They call boxing the sweet science. The feints, the fancy footwork, the hooks, jabs and uppercuts that flow in succession with dazzling speed and precision. It’s a beautiful thing, no doubt about it. But let’s face it, what’s best isn’t the science of the sport, it’s the art of the knockout. Nothing jacks the crowd more than a thundering punch that suddenly ends a fight!
Probably the best knockout puncher in the history of boxing would be Rocky Marciano. Marciano was world heavyweight champion from 1952 to 1956, and remained undefeated throughout his entire professional career. Even more remarkable was Marciano’s 88% knockout rate, better than George Foreman (87%), Joe Frazier (84%) or Jack Dempsey (79%). He was 187 lbs soaking wet, but threw a harder, heavier punch than pro boxers 50 lbs bigger. Said Joe Louis, “The Rock didn’t know too much about the boxing book, but it wasn’t a book he hit me with. It was a whole library of bone crushers!”
So what was it that gave Rocky Marciano that fearsome knockout punch, and how can you get one too, for when your forced to defend yourself and your loved ones? Zero to Superhero has six tips to improving your punching power.
- Apply plyometrics to your workout regimen. Plyometric exercises like passing a medicine ball, sprinting, ballistic pushups and skipping develop fast-twitch muscle fibres, and more fast-twitch muscle fibres translate to more explosive power.
- Lift weights, and do multi-joint, compound exercises that build true power. The best of ‘em are squats and deadlifts.
- Go full-on with a punching bag, punching as hard as you can for as long as you can, and do it bare handed. One thing my karate teacher taught me was to do push ups with clenched fists (not open palms) on pavement or other hard surfaces. “If you don’t”, he said, “then don’t bother throwing a punch. You’ll only hurt yourself”.
- Plant your feet flat on the ground, using the ground for traction and leverage when you throw a punch. You want to be firmly rooted to the ground so you can swivel-hip all your weight - not just your arms and shoulders - into the punch. “You’ve got to sit down on the punch” I’ve heard boxing commentator Spider Jones say. Indeed.
- Inhale on the load up, and exhale when striking. This method is used in martial arts as well as boxing, and is known as a kihap. Martial artists often follow up the strike with a yell, which has a psychologically jarring element as well, and may buy you time to escape if you need to.
- Don’t punch at the object, visualize your fist punching through the object. This one tip alone has made an incredible improvement in my striking power (not that I go around slugging people or anything).
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