When it comes down to save your bacon self defense, a hard fist is what is needed. Of course, what training method does one follow to make a fist hard enough to create a powerful punch? The answer is through the use of good, solid, sweat your fanny off, Karate training.
Karate is the martial art Mas Oyama, of Kyokushinkai fame, used when he killed bulls, and his hands were reputed to be as hard as steel. Add in the old legends of the Okinawan Karate instructors who could twist raw bamboo into pieces and you really have something. And, the tales of the Karate Masters who could punch a fist right through the body armor of the Japanese Samurai, are the cherry atop the ice cream!
Today, karate training methods promote makiwara training. This is a plank, thinner towards the top, that is sunk in the ground. While punching the Makiwara has much benefit, it does not return one to the training methods of old.
Punching a tapered two by four, you see, can only be done so long, and then the fists start to turn red and ugly and to bruise up. Fifty punches per arm per day is just not enough to make the rock solid fist that we are looking for. No, we need to look a little deeper, go a little more mad dog to find our perfect punch.
Oddly, the method we used in my karate school, and this was four decades ago, before Karate had a chance to be 'watered down' by vested interests, contests, protective gear, and that sort of thing, didn't actually involve the use of the fist. It didn't use the fist, especially as in bashing, but rather strengthened the fingers. Make the fingers solid, like steel spikes, and you have a solid hand.
We began by doing simple push ups. Push ups strengthen the whole body, and they work the punching muscles directly. Then we started making different types of push ups.
We would do push ups on our hands, then our fists, then our half-fists, and finally our fingers. This was hard as it required more than just muscle, it required an awareness of muscle. Eventually, doing our push ups on one single, outstretched finger, our awareness was what had grown, and our awareness is what made for unbelievable power in our punches.
One single, outstretched finger was what we were shooting for. Not a finger and a thumb, not a bent finger or two, but a digit as stiff as a rod. And, our awareness became as stiff as a rod...and as unbending as steel. This is the type of Karate training I always describe for students who want the hard fist that is needed for the strongest punch.
Karate is the martial art Mas Oyama, of Kyokushinkai fame, used when he killed bulls, and his hands were reputed to be as hard as steel. Add in the old legends of the Okinawan Karate instructors who could twist raw bamboo into pieces and you really have something. And, the tales of the Karate Masters who could punch a fist right through the body armor of the Japanese Samurai, are the cherry atop the ice cream!
Today, karate training methods promote makiwara training. This is a plank, thinner towards the top, that is sunk in the ground. While punching the Makiwara has much benefit, it does not return one to the training methods of old.
Punching a tapered two by four, you see, can only be done so long, and then the fists start to turn red and ugly and to bruise up. Fifty punches per arm per day is just not enough to make the rock solid fist that we are looking for. No, we need to look a little deeper, go a little more mad dog to find our perfect punch.
Oddly, the method we used in my karate school, and this was four decades ago, before Karate had a chance to be 'watered down' by vested interests, contests, protective gear, and that sort of thing, didn't actually involve the use of the fist. It didn't use the fist, especially as in bashing, but rather strengthened the fingers. Make the fingers solid, like steel spikes, and you have a solid hand.
We began by doing simple push ups. Push ups strengthen the whole body, and they work the punching muscles directly. Then we started making different types of push ups.
We would do push ups on our hands, then our fists, then our half-fists, and finally our fingers. This was hard as it required more than just muscle, it required an awareness of muscle. Eventually, doing our push ups on one single, outstretched finger, our awareness was what had grown, and our awareness is what made for unbelievable power in our punches.
One single, outstretched finger was what we were shooting for. Not a finger and a thumb, not a bent finger or two, but a digit as stiff as a rod. And, our awareness became as stiff as a rod...and as unbending as steel. This is the type of Karate training I always describe for students who want the hard fist that is needed for the strongest punch.
About the Author:
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