The Basic Punch
Alignment Can Help Or Hurt You
By Bruce Everett Miller, PA-C
No matter how many years you have studied the martial arts, it’s
always important to examine and work to perfect your basics.
This article is going to do just that. Here, we examine one of the primary
moves of martial arts: the basic straight punch. For some of you, this
information may be familiar, but for many it will provide new food for
We will begin by examining some of the common injuries that occur from
improper structural alignment in the basic punch. We will then discuss
proper hand, wrist and arm alignment for a punch, and how the force of
the punch is absorbed within the body. Finally, we will discuss some
elements of maximizing force or power of the punch.
How Bad Alignment Can Hurt You
It is amazing how many people punch incorrectly. By this we don’t
mean using the incorrect type of punch, but instead punching anatomically
incorrectly. It should be pretty obvious that the purpose of a punch
is to deliver force. And that force is intended to go to your opponent,
NOT to yourself.
"Even more basic than the punch is learning how to defend yourself
without hurting yourself as
much or more than your opponent did."
While the above statement seems obvious, apparently it
is NOT. In fact a lot of students, even senior ones, punch incorrectly,
and they hurt
themselves doing it. The most common injury is what is known as “boxer’s
fracture,” which is a fracture of the long bone that runs across
the top of the hand (metacarpal) and/or the knuckle of the little finger
and sometimes the ring finger too. The top of the hand is not well supported
for the transmission of force because it connects to other bones of the
wrist at an oblique angle. Other common injuries include the fracture
of the wrist and/or the elbow.
Please don’t think that the boxer’s fracture is one that
occurs only in new students or inexperienced fighters. Just the opposite
is true. The new and inexperienced person frequently cannot generate
sufficient force to cause a boxer’s fracture, whereas with training
the ability to deliver force increases and with it the occurrence of
The problem is that most people do not pay close enough attention to
how they align their hand when they strike. Turning the hand so that
the little knuckle (and sometimes that of the ring finger too) strikes
first is the most common cause of boxer’s fracture. Another problem
is that people do not align their entire wrist correctly when doing the
basic front straight punch. If it is bent or bends during contact, injury
to the wrist can occur.
Notice that there
is a solid bone-to-bone connection for the transmission of
impact force of a punch from the knuckles of the first and
index fingers through the long bones (metacarpals) of the hand
into the wrist and up the forearm. The little finger’s
metacarpal bone, however, lacks this support since it meets
the wrist at an oblique angle.
Injury to the wrist can occur
when the wrist of a punching hand is not straight and buckles during
Boxer’s hands are taped into the proper position so that the force
is automatically aligned to go down the wrist and into the arm. The fixed
wrist prevents creating the large hooking punch (try it some time) and
helps limit the damage. But, since boxers have relied on an artificial
means of keeping the wrist aligned, they have not learned how to do so
themselves. So out of the ring they can easily damage their hands because
they are not properly aligned.
"If all you have learned is how to how hit soft
surfaces you will be visiting your local ER the next time
you get in a real situation and have to punch someone."
Another problem is the new development of soft punching bags. There
are several martial arts companies that put out soft bags and targets,
which are specifically designed to prevent injuries by absorbing the
delivered force. The upside
is that these bags are very good about limiting repetitive damage and
impact damage to the student (and prevents arthritis later in life).
The downside is that hitting these bags in no way simulates the effect
of hitting a real target … like a person. An 80 kg man does not
resemble a water-filled punching bag, and if all you have learned is
how to how hit soft surfaces you will be visiting your local emergency
room the next time you get in a real situation and have to punch someone.
Does that mean I am a fan of the older ways of punching hard surfaces?
Yes and no. Yes, because unless you do some work on harder and heavier
bags, you will never learn to punch correctly. Your whole body has to
learn how to punch correctly in order to deal with this kind of force.
Should you do it continuously and only work on a heavy bag? Absolutely
not. There is no reason to cause that much damage to yourself. I simply
believe that it must be a part of the training routine. How much a part
is up to you.
Note: I suggest that adults (including women) use at least a 75kg
bag if they want realistic street punching conditions. Yes, the bag
outweigh you … but then so will that big drunken jerk you are trying
to communicate with.
If the elbows moves outward during
the rotation of a karate straight punch the striking surface of
the fist also changes so that
contact is often made with the little and/or ring finger knuckles which
can be easily damaged.
