If the power in a punch is mostly generated by the legs, shouldn't kickers have greater potential?

spacetime

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A long-time boxer remarked that power is mostly generated by the legs when punching. This made me wonder if dynamic kickers thus have greater potential to generate haymakers, or is dynamic leg potential irrelevant?

Did I misread what he meant? I took it to mean simply fast, explosive leg potential.
 
Time spent perfecting different kicks is time not spent perfecting different punches.
 
Time spent perfecting different kicks is time not spent perfecting different punches.

I mean if you have a guy with explosive legs, say a clear talent for kicking learning boxing compared to someone with mediocre legs. Will the guy with explosive legs have greater potential to generate more force if he takes up boxing compared to the pure boxers?
 
The mechanics are completely different. With kicks it's reltaively easy to get power into it you rarely hear about featherlegged fighters. Holly Holm has no weight in her punches and even she manages to get power into kicks it's much simpler speaking just about power.

It's abotu technique. if it was just about physical potential then sprinters should have the hardets kicks and even punches same with olympic lifters and athletes like that.
 
The mechanics are completely different. With kicks it's reltaively easy to get power into it you rarely hear about featherlegged fighters. Holly Holm has no weight in her punches and even she manages to get power into kicks it's much simpler speaking just about power.

It's abotu technique. if it was just about physical potential then sprinters should have the hardets kicks and even punches same with olympic lifters and athletes like that.

How do you know they don't? Until they have tried out kickboxing you will never know. And the discussion is about Power Only. Power is of course no guarantee of overall abilities in punching
 
If you have a sprinter take Taekwondo or Muay Thai dedicately for years, I wouldn't be surprised if he kicks harder than 99% of the other guys
 
I was always the fastest sprinter in school and I'm even beyond pound for pound one of the hardest kickers in my class. Pretty much any type of kick too
 
How do you know they don't? Until they have tried out kickboxing you will never know. And the discussion is about Power Only. Power is of course no guarantee of overall abilities in punching

I just doubt it looking at athletec ompeting in striking in general. Yes they often develope great power but it takes time until thier technique gets better. So yes Bolt might have great potential for power but the first session he will not hit harder than a high level fighter.

Same with kickers they need to actually improve their technique and often they don't because they prioritize kicking so they never get to their full potential with their hands in fear of weakinening their kicks.

Also again almost everyone has power in kciks especially if they are big. Gonzaga was everything but a great kicker but the kick he knocked out Crocop with was insane. Still an ugly kick. I don't think it's mostly power that seperates devastating kickers from average ones it's the ability to land one and the quickness and setups to disguise them. So being a great kicker might be less of a sign for potential.

And again this would also work the other way around and a powerful puncher should also have power in his kicks but often that isn't the case because of technqiue and mechanics.
 
If you look at Muay Thai fighters historically crossing over to boxing and winning belts, not just matches, there is support of the theory...
 
The power from kicks come more from your hips/abs than from your legs.
 
That being said, if your legs are bulky and heavy you will generate more force simply from the weight and the Size of your foot
 
It's also technique. Like the first guy said, time spent kicking is time not spent on punching.

Now, if we have 2 guys with similar punching technique/training, then you can kind of say the guy with the bigger legs will punch harder. Mike Tyson has some enormous monstrous thighs to go along with his impeccable techniques.

There are many factors. Like speed, technique etc. But yes, generally speaking, bigger legs = bigger punching power. But bigger legs doesn't necessarily mean stronger kicks.

Remember folks power = force x speed. Speed means a lot. It's not just raw power. That's why some of the best fighters are not bulky beasts, especially strikers.
 
another thread thats heavy in theory ( actually more like bro science ) and not in substance.
 
Kickboxers do tend to have larger legs than boxers. A lot of boxers I see have skinny legs. KBers can probably generate more power, but does not mean they can do so in sparring without the skillset first.
 
I mean if you have a guy with explosive legs, say a clear talent for kicking learning boxing compared to someone with mediocre legs. Will the guy with explosive legs have greater potential to generate more force if he takes up boxing compared to the pure boxers?

Punching has both legs on the ground generating power, to kick you're force to have only one. A kick travels further and generally gives the opponent more time to see/react
 
It's also technique. Like the first guy said, time spent kicking is time not spent on punching.

Now, if we have 2 guys with similar punching technique/training, then you can kind of say the guy with the bigger legs will punch harder. Mike Tyson has some enormous monstrous thighs to go along with his impeccable techniques.

There are many factors. Like speed, technique etc. But yes, generally speaking, bigger legs = bigger punching power. But bigger legs doesn't necessarily mean stronger kicks.

Remember folks power = force x speed. Speed means a lot. It's not just raw power. That's why some of the best fighters are not bulky beasts, especially strikers.

Yeah but anybody can learn proper punching technique so I don't concider that a hypotethical hurdle. BTW, didn't Tyson wrestle as well in his younger years?
 
Remember folks power = force x speed. Speed means a lot. It's not just raw power. That's why some of the best fighters are not bulky beasts, especially strikers.

Yeah well if your fists, like mine, are female sized, the power will not be as great because the mass traveling is lighter than a normal sized fist.

A guy who is slightly slower but with much bigger fists will generate more force.

Same with kicking. I can pull back 40% of my speed in kicking and I still kick harder than smaller guys.
 
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What do they mean when they say that legs are responsible for punching power? Is it the twisting motion or sinking in to the punches?
 
Kickboxers don't especially have "bigger" legs than boxers, it mainly depends on fighter s morphology. Legs ( and hips ) are responsible for punching power because they are the origin of the weight transfer, or the pushing motion of the back leg for the jab.
 
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