ARTICLE
Bio mechanics of boxing
The punch that changed my perspective
I have been boxing for over a year now and competed in two club-level matches. Looking back, my boxing journey is filled with countless drills, exercises and sparring sessions. I have had the opportunity to spar with boxers of different levels and weight categories.
During my initial days of training, I had the chance to spar with a professional boxer and that session changed my perspective of boxing. To give you some context I am a well-built individual standing at 6.3 ft and weighing around a 100 kilos. Naturally, I punch with high force and often spar with similar weight class individuals. I've taken punches during these sessions and hence have a good measure of force behind punches of different weight class. When I sparred with the professional who weighed just over half my weight, I got hit multiple times and the impact felt comparable to punches I'd experienced from much heavier boxers. I was stunned by this experience and this forced me to look at the sport from a bio mechanics lens.
Power generation beyond muscular strength
An average persons’ CNS develops self defence mechanisms from a young age. When instructed to throw a punch, he / she will naturally swing their arm in the direction of the bag. Most of this force is comes from the Pectoralis major (Chest) and Anterior deltoid (Shoulder). In many cases, after striking, body loses balance and make them vunerable if the punch was missed. While one could argue that to hit the bag with higher impact you need more raw strength, it is only half the equation.
For an ideal strike, momentum is initially generated from the foot, using force against the ground to rotate the hips which leads to the upper trunk rotation using obliques. During this acceleration, one should stretch their arm and further accelerate the wrist. If the target is within range, the wrist reaches highest velocity right at the time of impact, transferring most of the momentum to the target, which results in a powerful strike.
A powerful strike is actually a kinetic chain where muscles involved from the foot to trunk to shoulder to wrist work together to generate as much momentum as possible towards a single force vector.
Professional athletes teach their CNS this movement with years of practice, to the point where throwing a punch naturally follows this movement, even under pressure during matches.
Center of gravity and balance
As mentioned in the above section, poorly controlled punch, especially with a lot of momentum, compromises balance & stance recovery . During training sessions, coaches teach you striking and defence techniques aimed at performing while keeping the balance intact. Boxing is an unforgiving sport, when there is an opening, an opponent will strike and score. Hence constantly adjusting your centre of gravity and keeping it under control throughout the fight is crucial.
Evasion and counterattacking
In boxing, when you evade a strike you catch your opponent open without a guard, it presents an opportunity to strike and score points. However during evasion if the balance is out of place, one will not be able to strike back immediately. Even if you manage, the strike will not be powerful.
The same way CNS is trained from a young age to strike in a certain way, it is also responsible to evade physical threats. While evading and defending techniques may look easy and to perform, under pressure, the nervous system switch back to what it knows and works. Professional athletes train years to master these techniques and make it a muscle memory to move and dodge strategically.
Energy management and fatigue during matches
Boxing is both aerobic and anaerobic workout. It requires explosive movement for a sustained period.
When the body is fatigued, decision making slows down and the body slowly and can make movements harder to execute consistently. During my first match I experienced it first hand, when body closes towards the limit, decision making takes longer. One cannot think it the situation and relies completely of reflexes and motor learning.
When we compare amateur boxer with professional boxer, it can be observed that the professional boxer avoids unnecessary movements to conserve energy and only opt to move when necessary .
Conclusion
While raw muscular strength can impact ability to box and fight, technique and practice matters more. At the end of the day boxing and other forms of martial arts are not just about hitting but a coordinated performance of nervous system, muscles, joints and the environment.
Personally, I appreciate the sport and how it has helped me understand my body and its limits. I still have a lot to learn from the sport but I urge you to experience the sport at least once in life.