The misconception of sparring.

[Mallic]

I think this type of punching was for the purpose of punching light body armor. The reason I say this is because the training for these punches is never thrown head height.

Now before the giggles come. This is the type of light armor I'm referring to.

Great for stabs and slashes but I bet one can still feel one of those deep power punches.
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It may seem silly but but there is validity in this. Similar protection used by TKD getting penetrated by punch energy. Keep in mind. TKD uses padding. The armour above doesn't had that same padding in mind. Good for knives and slashes but a solid puch with a conditioned hand will still get through.

I always knew there was some validity is just punching someone in armor.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I always knew there was some validity is just punching someone in armor.

If you think of armor as light weight metal or non-metal material, then it makes sense. To really highlight it.

Punch bullet proof vest. This was done with boxing gloves and a pillow, lots of buffer room. But he still fills the impact.

This is why one would their hands to be conditioned. But we can see the guy still freaks out about being punched with the vest on. Like he said "His ribs are behind the vest"

Now imagine someone with conditioned hands and a really good ability to drive the power of their punch

My guess is that maces were effective with creating blunt force energy that moved through the armor and into the body.

Give me a piece of this action. Fist that aren't conditioned and an inability drive power looks just like this..

I know some of us including my self would not heave any problem sending impact force through this vest be it open hand or closed hand strikes. Someone who trains horizontal breaking would have an easier time. Punching armor would follow the concept of "not punching at the target but punching deep into the target." The target isn't the armor but what is behind it.

If I punch someone in the chest, then I'm not aiming for the chest. I'm aiming for the organs behind the ribs.

 

[Prince_Alarming]

I have this argument with my brother a lot- he's petrified of taking martial arts up again because he believes that he's going to get parkinsons or whatever. My view is that going to martial arts classes once or twice a week is not going to cause that level of damage, it's like vibration white finger in that regard. He points out in return that there is no safe dose of blows to the head, I acknowledge this, but the way I see it is if you do nothing for long enough you're going to get ill and die anyway. Hmmmmm.

 

[Fungus]

We regularly train with the large mitts that cover your whole upper body, then one partner wears it over and the other person strikes and kicks at full power. We this as a cardio excercise and shoulder/punching excercise. Those mitts are WAY thicker than a TKD body armor or those knife wests, and still there you can't just stand like a lame duck then you will fall over, or you'll loose breath from the impacts.

Still with this one has to have a stable stance, and tense up your whole body. But you are spared from the sharp knuckle impacts, but less from the momentum or blunt force if the body is behind. This is why it is a bit of a balance and tensing exercise for the mitts holder as well. I often stand in sanchin like stances when i hold the mits, and i deliberately hold it pressed to my chest so i can feel more impact. And unless you are of similar weight you cant go full force as your opponent will loose balance.

On some of the videos above it looks like the guy is just standing there without much preparation or muscle tension? That is on par with hitting someone in the stomach by surprise when you brush your teeth., then the mitts or body armor will not save you.