Martial artist declares he's 'world's fastest puncher' after breaking trio of records

Content creator Joshua Iyalla (UK) used his martial arts skills to become a triple world record holder.

Declaring himself the world's "fastest puncher", he claimed records for:

• Most full extension punches in one minute (male) - 453
• Most full extension punches wearing boxing gloves in one minute (male) - 374
• Most full extension punches in one minute holding 1 kg weights (male) - 333

He told us: “This has been nearly a year in the making. We trained hard. Twice a day over the last few weeks leading up to it. Total commitment.”

Joshua confessed it was the most full extension punches in one minute (male), the title without gloves, that made him the proudest.

“That was the hardest,” he said, adding that he'd rate his confidence in achieving it at an 8.5 out of 10. “It pushed me to my absolute limit.”

He was way more confident when he had the gloves on.

“Infinity out of ten,” he jokingly rated his confidence level. “That one was light work.”

But it was the dumbbell record that was the real beast, with Joshua rating his confidence on that one at just "six out of 10".

He said: "The fatigue in your shoulders is unreal! I’m not some big guy with massive traps. It took everything.”

Achieving such a massive feat required a lot of hard work... and a little help from technology.

“I actually used ChatGPT to come up with my training plan!” he laughed. “Got it verified by my uncle, who’s a boxing coach. It was a lot of full-extension punches, Tabata intervals, but gladly no cardio!”

And Joshua admits he was overcome with emotion when he realized all his training had paid off.

He confessed: “When I found out I broke the record, I literally cried. I danced on the Tube listening to Latin music. People thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care. Cloud nine!”

Joshua wanted to challenge himself to break the records as a way of showing his followers, especially young men battling self-doubt, that anything is possible.

“Martial arts saved me,” he said as he looked back on beginning his training at age seven. “I didn’t want to train growing up. My dad forced me. At 16, something clicked, and I went on to compete for England and became a three-time English Champion in Taekwondo. All because he never let me quit. Love you, Dad.”

He added: “My mum’s definitely jumping for joy. Dad? He’s more stoic. Probably like, ‘Well done, Son’, but I know deep down he’s proud.”

“[Dad] grew up in Nigeria, worked hard to come to this country and everything that he said he wanted to do, he got done. So yeah, Dad, following in your footsteps.”

Joshua shared some advice for anyone out there who wants to break a record of their own, saying: “If you’re even thinking about doing it, go for it. I didn’t think I could at first. But now? I’m the fastest puncher in the world. