Everybody wants to hit harder. Most people try to do it by tensing up, swinging bigger and trying to muscle the punch. That rarely works. In this video lesson I look at simple principles that increase your striking power, and the key word is principles.

You do not need to change your style to use them. Learn them, train them, drill them, and add them to whatever you are currently doing, whether that is boxing, karate, kickboxing or self-defence.

Principles, Not Tricks

A technique is one specific movement. A principle is the reason a movement works. If you learn a principle properly, it improves every punch, kick and strike you throw. That is why I teach principles first.

Power comes from the body, not the arm. The arm is the delivery system. The legs, hips and torso are where the force is made. When those work together in the right order, a relaxed punch lands far harder than a tense one.

What Kills Your Power

Most lack of power comes from a few common problems:

  • Tension: a tight arm is a slow arm, and a slow arm hits softly
  • Arm punching: throwing from the shoulder with no hip or leg drive
  • Poor alignment: the wrist, elbow and shoulder not lined up behind the fist
  • Hitting the surface: stopping at the target instead of driving through it
  • Bad balance: you cannot push force into something if you are falling over

Fix those and your power goes up, often straight away.

How To Train For Power

Power is a skill. Train it like one:

  • Start slow and get the body moving in the right order
  • Stay relaxed until the moment of impact
  • Use the heavy bag to feel the punch land and drive through
  • Use the pads to sharpen timing, because a punch that lands on time feels much harder
  • Keep the reps clean; once your form breaks down, stop

Above all, be patient. Power built on good mechanics keeps improving for years. Power built on tension stalls very quickly.

A Word On Safety

Hard punches hurt people. Use your power on bags and pads. When you spar, work with control and with a partner you trust, wearing proper gear. Outside the gym, the law only allows reasonable force, and the best fight is the one you avoid.

Take It Further

If striking power is what you are after, Power Black is built around exactly that. For the boxing basics that power has to sit on, my Learn To Box Online Course takes you through them step by step.