Questions on momentum generation

Question

There are a few components of momentum generation in strikes that I find difficult to understand, and it is hard to find out via trial and error since I do not have a sparring partner or a heavy bag.

1. Some instructions of strikes emphasize utilization of body weight. In strikes such as the brachial stun, are there any ways to actually "use body weight" since it is impossible to "fall on" the opponent?

2. I have seen a lot of tutorials that include rotation of the torso during the strike, but I find it complex and hard to understand in improvised strikes, such as a downward elbow strike to the head / collarbone. Are there simple instructions I can follow to find the right way to do it?

As I have mentioned above, I do not own a heavy bag, so how should I practise generating momentum and power so that it would actually work on an opponent?

Answer 1

This is a genuinely difficult problem that is central to striking martial arts.

1. Essentially the idea is to generate momentum in the body using the legs and hips transfer it into the arm. So the large momentum (which is equal to velocity times mass) transfers to a smaller mass and hence a larger velocity as momentum is conserved. So your 'body weight' or perhaps better 'torso momentum' is behind a punch if you have transferred the momentum from your body to your arm.

I could explain in detail the equations involved but I don't think they would help. After all you could understand all the equations and still not be able to do the movement. And most good martial artists don't know the equations.

This is why martial arts are best thought of as an aural tradition. You have to learn the movement from a teacher who can observe and correct your movements. Eventually you can do the technique as well as they can (or as well as they could when they were younger).

You can't learn this well from videos because of the lack of feedback.

Note that different styles do this slightly differently. I recomend looking at boxing form for this as they tend to have a fairly intuitive way of striking as opposed to say karate which is actually fairly stylized. That said, learn from a teacher and do it their way. No point trying to create your own punching style before you know the basics.

2. Probably best not to get hung up on this particular strike. It's not used much in most styles as it's very short range. That said the elbow is still on the side of the body, it's still part of the arm and the 'full body' twisting movement still applies.