Many aspects about taking a punch are just as mental as much as
physical.
You have to be able to re-focus pain, or ignore pain for a
split second or two.
Let's face it, getting punched is going to hurt,
but you can lessen the degree of
pain and damage to your internal
organs by doing the following things:
1. Think "gravity" instead
of "body builder." The last thing you want to do when
getting punched
is to stand up as tall as you can and puff out your chest like you
are
in the military. When you stand tall it spreads out your ribs,
exposing your
internal organs more, but even worse, it creates a very
thin muscle barrier
between those organs and the punch. You want to
push down and out. Pull
you shoulders down towards the earth. Tighten
up your abdominal muscles as
much as you can, but also push your
stomach out. This creates a much bigger
space between the fist and
your internal organs.
2. Get killer abs- Not only is core
strength important to daily health, but it is also
critical to taking a
hard punch. You need to develop the ability to tighten your
core in a
split second and to react as soon as someone throws the punch.
You
can
practice tightening you abs for long periods of time as you walk around
or
sit at work. Try to concentrate on your breathing while you are
doing this. Do
not hold your breath. This will take some time to
master.
3. Work on your breathing- in order to react quickly to
taking a punch, you must
have control over your breathing as well. As
soon as the punch makes contact, let
out a small, strong breath of air
in the time it takes to say "ha." You will tighten up
every muscle in
your core region as hard as you possibly can for just that split second
and then move back to a relaxed state.
4. You must be able to
punch back- If someone is going to hit you that hard you
should not
just have to stand there and take it, unless you are trying to win a
bet or
something. You will need to defend yourself with a punch that
will make the attacker
remember never to do that again. The quickest
and best way to develop a fist of
steel is to use makiwara training. A
makiwara will train your fist to make rock-solid
contact without
injury, and most importantly, trains your bare knuckles. You most
likely will not be wearing gloves when you need to punch someone back.