How to Coil
To punch hard while moving we must use body mechanics that create rotational power. The way that I like to describe it is to coil and uncoil.
Coiling is something that we all do when we throw a ball. You pull back your throwing arm as you shift your weight back. You may or may not be aware of the rotation or coiling happening in the rest of your body as you do that. Your lead heel comes up, your rear heel goes down. You rotate away from the direction that you are about to throw the ball (towards the arm with the ball.) Your knees rotate back, so does your pelvis, and so does your chest and shoulders.
That is coiling. It is like pulling a bowstring back to fire an arrow. Load the bowstring = explosive power.
So when you uncoil you just reverse all of those motions and then let the ball go.
Here is a simplified coil for a rear-hand cross (or rear straight) punch.
Here is the completion of the punch
You can see it is just the opposite of the original coil position.
Also of note is that from this finished punch position you will now be coiled in the opposite direction of your original coil. That means that you are coiled to hit with your front punch.
So essentially at the completion of a punch the body should be coiled for the opposite arm to punch. So now you can go back and forth generating power from punch to punch by simply utilizing the natural coiling system of the body.
Brilliant!
Now we just need to learn to move while coiling.
Coiling & Moving with a Hop
So if you can do this coiling motion then can you add a slight hop to it? Literally let your feet come barely off the ground as you uncoil in mid air.
Practice coil hopping from punch to punch, rear punch to front hand punch.
Ok cool… so do you think you could hop forward as you do your coiling mechanics?
What about backwards? Sideways? All 4 diagonals?
Never practice standing still while punching ever again. You now have a template that allows you to move while hitting with power.
Forward, backward, left, right, all 4 diagonals, and rotation…
For rotation you will quickly find out that you can rotate toward the direction you are uncoiling but not the other direction.
So if you are coiled to your right to hit with a right punch you will be uncoiling to the left. You can easily rotate to your left with that coil & hop. But not so much to the right. The more you play around with this the more apparent it becomes.
Conclusion
You can coil & hop with any punch in any direction, even rotation (except one rotation that I explain in the video.)
This makes a great hybrid footwork / punching power drill that if done regularly will turn you into a force to be reckoned with.
Go get your reps and become a warrior.
Brian
