Here are some GUARANTEED boxing tips to increase your punching power. It doesn't matter if you're a boxer, a fighter, or someone just cross-training for health and fitness reasons. Punching harder is FUN!

A harder punch earns you more respect in the ring, in the streets, anywhere. It also trains your body to move as one unit and makes you stronger at everything that you do. Enough talking, on to the punching. By the way, this guide is for a big RIGHT HAND punch...once you get that down, simply apply the same concepts to all your other punches like the left hooks and etc.

Key concepts - The force starts from your toe up your legs, whips out from your shoulders and follows your fist out to the point of impact.

Now, I'm gonna describe the starting position and final position of your body parts from your feet all the way up and out to your fist. 

FEET:

- Spread a little bit wider than shoulder position. When it doubt, go a little wider.
- The back foot heel is always lifted up.
- Keep your feet on the ground! Anchored feet gives you more power. Lifting your feet while punching is like punching while you're hanging from a rope.
- Your feet will pivot and your toes turn to point in the direction of your punch.

LEGS:

- Knees should always be bent!
- You should feel the force traveling up your legs and forward
- Your legs should be providing the power for your punch! - Think of your arms as simply a means of directing your punches.

SHOULDERS and TORSO:

- Your whole upper body will rotate FAST and HARD to spin out the punching fist from your shoulders.
- Concentrate heavily on this rotation. A deep body rotation with little arm extension hits harder than light body rotation with a fully extended arm!

CHEST

- You breathe out and exhale as you punch. Breathe out fast and hard. Make a noise with your mouth is recommended. That's why martial arts schools always have you yell as you do a striking manuever. It's to make sure that you are exhaling while exerting your force.

HEAD

- Your head goes forward and leans over just a little so that it is out of the way and safe from a left hook counter at the same moment.
- You always keep your eyes on target. Not doing this takes out A LOT of accuracy AND power from your punch.

AIM:

- Learn your arm's length and stepping reach.
- Punching at too close or too far of a range diminishes the power.
- Hardest punches only travel about 1 feet or 2 feet max before reaching the target.
- Also keep in mind that crossing punches hit the hardest. In other words, the most powerful spot for a right hand punch is roughly the area in front of THE PUNCHER's left shoulder, and the most powerful spot for a left hand punch is in front of the right shoulder. Keep in mind that when I say in front, I don't mean directly in front of your shoulder, but rather the arm's length in front of the shoulders.

ARM and FIST:

- You start with your glove near your face. You punch straight off your face. You never cock back or anything, because you don't want to telegraph off your face.
- You do not go for a big long swinging path. Punch it straight. The power comes from your legs and body rotation.
-Your entire body rotates and your upper body rotates to swing your non-punch hand out of the way, and swings your punching hand out to your opponent.
- Your hand is held relaxed and then as you punch, you feel the force go up your body and out through your fist as it extends towards your opponent. You tighten your fist as you punch. 

Final tips:

When throwing  combos: Your body should be spinning from side to side, spinning your hips and shoulders into the punch. Your feet should be standing on the balls and pivoting from side to side pointing in the direction of your punch. As you pivot your feet, your heels should be lifting in alternating patterns; in other words, when you throw the right hand, both feet point in the direction of the punch, and your left heel drops to the ground while the right heel lifts up to "push" into the punch, and as you spin your body in the opposite direction to throw a following a left hook, the body and feet pivot to the right with the right heel dropping and the left heel lifting to "push" into the punch.

When practicing your power punches: Throw power comboes one punch at a time and POSE after every punch. So it's like BAM-*pause*-BAM-*pause*-BAM! Your body and head should spin and lean in the direction that you punch. Over time this practice will build your power punches, and train your body to move with the punches, giving it more power.

 

Keep in mind that throwing your fist 2 feet will never have the same effect as throwing your body even just 6 inches. Use your body when you punch and you WILL knock out your opponent!

Comments (10)