Different people have different opinions as to what the best fighting style is and as what the quickest way to end a fight is. And frankly in regards to the former there is no one single answer in regards to best fighting style, while the latter has a definite answer that will be explained below. Every fighting style that has a large following has good things about it. It has things that are beneficial in real fighting situations otherwise the martial style would have not lasted as long as it has. Any of the main schools of Western or Asian martial arts can be used effectively in a fight when done by the right fighter. However there are things that have been proven to be more effective in real fights time and time again.
Ask any bouncer or experienced street fighter how the average fight ends and they are going to tell you the same thing. Ask anyone who practices combat for the real world and they are going to give you a similar target. There are things that have been proven true over and over again throughout the world and have been taught to all fighters. The quickest way to end a fight is one of them.
The Quickest Way To End A Fight
The human body varies little from individual to individual in terms of structure. Every man’s neck is going to be more vulnerable than his shoulder and so on and so forth. The way that the vast majority of fights are ended and therefore something you should spend some considerable time training on is a punch to the head. Let me say that again a punch to head. Not a kick, elbow, knee, backfist, hammerfist, shuto, flying spinning monkey kick, or anything else but a simple punch to the head. A punch to the head has decided more fights than any other move out there.
Because of this it would make sense to insure that you are punching properly and with power. The punch though not sexy in terms of fighting is the most effective fighting move that there is. Hence why it decides most fights. Your hands are your two most deadliest weapons. Ever notice in UFC fights there is only one part that the contestants are required to cover up. It’s not the knees, elbows, or shins but the fists. There are a variety of reasons for this but one being the amount of damage that the fists can cause.
Punch To The Head
When you look at someones head that ideal place to punch is the chin. A proper punch to the chin gives you just about the highest chance of knocking someone out. However there is one problem with them. Well more than one but assuming you know how to punch, there is one primary one and that is damaging your fists. Many who have street experience recommend open handed blows precisely for this reason. An open handed blow allows you to generate power into the opponents head (specifically chin) enough to knock them out without as much potential for damaging your hand in the process.
Boxers run into this problem a lot. They are able to generate great knockout and damaging power with their hands but practice and fight using gloves so their hands never get accustom to hitting a hard surface. So many boxers end up breaking their hands when in a fight (though breaking a lot more in their opponent). This is not a good trade off. However I believe that there is a substitute for using the open handed blows. As great as the open handed blows are they are no replacement for the sheer power of a punch.
Hardening Of The Hands
The key is to practice using a style that allows your hands to build up to the force applying so that they can withstand the force when they make contact in an actual fight. You will need a heavy bag for this (as well as pretty much any other serious kind of martial training). Instead of wearing the traditional boxing gloves go down a level to the lighter MMA style gloves. Continue doing your power punches and everything else. After a bit then go down to work gloves, the leather ones that can be bought at any local hardware store. These are the type that I currently use and the type that the old bare knuckled brawlers used to use back in the day.
Cut off the fingers so that you can make a fist and get to work on the heavy bag. Doing this will allow your hands to build up to hitting a solid object with little to nothing between your hand and the object. As in a real fight the contact will most likely be skin on skin. Many Asian marital artists have developed extreme hardness in their bodies by hitting their shins or other body parts against hard objects over time. You can do the same thing with your hands so that when it comes down to fight you can throw powerful knockout punches without damaging your hand as much.
Summary
So remember the quickest way to end a fight is to throw a powerful punch to the head. However for most people they will end up injuring their hands because of improper punching technique and having soft hands. Even boxers can have soft hands if they never hit anything without the gloves. Never let the first time you hit something hard be in a real fight or you will be in for a world of trouble. Accustom your hand to hitting hard things and hitting hard things hard. Allow your knuckles to build up until they become like iron so you can safely channel the power you have developed.
It takes time but it is well worth it. Remember start out with lighter gloves then work your way down to work gloves. Work gloves allow you to build up your hands without tearing them to shreds on the bag. Hit the heavy bag hard, get accustomed to hitting a hard surface hard. This is incredibly important to developing knockout punching power. Remember to aim for the chin (or at least the head) as that is the quickest way to end a fight and get you out of trouble.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.
-Charles Sledge
there are at least 4 principles of combat that one should instill in their training . #1 balance. #2 body unity .#3 looseness .#4 sensitivity or pliability . charles i bow my head when it comes to your articles about how to handle women, making money , or self improvement . but if its one thing im “red pill’ aware of , its topics like this . maybe you know this, but its also possible to take a man out of the fight without using clench fist . in fact it can also work against a person trying to defend themselves against a larger attacker . a clench fist used in sport oriented combat can sometimes be a hindrance to a defender in an actual real word confrontation . the muscles involved when hands are clenched are antagonist muscles . to an untrained person its like being in a traffic jam, your foot being on the gas then off,you fight against your self!… you”ll be getting an email from me my friend on how i come to understand these things . later for now, much respect sir .
Very interesting Scarto would definitely like to hear more about this. I know open handed strikes can be very powerful especially for those with undeveloped knuckles however I have never used them so wouldn’t feel right speaking about them. I’ve heard about the antagonist before especially in relation to speed but haven’t applied it in training will have to look into this more.
Thanks for the link, Charles.
Speaking from my own experience, I cut my hands up bad when I started out practicing martial arts, but eventually my knuckles hardened.
This article has a lot of good advice.
Np Larsen, yeah my knuckles are still a little ragged from switching to work gloves over boxing gloves but they heal quickly and I can already start to feel the difference.
The reason ufc fighters are required to cover their fists is not cause its the two most deadliest weapons , its because its easy to break or hurt the hand therefore hitting a human skull a few times hard will start to bruise your own hand and you will naturally take some off of your punches and in a fighting competion you want the participants to fight hard and good , thats why they dont cover the knees or elbows cause they aint as tender as hands are , dude you think a punch is harder then a kick from a mma practitioner your crediability is shot
That’s a good point Caesar. Perhaps I worded that poorly but it’s not that I think that a punch has more power than a kick it’s the practicality of it. Never seen a kick work in a real fight. Then again that might just be because I’ve never seen a practiced kicker in a real fight.
But for the vast majority I’d say the fists are a much better option for powerful hitting.