#585 - How to Take a Punch to the Body

How to Take a Punch to the Body

Step 1
Tighten your stomach.
If the punch is strong enough, it could damage internal organs and possibly kill you. Tightening your stomach helps protect vital organs. Try not to double up or bend over. Instead, if the situation allows, stretch backward slightly.

• It's hard to flex your abdominal muscles if they aren't strong, so do this: just before the punch lands, shoot a short burst of air from your mouth or nose (breathe out very slightly and quickly). Your abs will naturally flex tightly, which will minimize both the pain and the damage to your vital organs.
• Try not to get hit while breathing in or holding your breath. This will only result in you "getting winded" or "getting the wind knocked out of you." When the body is shocked like this, it's unable to respond for several moments, giving the assailant time to land another punch.

Step 2

Roll with the punch.

 If you can't avoid getting hit, move your body in the direction of the hit. Shift your body to the side of the point of impact, so that it won't hit your middle. This increases the time of the impact, which changes the momentum of the punch and decreases its force.

• You can also lean in, or moving your body slightly toward your opponent. This has the benefit of either reducing the power of their punch or jamming it out altogether. If you can catch your opponent off-balance, this has the added effect of possibly knocking him or her down and giving you time to escape.

Step 3

Keep your balance

Getting knocked down in a fistfight is a bad thing, as it decreases your ability to escape, makes you vulnerable to kicking or getting crushed, and puts you at risk of injuring yourself in the process of falling.

source: wikihow