Problems of correct alignment can also be exacerbated by karate-ka who
use boxing or other padded gloves and don’t tape their wrists.
A student, for example, can free fight (point or light contact) and
hit softer bags without ever knowing that his or her structural mechanics
are poor. And if the student is punching incorrectly, such as allowing
his or her elbows to flare outward during a straight (twist) punch,
it is much more likely that the wrist will be turned so as to hit
with the little finger knuckle (and the ring finger).
The Effects of the Force of the Punch On The Body
You want the force of the punch to go into your opponent, but by Newton’s
laws we know that for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Thus OUR bodies will absorb as much force as we deliver. Therefore you
MUST design a way to disperse the force generated so it doesn’t
injure your hand (boxer’s fracture), wrist, elbow or other body
To do this, the force should be dispersed in a distributed fashion within
the puncher’s entire body. The easiest way to do this is to align
the hand, wrist and arm properly so that the force is transmitted up
the entire arm and into the body as a whole.
If this seems simplistic, I can assure you that it is not. And unfortunately,
too many schools of boxing and martial arts do not spend enough time
teaching students to punch correctly. Instead they spend their training
time on where to hit and how to hit fast and in combinations. They also
don’t practice hitting hard against targets that simulate the human
So how does one punch correctly? There are a number of factors.
The striking surface: The point of impact should be as if it was
coming from either the second or third web spaces [between the index
finger and the long finger knuckles OR between the long finger knuckle
and the ring finger knuckle]. In truth, you will strike your knuckle
fist and not the web spaces between the knuckles, but if you focus
on either of these points then the hand is aligned properly. The difference
between the two points is that the first one (between the index and
fingers) is for a straight on punch, whereas the second one (between
the long and ring finger) is for a 3/4 twist punch.
The wrist: It should be perfectly straight to align the bones to
transmit force up to and through it. I have seen many wrist injuries
from the wrist bending upon impact. This is one reason people tape
The elbow: It should be kept close to the body so that the direction
of the strike is parallel to the movement of the centerline of the
body. Correct alignment of the hand ensures that any force which is
from an impact is transmitted up the entire arm and the body as a whole
absorbs the force not just the striking portion of the hand. Additionally
the elbow must be kept close to the body so that the direction of the
strike is parallel to the movement of the centerline of the body. Keeping
the elbow in close to the body is just as important, for otherwise
the force will stop at your elbow. You may not break the elbow, but
injure the ligaments holding the bones in place and hurt for a very
Developing Maximum Force
Remember my prior comment: the object of the punch is to deliver force
to your opponent and NOT to yourself.
You WANT to deliver as much force to your opponent as you can (the maximum
pressure in a very short period of time). It means speed of delivery
(speed of technique).
In addition to teaching my students to strike quickly, I also instruct
them to leave the punch extended while the body falls into the punch,
thus moving the force through the target. This gives the person delivering
the punch DRAMATICALLY more effective technique than someone who only
impacts the surface.
I have summarized rules of force into a simple formula: F= (p2-p1)/A/T.
Translated into English this means -- pressure (force in this case)
divided by surface area divided by time. In short, you want to deliver
the force of the punch in as little area as possible to get maximum impact.
Basic physics tell us that if you double the speed of a technique using
the same push or pressure, the force will be quadrupled rather than doubled.
Therefore speed is a key ingredient.
Area of impact is another key ingredient. Look at it this way: whatever
force you deliver is divided by the area that it is delivered on -- we
divide the force (meaning the change in pressure) by the Area (A). Also
you have to divide that effect by the time (“T”) it is delivered.
If you deliver force slowly then it has little effect.
Remember we were going back to basics here. Even more basic than the
punch is learning how to defend yourself without hurting yourself as
much or more than your opponent did. And contrary to public perception,
effective force is not necessarily an extension of size or strength.
In reality it is a combination of delivered force (which is related to
efficiency) and the to ability to penetrate.
About The Author:
Bruce Everett Miller, PA-C, is a 6th degree black belt in the style
of Quan Li K'an and a teacher of Tai Chi which he combines with his Western
medical training as a Physician's Assistant to provide his own unique
perspective on the martial arts. He is a well known teacher, seminar
leader and author who has produced thirteen books and four videos on
various karate related subjects including freefighting, pressure points,
the principles of kata, Acupuncture, and light force knockouts. For more
information on his books, vidoes and seminars see: www.cloudnet.com/~bemiller/