how can i improve my punching power?

POWER in punching and kicking comes from a combination of technique, quickness and timing. Proper technique coupled with perfect timing and quickness equals POWER.

Quickness comes from a combination of perfect practice and a relaxed, but not sloppy delivery.

Proper technique and timing can only be learned through repetition. Practicing a particular motion over and over again imprints it in muscle memory, which results in a fighter that doesn't slow himself down by thinking. He simply reacts.

My suggestion is that you train your mind to think only about the result you want to achieve, namely, CONTACT. If you do this and you don't get your mind cluttered with all the thoughts of how you are going to get your fist or foot/shin from point "A" to point "B", you will increase you quickness and POWER dramatically.

Working the bag will definitely help improve POWER. The secret to punching the heavy bag to develop POWER is to NOT make the bag swing. If you punch the bag and it swings you are wasting energy, because you are pushing the bag. When you learn to punch the bag with full POWER and it makes a loud "POP", without swinging, then you will be punching correctly.

To increase your punching power, several things need to be addressed. Posture, alignment, center, relaxation and intent.

The elbow should drop the shoulder should sink and essentially the arm should hang loose between the shoulder and the fist. The shoulders and hips should maintain a relationship with one another wherein the shoulders sit on top of the hips. The fist should traingulate from the center line of the body back to the shoulder. The punch should be launched by pressing down with the lead foot into the ground while folding the body along the line at the top of the thigh ( the inguinal crease). The trajectory of the punch should maintain alighnment with the center of the body and not derail from that point as the torso turns. The fist should reach towards the body of the opponent as if chasing a bird-with the hips and shoulders following as opposed to the hips and shoulders pushing the fist. If the elbow remains dropped and shoulder connected to the torso, then a line from the fist through the torso to the foot into the ground is formed. If the shoulder is not raised and the fist is still in the center line, then the opponents reactive force can be received through your fist and bones, passively transmitting back the solidness of the earth through your fist. Any tensing of the muscles on impact will send the opponents reactive force back into your body.

When you strike, push through the solid foundation of your legs and focus all the force through the skeleton, each part rotating and giving its power from the bottom - to - upwards.

While you 'drive' the force through your legs, waist, hips - make sure the flow of it all travels through the spine and 'drive' the force even harder through the back and then the arms. All the while you 'drive' and push through the ground....

The key to any 'Drive' is to really get a 'feel' for 'guiding' the tip/edge of the strike by emptying your will, and becoming sensitive to an inch beyond the strikes target or more.

Another term would be 'relax' but often people miss something vital when they say 'relax', the muscles move more freely and they are loose, but...Not much added Power.

To Maximize Power the senses engage and the Personal-Will empties and travel just preceding the strike in space at a single point. That is where your most sensitive and subtle focus should be and this point can be sharpened later to a finer and finer foculization of power.

Even highly trained martial-artist can fall short in this. Funny these are the ones who trumpet most strongly either about the existance or the 'bah-humbuged' non-existence of Chi.

The mind works its best with a clear, relaxed, and focused state - this requires a 'sensitivity' that is beyond mere 'wham-bam' and/or 'Ohmmm...' used by people who plainly don't 'get it'.

Save as much of the final skeletal rotation until the very last moment and allow the spiral to 'unwind' into and through the target at impact. The alignment of the skeleton is vital. The elbow down allows for maximum force for the regular punch; other strikes possess their own 'optimal' form for power at the moment of impact.

You want to keep your elbow in tight. Punch in a straight line. Swing your hip into the punch. Hit with the first two knuckles of your hand because they have a stronger bone line. This will deliver a more powerful punch than a swing. Take some time and practice on the heavy bag.

ignore logo's last comment, DON'T swing; technique is crutial to a good punch

make sure first off you're not elevating your elbow because then you will be hitting with a bad part of your hand (your first two knuckles should hit, raising your elbow makes the third and fourth hit, the punch is weaker). and hand strength has much more to do with it than overall upper body strength, but i'm assuming you knew that. the bag should be good, and for the kicks just keep working on your flexibility... but honestly it's a lot more powerful and effective to just aim a kick at someone's knees or stomach than at their head

hope i helped at all... kinda feel like i didn't

The kind of bag you want is a heavy bag. It will train you to punch harder and build your endurance. You might also want to do a lot of weightlifting exercises such as benchpresses with heavy weights and multiple sets.

well... that will get you to get a feel of what it's gonna be like hitting a person. but i don't think anything about strength. if you want to add something, use the rest of your body and momentum but not something that gonna throw you off balance. more your hip rotation and try pulling the fist that's out toward you as momentum for the other fist waiting. if you're relaxed, the punch will come out stronger too.

I read an article years ago in Black Belt magazine about this very issue. To get to the point of the article the guy welded a couple of t's out of iron and did push ups gripping the t's. He called them iron crosses. You might want to research it to find out. Check the archives of Black Belt magazine circa 90-91.

here try this get a 16Oz boxing glove and a bag right then take some duck tape and get about a ten or five pound weight and tape it around your rists tightly thow the start punching or shodow boxing and your hit will get harder

to punch harder you need to strengthen your shoulders and arm muscles. i recommend a pair of barbels to do shoulder press, and an exercises called Nazis and a pair of weighted training gloves for when you do bag-work. some other good ones are key hole push ups, chair push ups, dips, lat pull-ups, and, if your able to, handstand push ups. (i can't do 'em)

these will all help to strengthen your muscles that you use when punching, so you'll strike faster and stronger. best of luck ^_~'