White Man Fighting Tip 5

Generating power; the dip and the stretch shortening cycle.

Here's something no one has taught you about generating power, especially for punches. I attached a 1 min video of an amazing boxer. Naoya Inoue, "The Monster". I want you to observe before his big cross punch. He dips, then rises quickly as the cross is thrown. You'll see the same pattern with many big punchers, such as Canelo Alvarez and Ilia Topuria. Often for their powerful punches, they dip and then rise slightly as they punch.

They are taking advantage of the biomechanical phenomena called the stretch shortening cycle. It's similar to when you prepare to take a standing long jump you squat deeper before propelling yourself forward. Squatting is the preparatory stretch. Giving your muscles more potential energy for when they shorten rapidly. So by dipping (stretch) and then elevating (shorten) while throwing the punch, you give your body access to more energy and weight transfer as you throw the punch.

Dipping and rising alone can help add more power to a punch simply from weight transfer but if you combine them you get the weight transfer and extra elastic energy from the stretch shortening cycle. Test it out on the bag (or someone who deserves it, fuck it) and see for yourself.