Punches

In fighting and martial arts, a punch is a strike made using the hand closed into a fist. Punches vary in technique, speed, and range. The most forceful punches incorporate motion of the whole body: a short step, a shift of the body, a turn of the shoulders, and an extension of the arm. more...

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However, in some contexts this motion is not appropriate and the punch is a much more constrained motion. One example is the "one inch punch" from Wing Chun, which is intended for use at very close quarters against an opponent who is holding the practitioner. As the name suggests, it is a very short, sharp motion with seemingly minimal body motion. A skilled striker can be potentially lethal with their punches.

A forceful punch that lands wrongly or strikes the wrong target may damage the hand; for this reason padded gloves are worn in many sports that involve punching (such as boxing). When punches are practiced on a heavy punching bag, bag gloves are worn to protect the skin of the hand, and the hands are wrapped tightly to protect them from damage due to repetitive impacts.

The elbow should not be locked out at the extension of a punch. This weakens the punch and makes the elbow susceptible to be broken. In the long term, it wears the cartilage which can eventually lead to arthritis.

Many martial arts such as Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Wing Chun combine punches with kicks and other strikes, whereas boxing relies only on punches. Some martial arts, like wrestling, include no strikes at all.

Karate

Punching techniques in karate are called tsuki. Contact must be made with the knuckles (seiken). If any other part of the hand is used to strike with, such as the back of the fist (uraken) or the bottom of the fist (tetsui), then the blow is classified as a strike (uchi).

Boxing

In boxing, punches are classified according to the motion and direction of the strike; contact is always made with the knuckles.

There are 4 typical punches in boxing, the jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. Other kinds of punches can also be executed in boxing, such as the bolo punch, but the four punches listed above are the primary punches thrown in boxing matches.

The Guinness World Record for most punches in a minute is 548, set by Mick Fabar from Australia at the Aussie Stadium in Sydney on June 22, 2006. The record was previously 470 by Paddy Doyle, a boxer from the UK.

Wing Chun

Wing Chun practitioners punch with a vertical fist, or "sun fist". The impact is made with the bottom three knuckles, which keeps the wrist in proper alignment and reduces risk of injury to the wrist.

Wing Chun punches are always linear with the elbow pointed down. Wing chun practitioners believe that this makes the punch faster and structurally stronger, as the skeletal alignment is better than a horizontal punch.

Read more at Wikipedia.org