When you walk in a circle you are the center of your world.

I’v heard it called it internal striking, organ damaging techniques, a couple different things but I’d like to relay a quick story I saw happen.

Way back in high school, we were at a fair, and there was a punching meter. It seemed gimicky and silly but my friend ponied up his dollar and gave it a whack. He wasn’t super in shape but was a sizable person, I being a little smaller but still 5′11″ 155lbs or so at the time gave it a whack as well. I was able to make the dial spin around just a little bit less, no big suprise. But regardless we both made it spin three times before it slowed to a stop. Around that time an in common friend of ours happened by. He was a 2nd dan I believe at the time and very physically fit. He saw us and thought he’d give it a go. I wouldn’t have gone up against him in arm wrestling, bench pressing, curls, frankly anything upper body but when he hit it he barely made it spin 1/3 of what me and my pal had. At the time it was of no significance and went on about our evening but a number of years later I mentally and academically revisited it and was completely baffled.

A few years later I met some kung fu people who showed me iron palm. I finally called bullshit and not 10 minutes later through a phone book the palm print that showed up on my skin lasted three days. It felt like someone reached in and grabbed my lung.  I then trained with them untill I got a decent grasp on it.

So then one night I finally put the two components together. Our little 2nd dan may have been hitting that sensor several times harder, and maybe twice as fast, but he was only penetrating half an inch and then stopping and retracting. Both me and my friend were doing the classic knockout punch that you only go for when really it’s over anyway. Both of us lined up on the bag and followed through with every ounce past the bag and had to step forward to catch ourselves. It was a matter of transfer of energy. Would the second dan probably drop someone where they stood, definitely. Would a silly punching bag sensor pick up on that? Apparently not.

Its transfer of inertia and momentum. Get good at iron palm and you’ll move almost not at all and transfer more than enough to bruise internal orgens.