[Something wrong with the forum software -- can't get the correct message to 'quote'...]

Krotala wrote:
I think I have begun relaxing my punches, adding more pop to the bag and mitts,at higher speeds, and at the same time using less energy.
I think the best way to describe this is the analogy of a whip, because it feels as such.
If I were to slow it down, the first one third of the punch would seem to be coming slightly downwards and initially at a lower velocity, before it accelerates to full speed and extends perfectly straight for the last two thirds.
Just like on a whip you only see the initial uncoiling before it hits its target in a fast linear manner and you hear it snap...
I would like to hear if any of you are using the same method or would like to comment on it.
Excellent progress Krotala. Yes, the whip is a good analogy for [one type of this] punch. The punch can be very deceptive because it ACCELERATES, and the key to hitting hard is the SPEED at IMPACT. We want as much of that as possible (without screwing anything else up.]

A whip is NOT rigid, but flexible and relaxed -- our arm can take on much of this same character (really closer to a 'flail' since we have two long bony-rigid sctions in the arm, then the more or less rigid hand), and the whip effect can even come all the way from out feet.

However, this is NOT the punch I was trying to describe for boxers, but "the other" (or another) Systema punch. Nothing wrong with it; just another powerful variation on the relaxation principle and more tools for the arsenal.

The punch I was (attempting) to describe was more "for boxers" because it will not change the motion just the feel and the effects (more power & speed, less energy and oxygen burn).

This punch is BALLISTIC rather than whip like. Ballistic meansthat we throw it like a cannon ball, or even like a rocket where we launch it but continue to accelerate it (almost) to target. That continuous acceleration is how the two punches eventually overlap or merge into a continuous variation of many choices, some having more of a whip flavor and others having the ballistic flavor of "throwing a rock".

The simplest analogy for understanding the ballistic punch is that of using a hammer (properly) to drive a nail. The hammer is swung and (almost) release (although it is kept in the hand loosely) so that the hammer head is freely traveling when it strikes the nail head. All of the energy (except elastic rebound) is put into the nail and so it is driven more deeply with less effort than if we were still TRYING to accelerate the nail at impact or especially if we were unconsciously "holding back" the hammer.

There is a real sense in which that hammer is "THROWN" (the meaning of ballistic) at the nail with the hand staying just enough in contact to keep it aligned and on target (and to catch it after impact).

A master carpenter will use only a few such strikes to drive even large nails flush to the wood, right?

(Gee, I hope all you young guys still know how to use a HAMMER, and are not using nail guns for EVERY such task.)

So there are whip and ballistic punches which both "let the hand fly" in slightly different ways. The ballistic variation is easier to adapt/combine with traditional boxing punch form.

Also imagine this: My arm weighs (something like) 15 pounds (or 1 stone for you Brits). My hand is roughly as hard as a block of wood (on the knuckle side). How would you feel if I threw a 15 pound log end first at your head?

(The numbers I choose may be misleading, as my arm may weigh more or less than 15 pounds, and SOME of the weight is gong to be supported where it attaches to the shoulder no matter how relaxed I am -- but you get the idea, and remember we can STILL add the kinetic chain of foot-hip-back-shoulder forces into this punch if we can both time the coordination AND stay relaxed.)

No matter: The idea of a 15 pound board or log coming at your head endwise (small surface area of the knuckles) makes the point about ballistic punches.

You can do the whip punch if you imagine the ball-and-chain flail weapon used by Knights in medievel times -- take my 5-10 pound hand and lower arm and send it whipping on the "end of my arm". That whip punch LOOKS and is MECHANICALLY different from most boxing punches (although a hood can work this way.)