Climb-up wrote:
I think Tim Cartmell says Dempsey’s book is the best Xingyi manual ever written!
...I’m not super interested in Xingyi, but that caught my attention and made we want to check out the book! I remember reading his instructions on the jab along time ago and thinking it was really good.
Yes, that was Cartmell. It's maybe not totally XY-ish, but Dempsey's clear, precise instructions are gold.
From
Championship Fighting Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense by Jack Dempsey
"At any rate, I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT SELF-DEFENSE IS BEING TAUGHT WRONG NEARLY EVERYWHERE, FOR THE FOLLOWING MAJOR REASONS:
1. Beginners are not grounded in the four principal methods of putting the body-weight into fast motion: (a) FALLING STEP, (b) LEG SPRING, (c) SHOULDER WHIRL, (d) UPWARD SURGE.
2. The extremely important POWER LINE in punching seems to have been forgotten.
....
4. Explosive straight punching has become almost a lost art because instructors place so much emphasis on shoulder whirl that beginners are taught wrongfully to punch straight 'without stepping whenever possible.
5. Failure to teach the FALLING STEP ("trigger step") for straight punching has resulted in the LEFT JAB being used generally as a light, auxiliary weapon for making openings and "setting up," instead of as a stunning blow.
....
Best of all the punches is the "stepping straight jolt," delivered with either fist from the "falling step." It has fall, spring and whirl.
That stepping jolt must not be confused with the "ordinary straight punch" that is delivered at medium range without moving the feet, and that depends almost entirely on shoulder whirl. The stepping jolt is a much more explosive blow.
when you feel comfortable and relaxed-suddenly do the falling step toward the bag (Figure 13A), and as you step, make the following moves:
1. Shoot your loose, half-opened left hand straight along the power line at a chin-high spot on the bag.
2. But, as the relaxed left hand speeds toward the bag, suddenly close the hand with a convulsive, grabbing snap. Close it with such a terrific grab that when the second knuckle of the upright fist smashes into the bag, the fist and the arm and the shoulder will be "frozen" steel-hard by the terrific grabbing tension.
That convulsive, freezing grab is the explosion.
Try that long left jolt three or four times. Make certain each time that (1) you are completely relaxed before you step; (2) that your relaxed LEFT hand, in normal guarding position, is only half-closed; (3) that you make no preliminary movement with either your feet or your left hand. Do not draw back-or "cock"-the relaxed left hand in a preparatory movement that you hope will give the punch more zing. Don't do that! You'll not only telegraph the blow, but you'll slow up and weaken the punch.
The book
Jack Dempsey's Championship Fighting... also has a chapter on footwork that would be a suitable read for this topic. Here's the whole book in PDF-format. Just download and keep it:
https://newschoolsinger.com/wp-content/ ... ting-1.pdf