It's All In The Hips

People who train in the martial arts realize that it's all in the hips. Well, mostly anyways. Your legs are your rooted connection to the strong Earth element, and tapping into that force, by gripping the ground, and using it to turn your body makes your punches, kicks, blocks, and other attacks stronger by atleast ten times.

Your punch in itself is powerful, even without hip rotation, but look at it this way. Imagine your hand as a chisel. If you strike something repeatedly with a chisel, you will eventually knock it loose, but it takes much more effort than if you use a hammer behind that chisel. Your hips are the concussive force that drives the chisel right to its' mark, making it more powerful, and more effective. Force = Mass x Acceleration. It's simple physics. A punch off of the shoulder has the mass of the arm and fist, and all of the acceleration that the pectoral and arm muscles can muster. Whereas, a punch coming from the ground up has the mass of the ENTIRE body behind it, plus the acceleration of the hips twisting forward, and the punch rocketing forward from its' chamber.

One of the first things you have to understand about hip rotation, is that you cannot and will not get a good hip swing until you have developed strength and stability in your lower body. After developing stability and strength in your lower body, the next step to achieving your full power is developing strength and stability in your core. The last, but not least important step is the strengthening of your arms and upper torso.

The last tip that I'll share for now is that without a proper stance, you won't be able to fully unlock the power of your hips. If your stance is too wide, too narrow, too deep, or too shallow, your hips will not become unlocked, and much of your power will be lost, and expelled in the wrong direction.

I hope you've found this article helpful. Until next time, have a blessed day.