The bone that runs along the little finger side of the forearm is called the ulna.
You've become familiar with this section of the arm from any blocking of front kicks. The ulna can be delivered in a powerful manner when its usefulness is respected. This is a very powerful and stopping strike when your body is pulled in or you are moving in very quickly. It's almost an "excuse-me" sort of strike.
Keep the arc of the forward arm moving to the outside of the head as you move in (#26A) . Everything must be moving in one piece into the impact for the explosion to occur. Too many moving parts mean a better chance of something breaking down. In all power strikes, the large muscle groups must be taken into the impact area. I figure if I keep stating that very important phrase someone may say,
"Hey, now I get it. " Got it?
Photo #26B shows the impact position after extending and letting the ulna bone drive home. This strike is a devastating stopping technique.
PHOTOS #27, 27A, 27B:
I really loved this back punch technique when I was competing in the tournament wars of the sixties and early seventies. It was always something I could count on when I needed that "point." I never thought of it as anything but that. Just something I could fire really fast that the refs just might detect as a scoring point.
I see it in a much different light now. I see it as a power strike and not just something that flicks out and back. With all the power body mechanics involved in this back punch delivery, it's a stopping move. It still has all the speed it always had but is now exploding instead of just flicking.
In photo #27, the beginning of the back punch delivery is seen. Push off with the rear leg (#27A) and drive the front leg forward. The forward hand coordinates with the driving motion of the front leg into the impact area-27B. Everything moves at once and in one piece. No pre movements or it will be detected.
Notice the power position in #27B. Trunk and back muscles down all the way through this back punch strike for speed and power. Notice the arc of the arm on contact and the position of the arm from the elbow to the fist. This is where the strength of this blow comes from.
PHOTOS #28, 28A. 28B, 28C:
This palm thrust works best from a slight angle but it can hit from just about any position. As you can detect from photo #28 and #28A, the palm thrust is fired right from the starting block. There is no pull back at all here. The elbow snaps in taking the shoulder and back along with it.
You can see from #28A that the elbow is deep inside and the palm still has not made contact. This sets up quite a whip like motion of the arm which in turn generates tremendous speed and power. When impact occurs, it is coordinated with the torque of the trunk. This strike hits very hard because it usually finds the jaw line of the target quite easily. With the slight arcing movement of this strike, it manages to stay on the impact area for a while.
Photo #28C gives you a closer look at the impact area. You'll notice that the hand is laid back allowing the powerful wrist joint to crash in. The higher the blow hits, the more of the forearm is involved in the strike. Check Photo #28B.
Next week will be infighting kicks and shin thrusts.
Have fun,
Art
