Sunday, July 22, 2012

Ballistic Punching

Recently I've been reading up and watching video of Systema, a Russian system that's becoming more popular in the West. I see a lot of similarity with things I do, incorporating some of the concepts I've learned over the years from Aikido and Tai Chi as well as Escrima. One is something Val Riazanov call "ballistic punching", a term I've used as well to describe the idea. It involves relaxation, not tension; more like firing a bullet than pushing a car. Extreme examples, but to get the idea ... Here's a simple example of how it works. Punch your fist into your opposite open palm. You can do it like a baseball player pounding the palm of his glove, just putting it in there so it sticks. Now keep doing this: stick, pull it out, repeatedly. Now throw one punch that's faster but not "harder" or deeper, just faster. Let it snap back on impact. Feel the difference in energy? There are specialty spark plugs that have capacitors. This takes the incoming electrical charge, stores it for a millisecond and then discharges it in a much shorter but more intense burst of energy, resulting in a hotter spark. Just another analogy.