“What the shit is a stepping punch?” you might ask yourself. You’ve seen it, even if you don’t recognize it’s name, and today we’re gonna learn it.

Simply put, it’s a martial arts technique in which you simultaneously step and throw punches in rhythm, allowing you to close the gap between you and your foe and get into “infighting” range—ie: the range of other punches like hooks and uppercuts, as well as knees and elbows. Also headbutting if you’re a dirty bastard, and I am!

Let’s break the step punch down. The key is rhythm. You need to have some sense of rhythm to do this move, to coordinate the legs and arms moving as one. This is why I highly recommend every martial artist do some sort of musical activity, whether it be playing an instrument, singing, or dancing. There’s a reason why every aristocratic warrior culture required dance or music or poetry to be mastered when not fighting.

To begin get into your semi-crouch fighting stance, the stance that we always start with. Throw the straight right punch—simple so far.

Now, step with the back foot (typically the right foot), and as your weight shifts, use that momentum to throw a left straight punch. You have to time this right, doing it too early or too late nullifies the power. Because you are not planting your feet, the stepping punch isn’t particularly powerful. What power it does have comes entirely from the forward step, so timing is imperative. Do it in a mirror to develop smoothness and timing.

Once you can do it with the left, step with the hind foot again, which is now the left foot, and punch with the right hand. And repeat.

Once you have an idea of how it “Feels”, try speeding it up. Remember that each punch should be on a numbered “down beat”, with subdivisions counted. Do it slow, and then fast.

As you can see, this is a great way to transition from long range fighting to infighting.

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