Improving Punching Power

There are a number of ways to increase your punching power. But, the most important way initially is to cultivate good form.
In talking about good form, we'll start with alignment and work from there.
Bone Alignment
With good form, you derive your power from proper bone alignment. From there, any of the other key attributes you develop will just multiply this effect. This is not to blow my own horn, but I've knocked the wind out of people holding the heavy bag for me as I punched it. It came from proper alignment.

Leverage
It starts in your base. Many people neglect this. You need a pivoting, weight-shifting base if you want real follow-through punching power. This pivoting base is what transfers weight down at the feet and legs, which in turn sends the hip, which in turn sends the shoulder. When you throw a cross, for instance, turn your rear heel out (pivot on ball of foot), and shift your weight onto your front foot (toes pointing forward at this time).
We Lose Leverage At Our Joints
One of the most common faults in a person's punching technique (which results in lost power) is that POWER IS LOST IN THE JOINTS. This usually means the shoulder, elbow, or wrist. All bones function as perfect transmitters of force, but where one bone ends and another begins is where we tend to lose it. Misaligned, over-tensed, or under-tensed joints will vent off your power. People who wing their punches, for instance, will tend to lose power at the shoulder and elbow.
People who bend their wrist when they hook, for another example, will tend to lose the power of that punch at the wrist.
Never "Lock Out" Your Punches
Power in a punch also comes from follow-through. You don't lock out your punches. Same goes for kicks (although they look "prettier" when you do them that way). I know a lot of classically trained martial arts teach you to lock out that "reverse punch", but I would differ on that methodology. I spent a lot of years in traditional martial arts, and I've spent a lot of years training around boxers and such. The latter hit much harder. A lot of it has to do with the follow-through allowed by a mobile, pivoting, weight-shifting, bent-knee base.

Muscle Grouping
You need:
Strong lats (pull-ups, seated row maching, shadowboxing, bag work, sparring).
Strong shoulders and traps (upright rows, standing flyes, skipping rope, LOTS of shadowboxing, etc.).
Strong Abs and Lower Back -- for conveying hip torque to the sweep of the shoulders.
Strong Quads and Calves -- Legs and abs should be seen as a pyramid which generates your power and shifting.
Strong Forearms -- for keeping the wrist aligned, and for a dense fist (underrated aspect of power punching). Wrist curls, hand squeezers, fingertip pushups, etc.
Secondarily:
Strong Pectoralis Major -- this can help in your power (projecting and aligning the shoulder of the punching arm) if you already have good form. People who start with large pec's, though, tend to throw shoulder punches (like a bench press). No real power there.
You DON'T need:
Strong Biceps -- these do NOT add to your straight punching power, and only help in holding the angle of the elbow in your hook, and drawing it in on the end (that's the french curve I talked about before). Same for the uppercut. People with huge biceps are usually the easiest ones to slip.

Relax
I always tell my students that "tension" is the opposite of everything good or favorable in your performance. Tension is the opposite of speed. Tension is the opposite of POWER. Tension is the opposite of nontelegraphy. Tension is also the opposite of mobility. Tension is a drain on endurance.
In the case of punching power, which is the subject at hand, it is TENSION IN THE SHOULDERS that most often diminishes not only one's power, but also one's ability to land the punch on an opponent -- because of its effect on the aforementioned aspects of a successful punch (speed, nontelegraphy, mobility, etc.).

