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Thread: Stepping Punch- Of any value at all?

  1. #31
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    Of course there are other options, such as the use of the stepping punch as a strike, diverts the mind from other possibilites, that of the karate armbar.

    To try and put this into words I'd share:

    An opponent offers their left arm say to grab you before striking.

    With your left arm you roll into a grab of their wrist as you shift say 20 degrees to the right and allow your right foot to slide back to a classic left front stance.

    Then your left hand chambers, with the normal rotation as you hold their arm. That rolls their arm slightly over, and you start your stepping punch, not to strike them but to slide the bottom of your arm across their triceps insertion....

    So you chamber as you step and punch, and in the process stick their face into the ground, with a variation of a rolling arm bar.

    Works for me, and it is also a pure stepping punch, you're just not hitting anything.

    If you really work on every kata variation of that movement, especially the various leading techniques, you'll find there are quite a few ways to make the same usage work against various attacks.

    pleasantly,
    Victor Smith
    Bushi No Te Isshinryu
    www.funkydragon.com/bushi

  2. #32
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    I'm having trouble visualizing your point, I find myself much more stable with hips square with my back foot flat and pushing against the ground with my heel/midfoot. With hips at hanmi, my reach is better but I find myself less stable overall.
    I don't really know how to answer you succinctly. I would start by saying that you can't push with your heel and midfoot to move forward. It isn't anatomically possible. All motion in this form pivots around the ball of the foot and is activated by shifting the weight forward through the knees and hips. You can brace rearward with your heel and midfoot, however. This is, according to physics, a push, but it is not forward motion, it is resistance to motion coming at you. It is reactive, not active.

    So, my stance is based on the forward thirds of my feet, with knees bent and the heels brushing the floor. In some instances you might even be able to slide a piece of paper under my heels, particularly on the rear foot.

    This allows the legs to push and absorb a lot more, without being overly fatiquing or out of natural balance. You get the advantage of motion transfer from all the joints involved and nothing becomes locked or static.

    http://www.shotokai.com/ingles/techn...utsudachi.html

    The above is a set of pictures from Shotokai. The first is a picture of a very rigid zenkutsu dachi. The second is one similar to, but still not exactly the same as what I am describing.

    What I am describing would not be so forward lunging, as it destroys the natural stability of the position. What he is doing would be about a quarter into shifting to the next stance as far as his forward knee is concerned.

    Hope this places things in better context.
    Glenn R. Manry

    ---Iaijutsu, don't forget the doorman.

  3. #33
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    For many years I practiced the step through punch in drills and in kata, but never once, until a nationally ranked fighter (who learned the trick from Joe Lewis) showed me how to do it properly, did I ever successfully use it in kumite. Now I use it all the time with great success. It is a deceptive technique that enables you to strike with great power and speed.

    The secret of the technique is to realize that the manner in which it is practiced in kata and in drill is wrong. This may sound like heresy, but bear with me.

    There are underlying principles of movement and body mechanics, as well as place and distance, that are common to all close combat arts, armed or unarmed. It helps to have a grasp of these principles in order to see why the step through punch as traditionally taught and practiced is in error.

    The core principle is known as "time". George Silver, a 16th century British fencer, wrote the most cogent explanation of time. At its simplest, time refers to the speed in which a part of your body moves. Different parts move at different speeds. These differences have important implications in combat. Silver recognizes three types of time:
    • Time of the hand, the speed at which the hand moves.
    • Time of the body, the speed at which the body moves.
    • Time of the foot or feet, the speed at which the foot or feet move.
    Consideration of the speed of movement for parts of the body dictates for Silver how one must move in combat to attack or defend. Silver divides these between true times, those which are proper methods of movement, and false times, those which are improper. The true times are:
    Time of the hand.
    Time of the hand and body.
    Time of the hand, body and foot.
    Time of the hand, body and feet.
    The false times are:
    Time of the foot.
    Time of the foot and body.
    Time of the foot, body and hand.
    Time of the feet, body and hand.
    Time of the hand is the most important. Silver explicitly states that in the attack, the hand moves before the foot:

    "The true fights be these: whatsoeuer is done with the hand before the foot or feet is true fight. The false fights be these: whatsoeuer is done with the foot or feet before the hand, is false, because the hand is swifter then the foot, the foot or feet being a slower mouer then the hand: the hand in that maner of fight is tied to the time of the foot or feet, and being tied thereto, hath lost his freedome, and is made thereby as slow in his motions as the foot or feet: and therefor that fight is false."

    Adherence to Silver's principle of time means that the hand always moves first, the body following, the foot or feet moving last. Usually this results in the blow connecting before the passing foot hits the ground. Silver is adamant that the fighter never ties the speed of the hand to the speed of the foot, which is what happens if the technique is delivered according to the teachings of traditional karate ryuha.

    If a fighter does not deliver the blow according to true time, he risks a stop hit because he will have moved into the "true place" without delivering a blow. (The true place is the distance from which a fighter can deliver a blow without taking a step, a very dangerous place.) The fact that the traditional step through punch invites a stop hit is the reason no one does the technique in kumite. It simply does not work in a fight. However, if you follow Silver's principles, the technique in fact works quite well. It is simple and practical. In fact, once you are accustomed to doing it, you'll see many full contact fighters in UFC doing it unconsciously now and then.

    Here's how to do it. It's really easy. Practice against a heavy bag. Stand about a step away from the bag so you cannot touch it with either hand when you reach out. Start the rear fist moving as if in a reverse punch. Push yourself forward with the rear foot so your trunk follows the fist as it heads toward the bag. Allow the shoulders to turn with the punch. Then allow the hips to turn as well as the rear foot comes forward to become the lead foot. Don't worry about your stance. You will naturally end up in zenkutsu dachi, although it usually will not be the deep stance of most kata, but rather a short forward stance. You should not concentrate on the stance anyway. The important thing is to concentrate on delivering the fist to the target with full commitment, and just let the body and foot follow the blow.

    Some people theorize that the passing foot must be planted before the fist is delivered to maximize the blow's power. It may be that you can deliver a more powerful blow that way, although I have my doubts about that. However, all the power in the world is wasted if it cannot be brought to bear because your opponent knocked you out while you were stepping and before you could punch. In any case, I have seen guys knocked down and knocked out by step through punches delivered in true time as I have described.

    Before any flame wars begin over this, I suggest that you try this manner of executing the step through punch -- seriously try it.

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