Recreational Holidays

The Differences between the Two Kinds of Punches

When learning the martial arts, especially if you want to be effective, you need to learn the gains and limitations of the two kinds of punches. Knowing these punches will proscribe and dictate your combat strategy. Knowing these punches will effect your training and enlighten you as as a Martial Artist.

The first punch is a thrusting punch. To do a thrusting punch imagine a train running into something and not stopping. Simply, it hits, and there is no back off, and the punch goes through.

Now, the problem with the thrusting punch is…what happens to all the cars behind the locomotive? They all stack up, collide and become a mess. Thus, the unstoppable power of a thrusting punch does risk becoming a mess.

Once delivered, the thrusting punch enters the space of the opponent and can become immersed. The body behind the punch, unless the whole body has moved forward, risks becoming unbalanced. Thrust, and you face the possibility of becoming overcommitted.

A snapping punch is the second type of punch. Imagine a jackhammer striking cement, but only impacting once and then holding off. It hits, damages as much as possible, and then retreats.

Now, the problem with the snapping punch is…not enough weight. The body doesn’t have time to move into the action, and so does not commit weight to the punch. You retain balance while punching, but were you really effective?

Now, a thrusting punch is a strategy involving moving your body, committing it to the action, using your entire weight, and god help you if you miss because you’re going to be out of place and unbalanced. The snapping punch is a strategy where you risk little, but don’t always do the damage you wish to. The main point here is the fact of committing weight, a thrust punch commits weight, but takes fifty per cent of the shock back up the arm, the snapping punch gives less weight, but 95% of the weight will be left in the body of the opponent.

So we have to continuously ask ourselves which is better, the punch that thrusts or the punch that snaps. Each punch has must be gauged on a variety of merits, balance versus stability, weight versus speed, commitment versus noncommitment, weight left in the body versus weight backed up the arm, potential follow ups, positioning, and so on and so on. When you’re done exploring all these possibilities, however, you’re going to have a wallop that can’t be denied.