Push before you punch

It is said that to punch effectively it is essential to be able to push first. Initially this is done on a static training partner. Place your fist on their body them push them. Exhale with the push so that the breath slightly proceeds the movement. This should be proportionate to the action (the sharper the push the sharper the breath).

We must take great care in this drill not to lean or over reach during the pushing action. This would cause us to draw too much support for the person we are hitting and effect our posture.

Learn to redirect and stop a person

Next we have to learn to use our strikes to redirect and stop our opponents movements. A good drill for this is to have them walk towards you in a straight line. Their job is simply to keep walking right through you if you do not either get out of the way or in the case of this drill stop their movement towards you.

As they come towards you honestly place your fist on their body and use a push to either redirect or arrest their advance towards you. This exercise can also be performed by combining the placement of the fist with your own movement out of the path of you training partner.

This can then lead onto a drill where you step out of the way as a gate opening before them. You then move back in hitting the opponent as if the gate has been slammed shut. With a little practice you can hit them in the back with one hand as you open the gate and in the front of their body with the closing movement.

The delivery of strikes

Some martial arts practice hitting punch bags and others the makiwara striking post. In Systema we learn to punch by hitting people. This is the most efficient method of learning what punches do to us. By hitting punch bags we will never get a feel for the depth or direction that we are able to add to the strike.

Start hitting externally. By this I mean hit to the skin and the outside layer of muscles that protect the body. This drill gives our training partner to practice taking strikes onto he body. Click here for an article that explains the process from that perspective.