The Body Is What Punches, Not Just The Arm
When you hit someone, it should feel like a piano fell out of a second story window and hit him on the end of your fist. This is in keeping with info provided earlier in this post about shifting the weight, etc. The reason why you're shifting your weight is SO THAT HE FEELS YOUR WEIGHT IN YOUR PUNCH. There's a Thai saying that a person who really knows how to hit moves fluidly but his touch is as heavy as a mountain. Sounds like good boxing to me. If your weight is settled on your feet, then that mass is not going into the punches.
Tight Fist
At the tail end of execution, the last place you can either add or lose power in a punch is in your fist itself. It should stay loose through most of your execution and tighten up just before impact.
The Snap - The Right Time and Place
The power of your punch is right on the end, where it snaps. This is true of ALL punches -- not just your linear punches. The art of punching then becomes the art of coordinating your own body mechanics (which is most of what I've talked about here) with the placement of your target AT PRECISELY THE RIGHT RANGE AT THE RIGHT TIME, where you hit target as your punch is snapping on the end. When you don't get this right, your power is either jammed because the range and timing weren't right, or it falls short or misses for the same reasons.
This, by the way, is one of several ways in which KEY attributes come together to equal success in your hitting. As far as the above paragraph, you get this ability from essentially two areas of training: sparring and fighting. Partner drilling will never in a million years give you this ability. Secondarily, you can get some aspects of this ability from focus mitt training and the top and bottom bag -- in both cases because they simulate either the chaos or the predictable flow of sparring and fighting, where through timing and range you get your punches to meet up with the target properly.
There's more to this, in general, as far as learning to punch with power is concerned. Much of it, though, is difficult to convey in text. Much easier to show.
One last point for you, is that you have to develop your kinesthetic perception if you really want to be able to hit with power. There is a correct sequence of muscular contractions for every punch, every kick, which happens very quickly in rapid succession. In addition to contractions, there is a correct series of RELEASES (very important) -- i.e. when a certain muscle in the chain has done its job, and now needs to let go before it starts to hinder your function.

Favorite Drills
One of our favorite drills is called 10-20-10's. Full speed and full power. Partner holds Thai Pads and you kick 10 Roundhouse on one side, then 20 Clinching Straight Knees, then another 10 Roundhouse on the other side.
We also used to have a competition to see who could do the most round kicks or straight knees in one round. The catch is that it's during shadowboxing. No target! We haven't used that drill in awhile.
The Elbow Train is just doing Horizontal or Vertical Elbow strikes on the focus mitts as fast as you can (alternate sides each strike). If you do it fast enough, it starts to sound like a train chugging along...
Neck Wrestling is a big drill. You "get dressed" (English-Thai translation of Clinching) with your opponent, each of you trying to gain the "control" position, with your opponents head trapped to your chest and they are bent over. If you get caught, you have to perform an escape.
Fun with the Medicine Ball: I like to have my students play Harlem Globetrotters with it. They pass the ball around for a few rounds like they are playing basketball. OR, I have them stand close and actually thrust the ball into each others stomachs or ribs. OR BETTER YET (I love this drill...) With a partner. Both put on bag/sparring gloves. One holds the med. ball while the other uses it as a punching bag. The holder is responsible for changing the target area around. The puncher just must punch full power constantly. You do this drill for about 3 rounds alternating punching/holding every round. If one student drops the ball, they do 20 push ups per drop. So the puncher should be trying to punch the ball out of the holders hands.
Another personal favorite: Progressive combo's. The idea is to work a combo from it's first strike and build it into at least 6 separate strikes, preferably 8 or more. Start with one strike. Repeat 10X. Then add another strike. Repeat 10X, add another, repeat 10X, etc. For example: 10 jabs, 10 double jabs, 10 dbl jabs and a cross, 10 jab- jab-cross-hook-bob n'weave, 10 jab-jab-cross-hook-bob n'weave-cross, etc, etc, etc. (don't forget to add kicks, knees, elbows, etc. I just used boxing as an example)
Those are some of the more creative ones. Most of the drills are pretty standard. Kick or punch the pads, shadow boxing, pushups, sit-ups, skip rope, etc.

