Faster
19th August 2006, 07:04 AM
Just to let people know. Thought it might be interesting.
Premiers August 20th on National Geographic channel.
Excerpt from a preview article:
Strong as a Car Crash
But martial artists are perhaps best known for being able to deliver devastating kicks.
To test this power, Kelly had the participants use their unique styles to land kicks on the dummy's chest.
The tae kwon do spinning back kick delivered more than 1,500 pounds (680.4 kilograms) of force, while the kung fu flying double kick produced about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of force.
But the undisputed winner practices a discipline known for its ability to deliver a knockout: Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing.
Melchor Menor, a former two-time Muay Thai world champion, uses a simple technique to incapacitate his opponents: a knee to the chest at close quarters.
Menor himself was surprised at how powerful this move can be.
"I wasn't expecting to have the highest force. When he said the power of the knee [kick] was equal to the power of a 35-mile-an-hour [56.3-kilometer-an-hour] car crash, it was humbling."
The displacement sensor in the dummy's chest measured nearly two inches (five centimeters) of chest compression from Menor's knee strike.
Like the boxer's punch, the energy from this kick starts from the feet and moves up to the knee. The blow is delivered to the soft tissue below the rib cage while Menor holds his opponent's head stationary.
The ribs are driven backward through the lungs and solar plexus, a cluster of nerve cells behind the human stomach that controls some organ functions.
Truly a death blow, Menor's knee kick can cause internal bleeding and even cardiac arrest.
Link to rest of Science of Fighting article (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060814-fight-science.html)
Premiers August 20th on National Geographic channel.
Excerpt from a preview article:
Strong as a Car Crash
But martial artists are perhaps best known for being able to deliver devastating kicks.
To test this power, Kelly had the participants use their unique styles to land kicks on the dummy's chest.
The tae kwon do spinning back kick delivered more than 1,500 pounds (680.4 kilograms) of force, while the kung fu flying double kick produced about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of force.
But the undisputed winner practices a discipline known for its ability to deliver a knockout: Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing.
Melchor Menor, a former two-time Muay Thai world champion, uses a simple technique to incapacitate his opponents: a knee to the chest at close quarters.
Menor himself was surprised at how powerful this move can be.
"I wasn't expecting to have the highest force. When he said the power of the knee [kick] was equal to the power of a 35-mile-an-hour [56.3-kilometer-an-hour] car crash, it was humbling."
The displacement sensor in the dummy's chest measured nearly two inches (five centimeters) of chest compression from Menor's knee strike.
Like the boxer's punch, the energy from this kick starts from the feet and moves up to the knee. The blow is delivered to the soft tissue below the rib cage while Menor holds his opponent's head stationary.
The ribs are driven backward through the lungs and solar plexus, a cluster of nerve cells behind the human stomach that controls some organ functions.
Truly a death blow, Menor's knee kick can cause internal bleeding and even cardiac arrest.
Link to rest of Science of Fighting article (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060814-fight-science.html)