Dear Sirs.

Thank you for a very interesting article and a very interesting comment.

Unfortunately, I have no knowledge about serious research/science in martial arts, but i cannot help commenting that according to the my kung fu teacher, the human body is much more vulnerable to blows from below than to blows from above. His homepage can be found at www.yamaue.com. Unfortunately, he does not discuss this subject on the homepage.

However, as a physician and an amateur martial arts sportsman, this makes very good sense to me.

Look at the head, with the solid skull and the vulnerable lower chin. Look at the shoulders and the armpits, look at the rib cage, how it opens up downwards, etc etc. The body is designed to resist falling coconuts, not jumping frogs or rising spears!

As a consequence, 10'th dan Yamaue usually advices us to bend our knees to punch from below. Pushing from below is also an advantage, as the opponent looses his stance.

Anyway - it is still an advantage to be tall and big in martial arts - just because you it makes you stronger and heavier!

Kind regards,

Toke Barfod, MD PhD, Denmark