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The Punch Papers
A Book Review by Phil Elmore
Since the first primitive human balled up his fist and smashed it into his
fellow primate, the punch has been the most basic component of the martial arts.
The use of one’s hands is instinctive, and for most people comes much more
easily than the use of the feet (or the elbows or the knees, among our natural
weapons).
When Keith Pascal sent me a PDF “e-book” copy of his The Punch
Papers, a revised and expanded version of an earlier text, I tore into it
eagerly. Punching is a subject that is of great interest to me, as it
should be to just about any martial artist. So just how does one get the
most from one’s punches? How does one develop power, speed, and accuracy?
The answers are here for the reading.
I have to admit that the more I read of Keith Pascal’s work, the more I am
amazed at the amount of information that must be trapped inside his brain just
waiting to come out. I have been fortunate enough in my own training to
find a knowledgeable teacher who offers many insights on what I am doing wrong
so that I can eliminate these mistakes and improve. As I read
Keith’s texts, he invariably touches on the same ideas when covering topics my
own teacher and I have discussed. So, nodding my head as I turn each page,
I think to myself, “Just how much is up there in his head,
anyway?”
In his usual low-key, conversational style, Keith moves cheerfully from topic
to topic, occasionally pausing for his trademark hyperbolic sales plugs (I have
to admit that while I disliked these at first, they started to grow on me once I
got to know Keith through his writing). The Punch Papers revised
edition is also fairly interactive, in that it incorporates questions and
feedback from readers of Keith’s e-mail list.
The tips, suggestions, and training guidelines offered range from the fairly
self-evident (vertical punches are more powerful than horizontal punches;
chambering your punches is a fairly foolish thing to do) to the intriguing
(practice holding your punches against an immovable object for a count of ten —
and see how this effects them in sparring) to the practical (mount sand bags on
your wall at different heights to practice your punching technique at different
levels). Keith cautions against getting bogged down in lengthy lists of
specific techniques, speaks on the concept of “ki” or “chi”
(without getting overly mystical or religious), and draws many connections and
comparisons between boxing and the martial arts.
One of the things I like best about Keith’s e-books are the number of
ingenious training tips they contain. The Punch Papers is no
different; it contains numerous anecdotes and suggestions for training
exercises students and teachers can perform to assist them in achieving their
goals — quickly, intuitively, and sometimes with surprising ease. There
is, of course, a distinct Jeet Kune Do flavor to much of what Keith relates, as
this is his focus — but the information he offers is useful to martial artists
of all styles, provided they are not too tightly wedded to tradition or mired in
classical techniques.
The Punch Papers is relatively long, as e-books go (though tighter
layout would condense its paper size significantly). It’s packed with good
material that at times seems to jump around fairly randomly. If you’ve
ever asked a learned man to answer a question, only to see him struggle with the
fact that he knows so much about the topic that it’s difficult to
condense it all, this will seem familiar to you. I enjoyed the pacing of
the text and liked the mix of tips and suggestions that it presented.
Want to know how to deal with kickboxers, particularly to defend against
spinning attacks? It’s in here. Curious about how to take a punch?
It’s in here. Want to develop a better back fist or back knuckle?
It’s in here. Want to learn to punch effectively even after you’ve been
punched? It’s in here. Want to counter a grappler without playing
his grappling game? It’s in here.
You, too, can stop flinching from punches, because Keith will tell you how.
He’ll help you deal with your normal panic response, teach you to get your
punches past your opponent’s defenses, and train you to take advantage of and
react to the openings and circumstances that become available in a fight.
Keith doesn’t neglect the importance of footwork, either. He spends
quite a bit of time on it, then discusses stance and positioning. He then
walks the reader through defending against straight blasts, the rapid series of
punches familiar to so many JKD practitioners. (The key? “Don’t
panic!”)
There’s a neat section on “Steven Seagal’s favorite movie move,”
the “clothesline” (a straight arm to the throat). There’s a
segment in which Keith elaborates on vertical punches versus horizontal punches,
another on punching tips, and even a brief section on curing yourself of bad
punching habits. Never one to forget counters for the techniques he’s just
shown you, Keith describes “making your defense counters 300% more
effective — especially your punch responses.” The number is an
arbitrary one, but the idea is there — and Keith knows of what he speaks.
As usual, Keith’s e-book comes with free bonus texts. The first, Taking
on a Boxer, is a concise description of the good and bad aspects of boxing.
This little bonus is especially helpful to martial artists who worry about
encountering opponents whose primary focus is in boxing rather than Eastern
arts. Keith describes just how to deal with these types of fighters.
The second bonus, Punch to the 7th Power, would fit right in as an
appendix to The Punch Papers. In it, you’ll learn seven distinct punches
(such as punching the chin or punching the kidneys), each with certain benefits
in an altercation.
You can find a link to purchase The Punch Papers
on
this page. If you’re at all curious about how to make your own punches more
powerful or more useful, how to deal with boxers (or integrate the best of what
they do into what you do), or how to enhance your training to become a
better striker, this e-book belongs on your hard drive.
Order it today.