It is a given that punching power is one of the most important characteristics in striking combat sports. Despite a large focus on strength and power development in many athletes as a means to improve punching power, there isn`t a large amount of research showing the effectiveness of such training interventions, or even correlations between independent measures of strength and power, and punching force in combat athletes. As such, much of what drives our approach towards strength and conditioning for combat athletes originates from interpretation of studies related to biomechanically similar sports, combined with an application of basic kinesiology and sports performance principles. Combat sport athletes and coaches alike have long valued the importance of lower limb force contribution to the power of our punches, and as a result most programs designed to improve punching power will include some form of lower limb strengthening intervention. Preliminary work in Filimonov`s classic study demonstrated a greater use of the lower body in higher level boxers (2), and studies of biomechanically similar sports (3) requiring lower body force production and rotational power culminating in a high-power upper limb movement (such as javelin and shot put) clearly show the importance of lower limb strength and power (4). 2 previous studies have shown both upper and lower body strength and power measures to be predictive of punching force (5,6). The aim of this study was to expand this body of research with a specific focus on rate of force development.
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