How can I keep from singing

15th May 2012

Link reblogged from halcyon, laudanum and opium with 10,167 notes

When throwing a punch: →

thnafu:

• Use the hand you write with.

• Make a fist with your thumb outside, not tucked inside. If it’s tucked inside your fist, when you punch someone, you might break your thumb. The thumb goes across your fingers, not on the side.

• Don’t be like in the movies—don’t aim for the face. Face punches don’t usually stop people, and you can miss when they duck their head or break your hand on their jaw. If you want to get away quickly, or end a fight, aim for the chest, or the ribs. If you really want to do some damage, e.g., you’re being attacked, aim for the throat, which will make it hard for your attacker to breathe for a hot minute.

• When you punch, you want to aim and hit with your first two knuckles. Not the flats of your fingers, and not your ring or pinky knuckles, which can break more easily. You can use your weight, if you’re on your feet, to add wallop, and spring into a punch with your feet and torso.

Good, but not good enough.

A few things this doesn’t mention:

Punch from your feet. If you’re standing with one foot forward (which you should be) start the energy in your back foot. The best analogy I’ve heard for the movement you should do is to pretend like you’re stepping out a cigarette with your back foot.

You don’t necessarily have to use your dominant hand. It’ll be stronger yes, but use whichever hand is closer to your target. A fast punch is a good punch.

Also, *do* aim for the face. As a friend of mine once told me “Everybody has a plan ‘till they get punched in the face.” Aim for the nose or jaw. The throat is good too. Don’t aim blindly for the chest. If you know where the solar plexus is, punch that. The stomach is good, but not best. Lots of muscle there protecting the mushy stuff. The chest is pretty useless. Ribs and muscle between you and the lungs. Unless you’re really strong, don’t bother with the chest.

Palm strikes are also good if you’re worried about damaging your fingers. Strike with the heel of your hand. Aiming for the chin or the bottom of the nose is best with a palm strike.

And whatever you do, don’t wind up. Punch straight from wherever your fist is. If you wind up, you giver your target time to react, which they should never have.

Shit… now I wanna do a self-defense post…

Tagged: punchthrowing a punchself defense

Source: thnafu