From Martial Artists’ Moves Revealed in “Fight Science” Lab:
In one experiment, experts in karate, boxing, kung fu, and tae kwon do all took turns striking the dummy in the face.The researchers were surprised to find that boxing is the fighting style capable of delivering the most force in a single punch.
Boxer Steve Petramale delivered about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of impact force, the equivalent of swinging a sledgehammer into someone’s face.
His punch, the sensors revealed, starts in the feet and travels up the legs through the hips to the chest and shoulders, multiplying in force as it travels up the body.
How utterly counterintuitive that an art dedicated to punching would develop the hardest punchers…
Anyway, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that full-contact fighters hit hard:
The tae kwon do spinning back kick delivered more than 1,500 pounds (680.4 kilograms) of force, while the kung fu flying double kick produced about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of force.But the undisputed winner practices a discipline known for its ability to deliver a knockout: Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing.
Melchor Menor, a former two-time Muay Thai world champion, uses a simple technique to incapacitate his opponents: a knee to the chest at close quarters.
Menor himself was surprised at how powerful this move can be.
“I wasn’t expecting to have the highest force. When he said the power of the knee [kick] was equal to the power of a 35-mile-an-hour [56.3-kilometer-an-hour] car crash, it was humbling.”
The displacement sensor in the dummy’s chest measured nearly two inches (five centimeters) of chest compression from Menor’s knee strike.