one inch punch

i always thought bruce lee was the "1 inch punch" guy

Reminds me of this guy who was known to defeat opponents without touching them. He staged fights where people fell down before him. Then he offered a $5000 challenge that he could beat any mma fighter. Unlucky for him that someone took the challenge. lol

Joe Louis too.

Phew! Marciano. What a beast. Ali had a thing or two to say about him.

Thanks so much for posting the link. The article is so dead on accurate, I wanted to post it in it's entirety.

Enjoy....


"Here are some observations:
The kiai master was genuine in his belief that he was an unbeatable fighter. He was so certain that he put his money, health, and reputation publicly on the line. That is the genuine faith of a sure man.
The kiai master’s students were genuine in their belief that their master was a powerful fighter. Any one of them could have just kicked him in the gut to prove a point, to defeat their teacher in a fair match. Instead, they found themselves thrown to the mat without being touched.

There is some very interesting psychology going on here. It’s a fascinating exercise to put yourself into the shoes of those in the story. This is a textbook, real life case of the emperor’s new clothes - a mass delusion. Let’s go back to the dojo, before the kiai master was humiliated by defeat.


*****
Imagine you are the kiai master. You carry yourself with charisma and confidence. In a fight in your dojo, you spin your arms and your opponents tumble to the mat! You are unstoppable: you have seemingly magical abilities, and the evidence to prove it!

*****
Now imagine yourself as a student. You observe match after match where the kiai master defeats those around him without touching them! Finally, it is your turn to fight him, and you find yourself rolling on the mat just like everyone else. This kiai master is amazing!

*****
Finally, imagine yourself as a fresh onlooker. Are you convinced of these jedi-like powers? Can you see the bigger picture of what’s happening here? Is the emperor wearing clothes?



Take a minute and think about this situation. What would you say to the kiai master? What would you say to the students? What would you expect their replies to be? Remember that they have never seen the kiai master be defeated, and they can show you the videos of his magical abilities. How could you settle the difference of opinion? How could you dissent from the opinion of so many students? What arrogance, to suggest they are all deluded!

Suppose the kiai master invited you join his dojo and learn magical powers, for a reasonable fee? How would you respond?

As an aside, I’d like to mention an even more interesting aspect of the story. You would think that after the master’s humiliating defeat, the students would have left. But no, this didn’t happen. The students stayed on, found all manner of excuses for why the master was defeated, and continued to study the magical kiai powers. Their faith didn't waver, despite contrary evidence.

Now for the final reflection: think about what you’d say to the kiai students regarding their delusion. If they said the same kind of thing to you regarding one of your beliefs, could you give a better response than they can? I encourage you to seriously ponder this. Chances are, you and I both have some beliefs that aren’t true."

I keep wanting to post on this, because I have 38 years of serious Kung Fu training.
The ability to hit very hard over minimal distance is called Fa Jin in Chinese. It's all mechanical. Nothing mysterious, or mystical about it.

You create momentum in the center of your body, it transfers to the end of a limb, and you end up with a very powerful blow, without much apparent movement.

Great boxers know some of this. Muhammad Ali used it. It was obvious in his body movements. High end Tai Chi adepts have this ability. It uses momentum, not muscle.

An expert can lay the palm of their hand on a big man's chest, and drop him with almost no movement, and no distance between the palm and the "opponent's" body. The better you are, the less movement is seen.

To the uninitiated, it looks like magic. And some Kung Fu masters play on that. But the guy in this video? That's not what he's doing. He's delusional.

At one point, he may have had real skills, but he confused "students playing along"...with real skill. There is a huge amount of superstition and nonsense in Kung Fu. Less of that in Karate. None in MMA. None in Boxing.

Last night I watched 'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight' on HBO. It had archival footage of Ali in action. Again, a thing of beauty to watch.

I've never seen, in boxing or martial arts, the timing and snap on a punch like Ali could throw. There have been far tougher men, but a technician? Never have I seen his equal.

When he throws a jab, his body is doing 1,000 things, all to create immense force at the tip of that punch.