Drastically improve striking: 15 simple tips

Master Kongling All, 6DKF techniques, Conditioning, Training striking 2

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Why improving our striking skills is crucial

Beyond the focus of each martial art (fighting on the ground, throws, etc.), if we need to fight in a real self-defense scenario (read What is the difference between real fights and combative sports), the primary technical sector to count on is and always remains striking (kicks, punches, elbow strikes, etc.): everything else is important but comes immediately after (read for example Ground fighting? Not good for self-defense).

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

A good practitioner should always first aim to (basically) learn to implement punches, kicks (etc.) to deepen only then all the rest (that remains fundamental naturally, read for example Ground fighting basics: a secret treasure).

The reason is that with a correct striking preparation, we automatically build a base of:

Dynamic balance (read The concept of Dynamic Equilibrium)
Stamina (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
Spatial intelligence (read The most important skill in combat)
Timing (read Timing: the secret of combat effectiveness)
Mobility (read Mobility, balance and direction change)
Body resistance (read Pain conditioning for combat [MINI-GUIDE])
…

All things that are more than crucial in any field of combat.

A note by Master Kongling – If it is true that in many self-defense fights (not in all) one ends up on the ground, it is equally true that this happens in 90% of cases after 1-2 punches (and in many cases, precisely because the people involved does not have adequate preparation to the type of confrontation we are going to address).

How to excel in striking: what we have to learn

A note by Master Kongling – Before continuing, two things need to be clarified: first, we are not saying that striking is in itself sufficient preparation (on the contrary, read How to learn to fight: all the steps); second, we are not saying that one should become an expert in striking before moving the first steps in the study of the other fields of fighting. What we mean is just to put a little more focus on this practice (both in training and in real dangerous situations, nothing more, nothing less).

To have a basic reference to our striking technique, let’s consider these explanations:

Striking: the most complete learning path

In 6 Dragons Kung Fu, these are the (ordered) phases to truly master striking (kicks, punches, knees, etc.):

