Power, in the Martial Arts, especially martial arts like Tae Kwon Do or Gung Fu is often measured by how hard you can hit. Thus, people strike the punching bag and the Makiwara, and they do push ups to strengthen their arms, and…and they are doing it all wrong. You see, there is one critical factor that they don’t understand, and so all their push ups and punches are having less effect than they would wish.

I want to make a point here…and I can only do that by asking you one specific question. Where, during your punch, do your arms bear the most weight? The answer is obvious, they bear it at the end of the punch, when the arm is nearly extended.

So why do you need to work your arm across the whole range of motion? Being strong at the beginning or middle of the push up is not where you need the strength. Concentrating your work out through the whole range of motion of the arm is not putting energy into the impact part of the punch where you need it.

So, when you do a work out, make it gentle and general, and build up your body and your arms as a whole unit, then concentrate your efforts on the end of the punch where you need it. This is easy to do, you can do it for just about any exercise in existence. All you have to do the motion of the exercise where the arm is nearly extended, and concentrate your training on that part of the exercise.

Let’s say you’re doing a push up. Do the push up until your arms are nearly extended, then do go to town. Do as many six inch push ups with the arms nearly extended, as you can, fast, concentrating on keeping your belly tight.

Here’s the trick, you need to concentrate the work out, and feel the strength, in your shoulders. When you punch, you see the jolt of impact is going to go up your arms and into the shoulders. Thus, it is the shoulders that must become dense and strong, it is the shoulders, as focused on by the last six inches of the push up, that must be built up.

For a good punch you need thick and dense shoulders, so perform the six inch push up I have detailed here, and do it throughout the day, until the muscles of the shoulders become as dense and enduring as the leg muscles of a marathon runner. It’s odd that people have never thought of what I am telling you here, and I scratch my head at it. I suppose the problem is that people are taught how to exercise in one manner, and never actually look at the exact goal they are trying to accomplish.

So do those ‘long arm 6 inch push ups like they are going out of style. Do them and put your awareness in your shoulders, letting your shoulders lightly bulk and become immensely dense. This is the way you develop a punch that is stronger than the next fellows, this is how you create the most powerful punch in the universe.

Al Case, The Doctor of the Punch, has studied martial arts 4O years. If you want the straight goods on how to build the most powerful punch in the world, pay him a visit at Punch ‘Em Out.