Thoughts on a knockout

[black matt]

This article is about a devastating one punch knockout in a boxing match. I thought the quotations from the two boxers' were very telling.
The one who got knocked out stated:
"I heard the clap for the last 10 seconds of the round and I thought I'd just get out of here looking nice," said the heavyweight veteran of 35 fights. "The next thing I know, I'm in an ambulance."

The guy who knocked him out with one punch said:
"The hardest punches don't always feel that hard. I knew my form was perfect when I was throwing the left hook," Brock explained. "The punch felt sweet and fast. It went right through him. I didn't feel much impact."


Here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing ... id=2746735

[black matt]

Here's the video. A little warning: this is brutal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrM-NjjuBMQ

[Marko Kohv]

MMA knockouts HL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7fb0LA1mIQ

one thing that one notices then looking slow motion is that some of the knockouts happen then figther lowers his hands just for a second....

[black matt]

Certainly dropping the hands is perhaps the easiest way to open yourself up to a potential knockout blow, but some of these guys seem to have their hands up and get clocked anyway. In the first clip of Chuck Liddell(blue shorts, mohawk, 1:52) his opponent has his hands up but to me looks like he does not want to be there(I'm not sure I could blame him). As Liddell moves in to strike with a big right hand, he actually leaves himself wide open for a split second, but his opponent does probably the worst thing he could do, which is take a short step back, staying on the line, and not moving his head or his hands. The rest is basically a formality.
Liddell talks about "imposing his will" on his opponents, and I think that's a good example of it. He was obviously fighting his fight, in control, and his opponent was mentally not ready for it.

[Jerry Spencer Mings]

This article is about a devastating one punch knockout in a boxing match.<snip>
The guy who knocked him out with one punch said:
"The hardest punches don't always feel that hard. I knew my form was perfect when I was throwing the left hook," <snip>

The devistating power of a left hook (from a right handed fighter) comes from additive motion. The hand follows the hip.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the same principal found in the internal martial arts?

[black matt]

I think the way he describes the punch, as not feeling that hard and having perfect form, indicates very good body mechanics. If you watch the slow motion, he is definitely turning his whole body with the punch. However, I'm sure if you ask any decent fighter, "is it more effective to punch with just your arm or with your entire body?", they will tell you the latter. This is good mechanics, and does correspond somewhat with internal principles. If you think about two polar ways of using your body, one emphasizing power generated by the muscles in a localized area(external), and one emphasizing power generated by the entire body with an emphasis on the sinews and bones(internal), then maybe this particular punch is about in the middle of that spectrum, or perhaps leaning more toward the internal side. Although I think western boxing is almost always about who's quicker and stronger, you do sometimes see people who may not look very strong, but have tremendous power(and vice versa), and fighters who make the other guy just barely miss because they are listening to their opponent and not just concentrating on being the first to connect with a blow.

[yowie_steve]

Ive come close to being knocked out in the ring a few times, and at times my hands are up - but I was just unlucky in those cases where the punch went through the guard.

That small bit of bad luck over time is all the other guy needs however. I think my mistake in almost all the times I've copped really big hits are when I've been a bit flat footed or remained toe to toe with the duifang. As it seems with the boxer on the video who got knocked out.

I did notice when I began boxing I was quite tense and the hits to the head were really hard. When I loosened up and moved a bit more and "went with the punches", they tended to glance off and didn't hurt as much. .. except when you get unlucky of course.

Fang Song all the way.