subject: True Kenpo Power Starts With Building Ideal Muscles [print this page] Everybody thinks that true Kenpo Power comes from muscular development. Unfortunately, they are only half right. To fully grasp the power we are talking about here we must change our idea of what a muscle is and does.
The purpose of a muscle is to to pull, and thus to make a limb or body part move in a specific direction, or become tense for some purpose (impact). Thus, when somebody builds his biceps so people will think he has 'big guns,' he is reducing his punching power. Punching power comes from building the muscles on the other side of the arm, the triceps, which cause the limb to extend, which is where you'll find a punch.
The idea is to figure out which muscle, or set of muscles, results in what motion, and then to isolate and work those specific muscles. Want stronger punches? Then do a slow motion and analyze the workings of your arm and body.
Figure out which muscles are working when you extend the arm, which muscles support the impact of the arm, and so on. This will help you create specific exercises which will cause you power in the striking muscles...which will help you have a harder punch.
If you want to really gain some punching power, try doing 'punch ups.' These are push ups where you don't go all the way to the ground, you only go down six inches, then up. This isolates and builds the exact muscles which come in to play in a knock out punch.
Yes, you should develop other muscles and muscle groups, explore other deviations of push ups, but focus a good portion of your work out on punch ups and you will shortly be amazed at your growing ability to knock someone out. You should also think about this idea for places on the body where you might get hit. By this I mean some sort of wrestler's bridge so you'll have a neck dense with muscle, or some sort of crunches for when you get hit in the body, and that sort of thing.
Now, the other thing you should be concentrating on is endurance. By this I mean you shouldn't be growing a large, bulky muscle, for that weighs more, runs out of juice sooner, and is more awkward to move around. Instead, you should be growing dense muscles, muscles that are leaner and not fatter.
To do this you should cut the size of the weight you are working with (or just go to body calisthenics, which is my choice) and focus on how long you can do the exercise. Try for hundreds of repetitions of deep squats that take 3-4 seconds to complete (build the number slowly to avoid injury), or build up the number of pulls ups you can do into the hundreds. I'll write more on this idea later, but for now, this should give you a good notion on how to change your work out so that you have maximum body endurance, the potential for lightening quick moves, and all the other things that go along with creating true Kenpo Power.
True Kenpo Power Starts With Building Ideal Muscles
