Almost all of us can generate enough power to knock someone out if we have enough room and time to swing like a mad man. Knocking someone out from up close is a different matter altogether. That takes skill and training. This video lesson details how you can do it and the best training methods to get there.

It is for boxers, martial artists and anyone interested in self-defence, because up close is exactly where most real confrontations happen.

Why Close Range Is Different

With distance, you can build speed over a long path. Up close, that path disappears. You might have a few centimetres to work with. If your power only comes from your arm, you have nothing left.

So close range power has to come from somewhere else: the ground, the legs, the hips and the core. The body produces the force and the hand delivers it. When people learn this properly they are often surprised how hard a short shot can be.

What To Focus On

  • Short and relaxed. Tension kills speed, and at close range speed is everything.
  • Body first. Turn the hips and drop the weight. Let the hand come along with the body.
  • Hit through. Aim behind the target, so you do not stop on the surface.
  • No wind-up. At this range, pulling back gives the other person time to react.

How To Train It

Training methods matter here, because close range power is easy to fake. Good ways to build it include:

  1. Working the heavy bag with your forehead or shoulder almost touching it, so you cannot cheat with distance
  2. Short pad work with the pad holder standing very close
  3. Shadow boxing with the elbow kept close to the body throughout

Start slowly and focus on the feeling of the body driving the punch. Add speed only when the mechanics are clean.

A knockout is serious, and can be dangerous. In partner work keep power low, use proper protection, and work with control and a cooperative partner.

Take It Further

My Learn To Box Online Course builds these mechanics from the ground up. For short-range striking power without size or a big wind-up, look at Power Black.