Bodyweight

The focus pads and the heavy bags are some of the most valuable tools we train with as strikers.  There are many ideas we can toss around (and in fact, we’ll do that here in just a moment) but in the end, we need to be able to apply those ideas in the form of punches, kicks, elbows and whatever else we plan on hitting with.  Thus the importance of the pads – they give us something to hit.

Moving away from the obvious to the theoretical, it would be best if when hitting we applied as much of our body weight as possible.  Sounds easy enough and it is when standing still punching into a stationary target.  When movement creeps in, things get difficult.  When strikes are thrown back at you, things get even more challenging.  Thus, like all martial drills, this one can be tailored to help the student where ever they are at.  If they are still learning basic body mechanic, then stationary is the game to bring them up.  If they’ve got a solid base, then movement and counter strikes can help bring their skill set to the next level.