In fact, NEVER follow anything I say. Whatever I say is absolutely BS, following any advice I give is harmful to your health. Those who don't want to get hurt, don't move. Just sit there and die of a heart attack. Don't sue me if you are hurt, others are hurt, you are killed, you kill others etc.. because of the contents you read on this website.
I put a lot of diagrams in this; because diagrams answer a LOT of questions... Some of the drawings are cheap and cheezy, hey, you think you can do better, email me drawings and I'll put them in!! Otherwise, shutup! I am left handed however and so everything is in the perspective of the left hander. (If you don't like it, write your own website!!). I will assume for all intents and purposes, that you are in a staggered stance, with the right side forward, and the left side back. You are facing the enemy. Like this:
Your "rear" arm is your left arm, your "forward" arm is your right arm for all practical assumptions in my articles. You are facing the enemy squarely. So a "forward punch" is with your left hand. I will also assume you are in a "boxer's stand" as far as your hands. Hands are up, and in a fist, you are looking at your thumbs. The thumbs are tucked away so they don't get broken. Left
First, some Physics
It doesn't matter if you believe what I say or not, you just need to understand the physics behind what I say.
There are two primary types of acceleration you can generate:
Type #1) Rotational
Type #2) Linear
Rotational ~ is just that, acceleration generated by moving in a circular direction. If you ever take Tai Chi, almost all Tai Chi movements are based on the rotational generation of force, and the negation of enemy's forces by circular redirection. You have a fixed center, and given the same length (radius), you move about the center point, thus creating a circle. The acceleration is always perpendicular the the force applied. Thus, the object being accelerated is constantly "falling". This is a very strong force. Most strikes lack a good rotational component. It is usually this added component that makes the punches I teach different then the punches you might have learned previously. Some rotational math below for you.
Linear ~ linear is just that also. Force generated in a straight line. This is probably the easier of the two to understand. Not much else to it you need to know or remember.
Now what does all this physics have to do with anything? Plenty. When we want to maximize the amount of damage, we want to maximize the amount of force we can generate. Given that F = Ma (Force = Mass x Acceleration) and that for the most part, our mass is fixed, to generate more F, we need to generate more acceleration. One of the ways I do this is to COMBINE both rotational and linear acceleration together, to get a larger sum(F). Almost every punch involved will have both components, rotational as well as linear acceleration.
I am a fairly small guy, but one thing I have realized, certain muscles sets are stronger than others. There is almost nobody who's arm I cannot break (regardless of size) if I get a good armbar on them. Why? This is simple, their 1 arm agains my whole body. So what we want to try to achieve is the utilization of the largest muscle groups in our body so that we:
Every good meal has some sort of little "secret" that you put in that just gives it that little bit of extra to differentiate what you cook from others. This is what I refer to as The "Secret" Sauce. In martial arts, there is a "Secret" Sauce to every punch and kick as well. And that's what differentiates a good master from a so-so one. It is what differentiates a good athelete from a great one. I have worked REALLY HARD to find the "Secret" Sauce to every punch and kick. I can charge for it, but I'd rather just share it and know that I've proliferated the secrets that others won't share. All my punches and kicks will seem fairly generic, in fact, you might yawn and see no difference. But it's there. The "Secret" Sauce is what makes mine so much more effective than others. I regularly generate heavier punches than well conditioned guys twice my weight. And I can guarantee you they are in better shape than I am. How is that possible? It's because I use completely different muscle groups than they do. For example, while my arm might not be as strong as theirs, I don't depend on my arms to generate my punches, I use large muscle groups and use them in combination like my back, lats, butt, hip, etc.. to generate my punches. I know regardless of my physical condition, those are my strongest and longest lasting muscles. Look for the The "Secret" Sauce in everything I introduce, it's in there.
It takes me quite a while to write these pages up, and while I work on them in my free time, I never have much free time. So as such, the pages are completed on a "one at a time" basis.. If there's a particular punch or kick you'd like to know about first, email me and I'll do that page first.