Monday, August 21, 2006

More science talk

I have mentioned earlier this upcoming TV-special as something that should be very interesting to see! I hope this thing will be on the air over here in Europe too!

There is however at least one thing to be aware of in finding out, say which punch is the "hardest" (boxer versus, say a karateka).

To be 100% sure you would need to know that the boxer had the exact same weight as the karateka, and that the punch traveled at the same speed as the karate punch.

When this is said, it should come as no surprise that a boxer punches hardest in the experiments done here. The same has been done ("proven") before.

We may conclude then, that there is very little scientific evidence for keeping your hands at the waist rather than higher up (at face level). There is on the other hand lots of evidence supporting the advantages of holding your guard up - protecting your face/head being one!

The only reason for dropping your guard must be to have a straighter line to the target (body), in order to score points in a (kumite) karate match.

Story:
For the upcoming television special called Fight Science, researchers used high-tech equipment to put real martial artists to the test. The feature will air on August 20 on the National Geographic Channel.

The action took place inside a specially designed film studio that is part laboratory and part dojo, a school for training in the various arts of self-defense.

The result is an unprecedented look at how martial artists generate the power and speed behind each move.

The researchers were surprised to find that boxing is the fighting style capable of delivering the most force in a single punch.

Boxer Steve Petramale delivered about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of impact force, the equivalent of swinging a sledgehammer into someone's face.

Source

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