Faster Punches Right Now
Reprinted from an Issue of Martial Arts Mastery …
Between Five and Ten Fast Punches, Immediately!
by Keith Pascal
For this exercise to work, you have to play along.
Don’t worry, it won’t take you any more than two seconds to participate (Ooh, “participate.” What a nasty word.)
I’m assuming you have seen at least one Bruce Lee movie. Yes?
So, when I talk about Straight Blasts (a barrage of fast punches with hands alternating), you know of what I speak.
Right now, before we go any further into this article, I want you to stand up and execute a Straight Blast.
I’m serious.
Straight Blast Punches, Bruce Lee Style
Yes, I actually want you to stand up and fire off a super-fast series of between five and ten punches.
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
If you can’t stand, then whip off those punches in your chair, right now.
I mean now.
Go ahead …
I’ll wait.
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Did you perform a straight blast?
No fair continuing the article until you actually do the punches. Go ahead … don’t just read the article.
Do the punches!
This is your last chance. If you haven’t done them yet, do them now.
Please.
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Did you do them? Be honest with yourself.
Now, let’s move on….
Each time you punched forward, the opposite hand retracted, right?
And if you’re a precision martial artist, the retracting fist stopped at almost the same spot each and every time. Agreed?
So, where does your fist pause in preparation for the next punch?
Does is rest at the side of your body?
(If so, then that’s not really a straight blast. It’s going back too far.)
Does your receding fist pause at the shoulder? The elbow?
Oh, and by the way … that pause better be so short that it’s not even a pause.
It’s simply the closest point to your body that the hand comes back to before shooting out again.
Okay …
for today’s article, I want you to shorten the retraction distance.
I don’t care by how much, as long as the Straight Blast pattern is smaller.
For example, if the total difference between full extension and retraction were 18”, then maybe you’d make the new pattern (super-narrow ellipse?
Or even tighter.) … hmm … 16” or 14”.
Now, if you have the oomph, practice one more series of a Straight Blast, but this time with the shorter distance.
Does it feel awkward?
It should … at least a little. If it doesn’t, then shorten it some more.
Now, in the future, your goal will be to make your shorter Straight Blast feel comfortable and deliver the same
power as your old set of punches from the longer distance.
Why?
Because you’ll have a faster set of speed punches!
And now ….
Let me share a secret with you.
Yes, it’s a real secret …
This article had nothing to do with Straight Blasts and creating fast punches … although that is the end result.
What this article was really about was …
MOTIVATION (Martial Arts Motivation)
Let me ask you — did you do the punches?
Did you actually fire them off, or did you just read along?
Be honest.
If you gave me “a whole” two seconds of your time, then there is hope for you to become a highly-skilled martial artist.
You have the drive … call it a Pascal Prediction.
If you didn’t, then you probably fall into one of three categories:
* There is no hope for you. You lack the motivation to improve in practical martial arts. (To become a master, you have to practice more than the few classes you take each week.)
* You’re already a master martial artist … and you saw where this was going. No need to participate; you thought the article was “cute.”
* You think you’re more skilled than you are. (Enough said. Go ahead … if you feel I have “offended your Shaolin Temple” … unsubscribe.)
And there you have it.
This “was” a set-up for a martial arts cartoon I made … and a darn good way to improve your punches. 😉
