tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post2679915665561552186..comments2023-12-19T07:45:21.442+08:00Comments on Kojutsukan: Air PunchesJohn Coleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14634192254115557179noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-11159144382399543352012-05-10T11:37:56.158+08:002012-05-10T11:37:56.158+08:00Hi Sue. Thanks for the comment. Again, I hope you ...Hi Sue. Thanks for the comment. Again, I hope you didn't take from my blog that I'm anti-air punching. The point of my blog was to point out that it involves different dynamics than impacting a target.<br /><br />I thought of another way of thinking about it. Anytime something starts, stops, speeds up, slows down, or changes direction, a force was applied and which caused that change in motion. With air punching, the punch stops so an internal force was applied to stop that punch. When punching a target, a force is applied by the target to stop the punch. That is what needs to be learnt; to let the target apply a force and stop the punch so the maximum amount of kinetic energy can be transferred to the target. Any internal forces used to stop the punch even when impacting a target must be bleeding off some of the kinetic energy.John Coleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14634192254115557179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-30956962763648624692012-05-09T23:54:54.967+08:002012-05-09T23:54:54.967+08:00Hi John, moving from air punching to punching a pa...Hi John, moving from air punching to punching a pad is a big transition for many beginners. It takes a while to build up confidence and get used to the feel of it. Even grown men punch very lightly when they first start punching a pad! Air punching definitely helps to improve form but pad punching is needed to improve function. Of course karate is not just about punching - we use every available surface of the hand - knife hand, ridge hand, back fist, bottom fist, ippon ken, palm heel etc. We also teach striking from hard to soft or soft to hard to avoid injury and also to target vital points. The straight punch is probably the least useful of the strikes in reality. It's more about striking intelligently than powerfully...Sue Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16008609198511182782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-16493108275376787142012-05-05T11:03:35.509+08:002012-05-05T11:03:35.509+08:00Thanks for the comments. Firstly, don't get me...Thanks for the comments. Firstly, don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing against air punching as a form of training. What I am suggesting is that it needs to be supplemented with resistance punching in order to train different aspects of punching that are not present with air punching. The first of course is the issue of preparing the body to resist reaction forces when punching.<br /><br />Dojodelft - the transfer of KE causes injury when absorbed in amounts or rates that exceed tissue tolerance levels. KE is transferred via force (no matter what force-related concept is referred to). A punch possesses KE beause it is moving. With air punching, and internal force caused that movement, and an internal force stopped that movement. The KE was absorbed into the punchers body. When hitting another body or object, you want to maximise the KE transfer to that body or object. Any that is absorbed in your own body by applying forces to stop the punch is not available to be transferred to the target. I would argue that you want the target to stop the punch and not your own actions in order to maximise KE transfer. I'm not ignoring the unbalancing implications, but when impacting something you want that something to do the stopping so that force is applied and KE is transferred.<br /><br />Of course these theories have never been tested. As one author writes when reviewing the martial arts literature related to biomechanics, the biomechanics of martial arts is in its infancy.John Coleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14634192254115557179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-60618212334699023632012-05-05T09:48:22.602+08:002012-05-05T09:48:22.602+08:00I've done thousands and thousands of air punch...I've done thousands and thousands of air punches without too much thought. Now I'm thinking about it...<br /><br />Good post and thanks for the mention.Journeymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00146093025259375890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-23205614025763559382012-05-05T03:23:54.796+08:002012-05-05T03:23:54.796+08:00Besides the obvious reasons of learning structure ...Besides the obvious reasons of learning structure and dynamic of technique and that of polishing technique. I feel the stop you mentioned is key to the airpunching thing. It seems to teach kime and correct tension to absorb reaction force quite well. But it raises questions. To validate the practise such questions are important to be answered. Does the force to stop (kime)the movement in the air not transfer to the object when connecting? Does it really have purpose in the part were you learn transferring force? Maybe. Though I have to agree that training only airpunches without contact, would give a distorted picture of punching in general. Every kihon technique needs application practise. Or else you better not train it at all. Airpunching is just a small part of a bigger picture.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-91335986573536170312012-05-02T22:09:34.873+08:002012-05-02T22:09:34.873+08:00To my eye, the benefit of air punching is mostly a...To my eye, the benefit of air punching is mostly a benefit to the school and the instructor. It allows him to impart the very most basics of striking to any number of students without having to supply each of them with a punching bag or partner. <br /><br />To the student it provides another method of training that does not involve impact - a very good thing if you happen to have an injury or bruising but don't wish to stop training.<br /><br />I am sure I'm missing a few others, but suffice it to say that after the most basic concepts of striking have been imparted, it is incumbent upon the teacher AND the student to incorporate striking of other objects or people in order to familiarize with how kinetic energy is transferred and how not to become injured from transferring that energy.The Strongest Karatehttp://www.kyokushinblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540643628218431638.post-40995030756449831602012-05-02T02:37:45.604+08:002012-05-02T02:37:45.604+08:00The tricksy, but not entirely off base answer is t...The tricksy, but not entirely off base answer is that air punching trains punching the air. Not every strike connects and it is useful to be able to recover from that. However, I don't think that explains all of it. One explain, which I would call the traditional one, is that it helps build the "form" of the technique by allowing you to follow the movement through without resistance. This sound somewhat convincing, particularly if supplemented with other forms of training, but I haven't seen much real evidence either way. Lastly, I would point out that airpunching is impressive looking and doesn't require much equipment, all things being equal these are plusses, but they also provide a way for a method to become popular to an extent not justified by its effectiveness.Beo_shaffernoreply@blogger.com