I found some results from the study mentioned in the earlier post (Physics of Martial Arts :- 1). The study is from the TV series ‘Fight Science’.

Each fighter was invited to hit a crash test dummy as hard as they could. Unfortunately, the physical details, specifically their weight, were not recorded. Thus, these numbers show the force differences between the fighters and not the style.

As can be seen, in the lead is a boxer with 4417 Newtons, which is equivalent to being hit on the head with a 12-pound mallet at 20 mph.

According to the programme, the sensors revealed that the boxer’s punch started in the feet, pushing against the floor. It then travelled up the legs through the hips to the chest and shoulders. The punch gained energy as it passed through the body.

The boxer was observed to have the slightly more relaxed style but did less follow-through to the dummy’s head.

When it related to kicks, each individual’s best kick was between 25 and 70% more forceful than their best punch.

When breaking a baseball bat with a kick, it was determined that most bats would break with an excess of 3500 Newtons of force.

What about speed?

A trained martial artist should be able to attain a punching speed of 10 metres/sec (~ 20 mph). Kicking speed for basic kicks by some elite martial artists was up to 15 m/s, though for spinning kicks, this was even higher.

In future posts I will look at point of impact, rotational effects, stances, bare fists vs gloves and objects vs bodies.