The Perfect Punch

The Perfect Punch 

Floyd Mayweather landing a hard right punch on Connor McGregor 

How do boxers and UFC fighters improve their punching power? Its all physics. Every fighter wants to be able to punch harder to allow them to dominate their opponent in the ring. Commonly, fighters will train and train but see little to no improvement. They will train for hours and days, using special techniques and some will even go as far as to take physical enhancement supplements. Little do most people know that the power behind the punch is all physics. 

Force = Mass x Acceleration

This basic physic equation is all it takes to land a more power punch on your opponent. By maximizing your body weight and the speed at which you can move will result in those deadly blows. 

Mass

By outputting more mass into a punch, the more force you will be able to generate. Driving your hips and legs through the ground will generate much more mass behind your punch because you are using your mass to drive your fist. Compared to only swinging you arm at a heavy punching bag, the force of the mass of you arm is much smaller. Utilizing your mass is a major component fighters use because of the significance and ability it has. This is why fighters are classified by weight class because a man that weighs 190 pounds, compared to someone that weighs 150 pounds, has much more mass and force behind their punch making it an unfair advantage. 

Acceleration 

The acceleration is the second major aspect of improving punch power. The maximum speed at which you can move your mass is what gives the power behind the punch. For example, when you are play fighting with a brother or friend you do not use your maximum speed, you go much slower and this results in a not so scary punch. Fighters do train to be faster because this is something that is trainable (up to a certain point). Adding speed to your punches comes from relaxing and loading. Your body is just like a spring, if you pull a spring back half way it will not have the same power as if you pull it back all the way. Loading up for your punch will increase your speed and inflict the most damage because the acceleration will be so high. 

In this video boxer Daniel Jacobs can be seen landing a scary right handed punch on his opponent Giovanni Lorenzo putting him to the ground. You can see the acceleration and force Jacobs put behind that punch while utilizing his mass by driving his hips forward. Landing the perfect punch is always thought of to be all about the form and technique used. However, the perfect punch is can be accomplished by having physics in your corner of the ring.

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Vong, Zymba. "Martial Life." The Science of Punching Harder: Why Is Speed More Important than Mass? (And Why Having the Force Won't Help You). N.p., n.d. Web.