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The One Inch Punch is an ancient martial arts move of kung-fu. In this popular mechanics article the neuroscience of the punch is explored.
While the biomechanics behind the powerful blow certainly aren't trivial, the punch owes far more to brain structure than to raw strength...
By the time the one-inch punch has made contact with its target, Lee has combined the power of some of the biggest muscles in his body into a tiny area of force. But while the one-inch punch is built upon the explosive power of multiple muscles, Rose insists that Bruce Lee's muscles are actually not the most important engine behind the blow.
"Muscle fibers do not dictate coordination," Rose says, "and coordination and timing are essential factors behind movements like this one-inch punch."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Sunday June 01 2014, @04:48AM
I have firsthand experience of such a punch and it made me a believer, despite my skepticism that it could ever be done. Of course I saw the videos of Bruce Lee in action, but still had my doubts that anyone else could really pull it off. It was a Bruce Lee "thing" and nothing more.
I'm a rather large man. 6"1' and 415lbs (at the time). This martial artist that I know spoke about such things and I was openly skeptical that any such means could be employed against a man my size and dimensions. He offered to demonstrate it on me. It really was quite a thing. While it didn't hurt all that much (it still hurt), I was lifted up on my toes and felt like I floated backwards about 6-7 feet away from him. I can understand if anyone refuses to believe it too, after all, the physics of it is crazy.
It happened very fast, but his palm was not an actual inch away. Maybe about 4-5 inches is where it started. His feet were planted on the ground and there was no forward momentum of any kind to explain the generation of that force. It seemed like a motion traveled up from his feet, hips, and through his arms like a snake and within a split second his palm connected with my chest.
Don't understand it, but I witnessed it firsthand. If I didn't see it so close like that, I still wouldn't believe it. I don't even want to imagine what he could do to an average guy around 180 lbs either. I was left with this distinct impression that this guy could bury anyone in the ground within a few seconds regardless of size.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday June 01 2014, @04:48PM
Therein lies the problem with anecdotes - or at least, when they're used as evidence. What it felt like is irrelevant. What's relevant is what actually happened.
Not sure I follow. There obviously was "forward momentum" involved. That is what a punch is, after all.
His feet were presumably planted on the ground to prevent him being pushed backwards from the equal and opposite force as per Newton.
So not actually a one-inch punch at all, then?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 01 2014, @10:15PM
It's 4 to 5 inches, she just told all her friends it was one inch.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Mr. Slippery on Monday June 02 2014, @03:48AM
There's a difference between a punch where the puncher's center of mass has forward momentum, and a punch where the puncher's center of mass is relatively still but rotational momentum is generated by the legs and transferred by the hips to the torso, leading to forward momentum of the punching arm. For maximum power, of course, we want to combine the two, but when a fight has already gotten up close and personal, a striking artist needs the ability to develop significant power without moving their center of mass forward.
"One inch punch" is something of an idiom. In demonstrations it's typical for a practitioner to place their fingertips on the target and then make a fist and launch from there, so we're talking a finger-length punch. Someone with Lee's talent and ability to devote themselves full-time to training could quite likely have a strong punch at one inch.
(Score: 2) by monster on Monday June 02 2014, @03:53PM
Pretty much this. As a martial artist myself, I assure you that like 80% of the force of a punch/kick comes from adding momentum from the rest of the body; it also gives balance to the punch, so even if you didn't hit, your body is still in a stable position. That's why the real "magic" of the one-inch punch is not in the muscles' mass but in how your brain coordinates them.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday June 02 2014, @06:21AM
I said felt like it because I didn't actually measure it. I was certainly more than an arms length away when I came to rest.
As for the not a one-inch-punch, we both know we are talking about the same thing. Which, is the ability to impart an unusual and above average amount of force upon an object in a very short distance. 4-5 inches is pretty damn short. I never claimed it was the exact same as Bruce Lee, and I didn't ask for a follow up punch either from a closer distance, or go and get a measuring tape either.
So I don't know what you are going on about with your pedantry.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2, Informative) by dvader on Monday June 02 2014, @12:11PM
That is a pretty good description of it. I have both felt it and tried similar techniques to it. You don't even need 1 inch to generate the power since it is all about body mechanics. There's also nothing mysterious about it, it just requires practice.
Basically, it is just a fast version of a push. You can practice it by putting one or both hands against a solid object or an opponent/friend and then simply pushing. Notice how your legs, waist, chest etc get involved when you push hard. To practice a punch, try to activate all those muscles from the bottom up. That is, start with pushing with the leg, then waist, back, chest etc and lastly arms. After a lot of practice, it becomes a "snake like" movement from the ground up as the parent described.
(Score: 1) by bootsy on Monday June 02 2014, @05:19PM
The way I best heard this described is that you don't push a car with your arms, you use your legs.
There are in fact several different ways of generating force from a small distance. I've done 17 years worth of Wing Chun but Bruce Lee added a lot of fencing footwork and the like so his short range punch was slightly different to the stock Wing Chun punch although the "core" body muscles are involved along with the legs which are by far the post powerful muscles in body. Also don't forget that biceps slow a punch down and the muscle you want for punching is the tricep.
It also depends on what you are trying to do, if you want to hurt someone with the hardest punch or make them stagger backwards. The technique is slightly different. Making someone stagger backwards can actually be done close range without even moving the arm or elbow at all. You simply walk forward and integrate the push with the back leg moving. A short range push from the legs causes you to lose balance and most people don't know how to recover from this so tend to stagger backwards quite some distance. It can look very impressive especially if the fall over at the end of it.
If you then add extending the arm and trying to punch through the object you generate more power. If you snap the punch back immediately the force of the punch isn't lost as push action and the energy is absorbed more by the body and the soft flesh.
Wrist flick is an interesting one, another response mentions it protects the joints which is true but it also has a pinning or deflecting action so even if the blow is blocked you can create space. Of course all the above assumes a passive non-reacting opponent which in real life is unlikely.
Just like other muscle memory and co-ordination tricks it can be practised and mastered. There are different ways of doing it but they all involve integrating the muscle movements and suppressing the natural reaction of pulling the punch due to the short range.