I'm only going to touch on one small aspect of the paper.
Humans buttress – strengthen and stabilize – fists in two ways that apes cannot: The pads of the four fingertips touch the pads at the top of the palm closest to the fingers. And the thumb wraps in front of the index and middle fingers, and to some extent the ring finger, and those fingers are locked in place by the palm at the base of the thumb.
The second and third experiments found that buttressing provided by the human fist increased the stiffness of the knuckle joint fourfold (or reduced flexing fourfold), and also doubled the ability of the fingers to transmit punching force, mainly due to the force transferred from the fingers to the thumb when the fist is clenched.
Based on the abovementioned study, it could be argued the Isshinryu karate fist configuration is biomechanically less efficient than nature's configuration which most other martial arts have adopted. Is there any explanation why Isshinryu karate may have adopted this unique fist configuration?
A possible explanation lies within an obscure but interesting paper published in American Anthropologist. The researchers investigated the relationship between commonly occurring types of violence and those that are popular in sport. They found that common injuries to the hand in modern society where boxing is popular is to the little finger and ring finger bones in the hand, which is commonly known as a boxer's fracture.
The researchers gained access to the 857 bodies when a cemetery was being excavated in England. The bodies were buried between 1750 and 1850. They found significantly more fractures of the thumb than boxer's fractures. This puzzled them because boxing was popular during that time.
They suggest a possible explanation might be found in the style of fighting employed by boxers during the period when the burials were made. Boxing was bareknuckles and boxers used vertical fists rather than the horizontal fist of the modern day boxer. A boxer's fracture often occurs then the little finger side of the fist impacts rather than the intended pointer finger side of the fist. A similar argument applies the to ancient boxers using vertical fists. If the boxer misses with the intended part of the fist the thumb impacts resulting in an injury.
Isshinryu karate may be sacrificing biomechanical efficiency in order to reduce the risk of injury when using a vertical fist to punch. Now there is support if any Isshinryu karate exponent argues the safety aspect of their unique fist configuration.
You are totally wrong. The Isshin Ryu punch is superior in many ways. It is not only safer like you mentioned for the bones of the fingers, but helps prevent the wrist from buckling under impact pressure, as well as keeping the thumb from being snagged and broken. It is also faster because it allows the forearm muscles to remain in a balanced, more natural state. The elbow remains pointed down which allows more power to transfer from the body, and prevents a counter attack injury to the elbow joint. The punch always ends with a snap back to the ready position, like a piston or a gun being cocked. Although this action prevents force to be exerted into a follow through "push" action, it is superior for a number of reasons. First of all, when properly executed, there is an energy transfer into the body by several inches, damaging internal organs instead of superficial exterior damage. The fist being instantly pulled back also prevents the opponent from grabbing the arm. Also, once it is back in a ready position, it can punch again, like a machine gun, or can be used to block. A trained "vertical" or Isshin Ryu punch practitioner can literally execute 4 to five targeted strikes in the time it takes most styles to land just one.
ReplyDeleteYou should do more research before assuming you opinions.
Mr Ling
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment.
If you study my post you'll see that (a) it is evidenced based, and (b) in no
way disparages the Isshin Ryu punching method. Your argument extends far beyond the scope of the article and which is based on anecdotal rather than substantive evidence.
Yet during sparring, I have NEVER seen an Isshin Ryu Karate - Ka use the vertical fist. And even moreso, I have personally watched Senior Dans in Isshin Ryu rarley ever keep to the Isshin Ryu fist?? As for outpunching other styles..... that's truly debatable. Isshin Ryu Practioner of MANY years.
ReplyDeleteThere are two Isshin Ryu schools, completely unrelated. One was invented in Japan in the 1950s; the other by Ticky Donovan in London, in the mid 1980s.
DeleteDonovan did not know of the pre-existing use of the name.
We assume you are a member of the UK Ishin Ryu school, which is (I think) descended from Goju, Kyokushin and Shotokan (I trained under Donovan in the late 70s) - but in any case is a 'normal' karate system in that it uses the horizontal fist punch.
When I trained under Donovan he was, I think, training Kyokushin under Arneil, but was much more interested in point contests. As you know he was a phenomenally successful England team coach, taking the world title many times.
Mr Cole. Great article. I don't believe you to be wrong! I am an Isshin Ryu practitioner of 18 years to date. I must say I would have to witness scientific evidence in order to believe the 4 to 1 punch theory? If we stand with our arms at our sides, our hands are neither vertical nor horizontal but in between??? So which is the fastest / strongest punch??
ReplyDelete'Speed is fine, but accuracy is final'
Though a decade after your post, I thought you might like to hear:
ReplyDeleteYou said "most styles", and while this is true, there have been for centuries a number of highly notable Chinese styles, including wing chun, which incorporate punches with the ring and pinky finger knuckles--not as targeted "soft spot" strikes but standard (and vertically delivered) punches.
This is due entirely to the direct and most efficient flow of energy from the body down the arm--punches with the bottom part of the fist transfer more force.
Ergo, most styles *also* trade efficiency for safety. Isshinryu takes it another step with what is ultimately an insignificant loss in efficiency. After all, the Okinawans understood better than their Japanese counterparts that not every fight could necessarily be ichi-geki-hissatsu (a maxim and mentality ported from kenjitsu, where a single cut with a sword often was enough). And if you break your knuckles, you've been disarmed, and you're in real deep doo-doo then.
As for the boxer's fracture--it's worth noting two things about Okinawan karate. One, the old masters discouraged not only kicks above the belt but punches to the face (above the torso). Not only due to point-of-origin efficiency but because hitting the head/jaw the wrong way can break any kind of fist, and they certainly knew some fighters are "blessed" with a very tough mandible bone. Ribs, kidneys, spine, solar plexus--these were preferred targets. Having pointed that out, the vertical fist wasn't...quite...vertical.
Importantly, know what I've never seen during my training in Isshinryu, whether at the bag or in kumite? Not only no "boxer's fractures", but no fractured or broken wrists. Not once. Conversely, people I knew who trained in other styles and methods seemed to fracture their wrist in training on a regular basis. (And of course, as we know, broken bones once mended don't get stronger but rather easier to break in the future...)