I thought this one was settled more or less, but I recently read an article in MASTERS OF KARATE magazine written by someone who apparently has a PHd regarding “the Biomechanics of the Short Punch.” He explains that if one were to punch someone, the should use the sharp “kareteka” punch (that is, the time that the fist and target are connected is minimal, the instant contact is made, the fist is drawn back) rather than the “boxing” version (that is, follow through). The reasoning he gives is that the punch will produce much more force if the amount of time the two surfaces are in contact is minimal (at one point he mentions that this will cause more tissue damage) and if someone throws a “boxing-style” punch (again, follow-through), the deceleration of the fist is much slower and thus dissapates force, making the punch less damaging (but he admits that this will cause more knockout punches). Now that I think about it, my instructors made similar statements, but regarding kicks.
Now, I’ve gone through some papers I’ve found on the internet that generally agree that the optimal time (perhaps that’s a poor choice of words) to make contact is when the arm is 70% extended, but I don’t recall any of them mentioning the time of contact.
It seems to me that the rate of deceleration would be equal in both cases, but if one were planning on “flicking” the punch, they would actually start decelerating earlier in order to bring the punch back. I know from a tactical standpoint, each type of punch has it’s place (i.e. jab and cross respectively), but is this guy correct in his ascertation? How would punching “through” something cause less damage than only briefly making contact.
I think it has to do more with how force is transferred to the target, and thus how it flows through the target. Follow through compresses the target tissue, effectively spreading the force out across a greater volume of tissue. Without the compression connecting adjacent tissues and allowing a transfer of force, all the force disipates in the smaller volume of tissue contacted.
The only advantage to follow through, that I can see, is when there’s something deep to which you wish to apply force- abdomen hits and the like. There are deep tissue strikes, however, and they too have the quick withdrawal you’re asking about.
I think it has more to do with the fact that follow through, if you miss, tends to put you off balance and leaves you open to your opponent… it’s more about maintaining control than any inherent superiority to either hitting style as far as material physics are concerned.
You’re talking about two different things. I read a quick snap as what happens before the punch and follow through what happens after. If you pull your punch after you hit you aren’t putting all the kinetic energy into the target.
No- if you hit somebody and they roll with the punch or are knocked down by it your speed will never reach zero, at least not until you deliberately pull back.
The “equal and opposite reaction” in this case is both the deceleration of your fist AND the dissipation of energy by turning it into sound, heat, and such.
If you were punching another fist of the same size and weight as yours moving in the exact opposite vector your fist would decelerate to zero on contact.