Learn to control our center of gravity – Our guard stance must be solidly projected forward and downward (read How to rapidly learn Kung Fu: guard stance); our entire inertia (through our footwork) must always move with our blows; this way we avoid overreaching and we “constantly” preserve the necessary balance to strike effectively; an expert fighter can naturally do what he / she wants but a beginner must learn as soon as possible not to unnecessarily lean forward, backward or sideways
Learn how to push – Striking is not about pushing but if we learn to push well (with legs and arms), we discover how to hit in a precise, stable and effective way (also and especially exploiting the muscle chain, read Use the body power: the muscle chain); in fact, a good push hides within itself a solid, clean and correctly directed energy flow (and that is exactly what we need to interiorize); let’s train with people and objects governing our pushes through our breathing (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
Study the technique – Before damaging our muscle memory by trying to work on precision, power and speed, it is essential to master (at least at a basic level) the technique we are studying (read A scheme to quickly learn any kind of technique); the only way to do this is to try, fail and try again (read Measure ourselves with errors), taking care of every detail and above all clarifying our doubts through an expert instructor (we cannot afford to memorize incorrect movements, we won’t get rid of them easily, read also Is your instructor harming your martial growth?)
Learn to hit and return at the same speed – Everyone knows that hitting quickly is important but so is recovering a reactive guard position; of course, there are reasons why we could tactically decide to remain in extension but in 75% of cases, the most reasonable option is to return to the guard stance (from which we not only have defensive cover but we are able to start other attacks)
Learn to attack with elastic movements – Under normal conditions, the most effective way to strike (even if not the only) is the one that involves an explosive elastic whip movement; in particular, we should try to pursue a clean trajectory (free of vibrations) that belongs to a single uninterrupted flow (no fragmentations); the best way to do this is to hit liquidly, read how in The secrets of tactical combat interactions
Learn to limit the openings – Once we have reached a certain level of experience in fighting, our defense, combined with a developed ability to take blows, will be almost “impenetrable”; the only moments in which our vulnerable areas will truly be discovered / accessible will be precisely those in which we attack; attacking inevitably equates to uncovering oneself, we must therefore learn to limit as much as possible the times and spaces in which we are vulnerable (and where necessary, even partially limiting the quality of our techniques)
Learn to reach realistic targets – This is the most important step; we can train even for 20 years performing Kung Fu forms perfectly (read Are Karate’s Kata, Kung Fu’s form (etc.) useless?) but never become able to reach a real fighting target; the point is that “people become good at what they do and never what they don’t do”, it is for this reason that, in our school, we immediately teach to hit static targets (for the precision of technique) and moving targets (for practical effectiveness)
Learn to strike with precision – Power and speed are nothing if we do not have control over the attack trajectory and (above all) the contact with the target (in other words, in hitting with the right part of our body, the right part of the opponent’s body); how to train this? Simple, by opting for increasingly smaller targets (static and especially moving, read Basic tools: the Hanging Speedball); with extensive conditioning, the human body can achieve a level of near-surgical accuracy; in particular, with our training, we also teach not only to correct dynamically the trajectory but also the type of blow in relation to the micro-variations of the present context)
Learn to hit in sequence – As general indication, a good fighter should always use explorative blows to find weaknesses and openings, middle level blows to create a disruption and heavy blows to prevail, in other words, we should always try to hit in chained sequences; in terms of principle, the more we are able to compress our opponent’s action with uninterrupted attacks, the better (this of course unless we find ourselves facing a very solid defense risking to open our guard or wasting energy uselessly); outside a precise tactical decision, the best way to do this is to instinctively plan the subsequent strike while we are almost impacting with the current one
Learn to implement spatial intelligence and spatial memory – In 6 Dragons Kung Fu, we teach to memorize what happens in the scenario in a sort of mental tridimensional map in evolution with the idea of instinctively covering even what our eyes cannot directly see; combining this with good fighting experience and knowledge of the most common movement mechanics, we will gradually become able to “predict” (with a certain level of reliability) the position of the elements of the scenario (limbs, weapons, etc.) a few instants before they reach it; in many cases this could mean knowing where to attack / defend before the adversary will be there and therfore, before he / she will be ready to react (a big advantage)
Learn to master timing – Timing is the pace with wich we act in combat, if we become able to control ours and then to impose it on the adversary’s one, we will always be a move forward him / her (in fact, those who are out of time move late or early and are forced to continually interrupt their fight flow, thus losing defensive effectiveness, energy, attack opportunities, etc.); the path is become able to feel our timing, then to make it constant, then to alter it abruptly and finally to put it in contrast with the opponents’ one
Learn to strike quickly – Arrived here, we must train to develop speed (and the necessary stamina to keep it constant) but always maintaining precision as primary parameter; what is the best way to develop speed? Simple, move quickly, weight work must be done but from the perspective of functional development, it is certainly secondary (those who think that lifting weights is enough are just conditioning themselves to be slow, read also Training in negative)
Learn to hit with power – Learning to hit hard is (and must be) the last phase of a high-level preparation; before thinking about muscular strength, however, it must be clarified that most of the difference is given by the correct implementation of the muscle chain and the ability to release our energy into the opponent’s body (read How to release the maximum power of a punch or a kick); the final refinement is the physical development of the body parts involved but that is a delicate step that must never interfere with tactics, precision and speed of attack
Learn to hide our intentions – This is an pro-level capability that requires a lot of practice, on one side it means to not telegraph our moves and on the other, to bring deception in the real time context of combat; in short, it’s all about learning to use trajectories, positions, timing and methodologies capable of disguise the opponent (starting our attacks from outside his / her field of vision, creating realistic feints, avoiding loadings, etc.)
Learn to land knock out blows – After deeply learning how to hit, we need to start specializing ourselves in reaching the most vulnerable points of the human body (particularly those that cannot be strengthened); let’s be clear, it is not about aiming to always and only hit these areas (usually well protected, if the opponent is not a novice) but about knowing what to do at the moment the right opportunity presents itself

The final step is the most difficult: translating all of this (prepared in simulated situations, read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///) into cases of real application, whether sporting or self-defense (read The 6 types of martial clash).

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu exercises – The basic coditioning to build real combat skills
Advanced speed and reflexes training – A guided path to build and improve our combat speed
Breathing methods and exercises – How to exploit lungs to build / economize energies and more
How to develop a good timing – A video course specifically dedicated to timing mastering
Basic free hand fighting techniques – All the fundamental fighitng techniques of 6 Dragons kung Fu
Iron body: the development path – How to develop an advanced level body resistance
How to use feints in combat – An advanced study of decepition in the real time of combat

In-depth articles

7 principles to become a better fighter – A few crucial tips on how to dramatically improve
All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu – The core aspects our schoold focuses on

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How would you rate your current striking preparation?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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