The most effective punch.....

The best punch is the one not seen.

Off the top, I'd go with straight punching. The more powerful is typically the rear hand straight.

Straight punches are easier to learn and throw without opening yourself up. Hooking punches can carry a lot of torque and come from nowhere. But they can leave the doors open, so to speak.

The best punch is going to be the one you're best at throwing.


-John

yah thats what i mean't sorry

The one that hits the target.

For me, the overhand right comming out of a left guard. Since it's traveling at a downward angle so you can really get some weight on top of it.

Lidell used it with some very good results over the years.

The one that does the most amount of damage in the shortest amount of time.

Or the one the one that best sets up the finsihing techinquie--assuming they are not one and the same.

"Stright" punchs or "round" ones are just techniques--they work "best" in whatever situation they work best in---that may sound confuseing but the question is state dependent.

Which means it depends on how your using them and when.

There are time when a stright left is a good as a uppercut or roundhouse right.

Best answer I can give is "it depends"

Ok so the best punch is inevitably the one that suits the situation.
However, straight punches are slightly faster, have a longer reach, are less telegraphic, disturb your balance less and are less likley to open you up for counters. This makes them the main punches to use when entering from outside the boxing range, and there are many opportunities to land them from within this range too.
Hooking punches work best when you are closer to your opponent and gives you the option of hitting from all angles instead of straight forwards. This increases the amount of work and sensory information your opponents brain needs to take in if he is to defend himself, it also makes him less likely to pick the right defense manouver.
To be honest, I wouldn't say that one is better than the other, more that they are the compliment of each other. You need to master both, because if you haven't you can bet your bee-hind someone else has. For me however, I find that if I'm landing straight punches, I'll throw less hooking ones.
If however I absloutely had to pick a punch from my arsenal that has been most effective for me, its gotta be the jab (in jkd its the leading straight right).

I'd say the one that connects solidly enough to do the job!

I don't like defensive jabs or back knuckles but when it lands and take the guy out or drops him, that night or time it was my best punch.

BC it worked.

I am definately best with a straight reverse punch. I have practiced them forever and feel that is my best bet.
You most effective punch is the quickest and most powerful strike. Usually the quicker the strike the least powerful but if you practice enough then you can add power. The backfist for example is really quick, but you have to train yourself to get the power in it.
Maybe instead of the most effective punch, you should have the most effective combo. Actually hitting the person with 1 punch would be tough, they would have to be bad at blocking. Throwing combos is your best bet to hit someone. Different punches will help for different timing, areas to hit, power, quickness, etc.

uppercuts!

I agree my favorite strikes are my most powerful, but the one that lands and does the damage is the most effective in that incident. Usually then I can apply my favorite if he not already out or stopped.

As Gothrocker said, this is situational.

Different punches are different tools in your tool box. They are like a closet full of guns. If someone asks you which is the most effective gun in the closet, do you say the Glock, the .270 or the 12 gauge?

Maybe you say the Glock.

But then I say we're hunting quail. Bad choice. The Glock might be your favorite - but that doesn't make it the most effective.

Range, angle and opening variations make a single tool very limiting. The arts didn't invent different punches for you to pick a favorite. If they did, a golf bag would only hold one club.

I agree but I don't really like your analogy the 12 gauge shotgun though clumbersome in bldg. search could handle anything from snake, rabbit to Lions, Tigers or Bears. Just by changing from bird shot up to slugs.

I said pretty much the same the most effective punch are the ones that lands and does damage in that particular incident. There is no 12 gauge shotgun, in punches.

Sorry about making my post appear to criticize yours. That wasn't intended. I just popped "reply" on the last post in the string and tried to clarify the question. My bad.

For what it's worth, I'm probably more than a 90% match for seeing things the same way you do. Then the internet, terminology and semantics get involved and things turn to crap.

And maybe a hammer, a saw and a crowbar would have been better than the guns.

Joss your comment on using different tools to reference empty hand weapons of the Martial arts is well taken.

You are right we only split on terminology, its use and vurnerabilty of exposing oneself on the world wide web.

Young kids coming into the job market are being evaluated by what they have wrote while texting on the Internet. A 47 yr old would be advised to beware, that warning is much appreciated.

Straight off rear leg (reverse punch) but, I would not even use a punch or should I say fist. I would use a palm heel strike, chin or side of head. Less chance of me injuring me.

Thats an easy question. The most effective punch has to be the jab. Its a straightline so there is no wasted movement, its fast without over committing yourself, allowing you to defend quicker and if trained properly it can still knock out the opponent or set up the knockout shot or takedown.