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Power has little to do with strength. If that was the case then all martial artists (and boxers and ballerinas for that matter) would have to do is go and lift some weights and be done with it. Power is still a little bit of a mystery, particularly in boxing, where ‘heavy hitters’ can be surprising. The mechanics that generate it however are fairly well known: you need strong muscles, certainly, but also flexibility, agility, good body positioning, balance and the capability to switch your weight from foot to foot so that your body weight shifts behind your blows. Those who truly think about it, at some depth come to realize that power, real power, comes from the effective use of an attacking limb to deliver the body’s weight through an opponent. The limb used is incidental. Once that is understood then each fighter has to work out for himself how to best achieve it within the boundaries of his discipline.
