Focus Mitts

If you are looking for an excellent cardiovascular workout that also builds some power and skill (and you have a partner), look into getting a pair of focus mitts.  These mitts are designed like gloves but with a striking pad on the front of them.

How to use focus mitts

If you don't have any martial arts training you can still use focus mitts to workout (just learn how to punch correctly first).  Just start simply.  Throw single punches like a jab, cross, hook or uppercut.  Once you master these you can start putting them together in combos.  Mitts are an excellent tool for getting into shape and will get you very tired, very quickly.  You don't have to try to kill the mitts when your strike, just be accurate and give them a little pop.

To punch correctly and not hurt your wrists, hold your arm straight out in front of you.  Turn your fist slightly to the outside so that your first 2 knuckles will be what make contact with the pad.  You want there to be a straight line running up your arm from your first 2 knuckle through your forearm.  This allows the impact to travel straight through your body.  If your wrist isn't straight the impact will cause your wrist to bend one way or the other. 

The Power of Front Kicks, Part 1

I'm a big fan of mixed martial arts, and with the exception of a handful of fighters, almost no one uses kicks very effectively.  Just watch some fights from Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, or Lyoto Machida and you will see the advantage of being able to kick and keep distance when all your opponent can do is punch.  Covering the wide range of kicks would be a huge task so I am going to focus solely on front kicks in this post.

Front kicks can be used both defensively and offensively.

For defensive purposes you will want to utilize the front push kick seen commonly in Muay Thai fights.  The vast majority of people in MMA or on the street will come straight forward and only attack using punches.  This is perfect for implementing the front push kick.  You simply want to lift your knee straight up and push him away with your lead foot (use the entire surface of your foot and push using your hips).  This will not only stop him dead in his tracks (keeping him out of punching range) but will frustrate him because he can never get close to you.  If you are a ground fighter you can use this kick to knock your foe into a wall, car, cage. etc. so you can close the distance and tie him up, to work for the takedown. 

The rear front kick is an offensive weapon.  It is thrown by lifting your heel back to your butt and thrusting the ball of your foot out like a cannonball.  This kick can be used to not only knock your opponent's wind out, but drop him as well.  He won't be able to take to many of these types of kicks and stay on his feet. 
Both of these kicks can be used to set up other techniques.

I would recommend watching some of those fighters I mention at the beginning to see how they set a kick up and if they used it in a combination.  If you are more flexible you can even use the front kick to the face to KO your opponent (generally done with your rear foot).  To see that in action watch Anderson Silva's fight with Vitor Belfort or Lyoto Machida's fight with Randy Couture.  It's always good to have more techniques in your arsenal, especially one most people can't defend and keeps you at a safe distance from their punches.  Both versions of the front kick do just that.