Medicine Ball Drills
This is not a very complete list, as the drills are endless. Heck, they have entire books and videos devoted to this. For those of you who just want a few effective, simple drills, this is for you...
Drill ?1- Everyone stands in a circle, close together. Hand the medicine ball around in a circle, changing directions occasionally. When you hand the ball around, do not simply "hand" it to the person next to you, but thrust it into their abdomen. Aim for the abs or obliques. The person being handed to should allow the ball to impact with their abdomen, then take the ball. DO NOT CATCH THE BALL BEFORE IT HITS YOU!
Drill ?2- Again, in a circle, play Harlem Globetrotters with the medicine ball. The circle is more spread out this time, and the boxers should be getting some "air" under the ball. They should be throwing it up in the air, not straight into their partners chests. In this drill, if the medicine ball is dropped, the whole group does 10 pushups for each time the ball is dropped.
Drill ?3- Sit-ups, with a partner. Boxer 1 does a sit-up, and is then handed a Medicine ball while in the "up" position. He hold medicine ball outstretched above head and then does another sit-up, handing the medicine ball back to his partner. He then does another sit-up, at the end of which he gets the ball again. Essentially, he is doing every other sit-up with the medicine ball.
Drill ?4- With a partner, standing back to back. Stand far enough apart so that there is enough room to hand the ball between you two. Boxer ?1 twists to right (keeping feet planted) and hands ball to Boxer ?2, who is also twisted around to the right. Boxer ?2 takes medicine ball and then twists around to left and hands ball to Boxer ?1, who should now also be twisted around to the left. Repeat...
Drill ?5- I like to knee the medicine ball up in the air in front of me as though it were a soccer ball. My students think I'm nuts though. I will eventually have them do this drill themselves.
Drill ?6- Drop the medicine ball on boxers stomach in the midst of sit-ups. Boxer should do a sit-up, and while in the down position, partner drops ball onto his stomach. Be careful not to drop in on boxers lap or sternum.
Drill ?7- Have boxer perform a V-Sit or Leg Raise. While holding that position, hit boxer in abs and obliques with medicine ball. Be careful doing this with your beginners. Start off softly, then build up power to find your boxers "threshold".
Drill ?8- Personal Favorite of mine from the boxing gym. Both boxers wear gloves/bag gloves (I recommend thick bag gloves, not thin ones. Like Ringside's Super Bag Gloves. Just make sure they are thick gloves). This drill should be done for 3 rounds apiece, meaning a total of 6 rounds. Boxer ?1 hold the medicine ball around chest height, Boxer ?2 boxes with the ball as though it were a heavy bag. Boxer ?1 (the ball holder) should change positions of the ball to create different angles and punch levels, and should use footwork to do the same. Force Boxer ?2 (the puncher) to move around a lot. Switch the ball between each round. If any boxer drops the ball, that boxer (not his partner) must do 10-20 pushups for each time the ball is dropped. 10 pushups for beginners, 20 for advanced boxers and fighters.
Drill ?9- With the medicine ball on the ground in front of you. Set the round clock with 30 second intervals. Start with the round clock by jumping over the medicine ball front and back. Get the knees up high towards your chest! Keep this up until the interval timer sounds, then switch by jumping side to side. Again, jump with the knees up high to your chest. At next interval, back to front and back. Keep switching from front/back to side/side.

Neck Wrestling Drills
For 3 rounds, with a partner.
When the round starts, you begin Clinching/Neck Wrestling with your partner. I had the interval timer set to go off every 15 sec's. When the interval timer sounded, the fighters were to break, step back, then jump right back in and Clinch/Neck Wrestle again.
Due to the size differences in my class, I had every one stay with the same partner for the entire 3 rounds. I think that in the future, I will have everyone switch partners between rounds.
While clinching, the boxers are to be trying to get the Control Position that I have mentioned previously, where you have your opponents head trapped in a pincher-like grip to your chest. You can place your chin on top of their head as an extra measure of control.
The boxers, should they get caught in the Control Position, perform and escape. Then they should get right back at it.
Remember, if you try this drill, as soon as the fighters separate, they should immediately get right back at it. No pausing. The fighters should train as though the break is from the Ref separating them, then telling them to fight again. They should jump right back into it...

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