subject: Discovering Exactly How A Martial Artist Can Increase Their Striking Power [print this page] If you ever study karate, Kung Fu, Taekwando or any other of the fighting arts, something you'll find yourself wondering occasionally is exactly how a martial art can improve their punching strength. In the end, that is what it is all about, right? A weight lifter wants to lift more weights and a fighter wants to hit harder.
So there are some things you can do to go to where you want to be as a mma fighter.
Study Multiple Arts
Every style has something to offer you, in fact, you will find hardly any "pure" fighting styles systems left nowadays. Virtually every style borrows some thing from some other style. Just like each and every fighting system has some thing to offer, every style also has one or two areas where certain students may feel some thing is lacking. Let's pretend you're taking Tae Kwan Do. Well... Striking isn't the concern there... However it is in traditional Okinawan karate. You have to respect your present master, your current style, but i am not saying that you simply cannot explore for your self what else is offered. Again, every style has at least one or two things you will find incredibly useful.
Tone down
In boxing, lifting weights is a great way to increase punching power. In eastern martial arts, it's in fact better to slim down. You want trim, lean fighting muscles, not big, bulky muscles. When you want to lift heavy things, big muscles come in handy. In karate, well well developed muscles will help you strike faster, and thus, harder. So try toning your arms instead of trying to get pumped. Should you consider the great martial artists, the only real place where you will see lots of mass is within the stomach, exactly where striking power really comes from. Everywhere else is often trimmed, toned to perfection. Just take a look at Bruce Lee. Size is everything in some sports, however, not in the martial arts.
Stretch More
Look at the older martial artists the next time you try to the dojo. They take more time warming up for 2 reasons: Age, and also the wisdom thereof. Better you stretch, the more flexible you will be, and as you likely know, flexibility is absolutely EVERYTHING in the martial arts. You have to be like water, tranquil and intangible one moment, and striking just like a fire hose the next. This can be attained by means of greater stretching and warming up. In case your sensei wants to jump right into practice (not likely, since many true martial artists understand how essential warming up is), arrive early and warm up on your own.
Your Kata
Your kata is the road by which you will find every secret and each and every truth that the martial arts have to tell you. In the event you overlook your kata, you may as well be striking at the brick wall for no good reason, simply because you will attain about the same results. Your kata is everything. Your kata will put your moves into your mind so deeply that one could never forget them, and as you improve your kata, you'll enhance your technique, and you'll improve yourself. Study your kata back to front and don't neglect it.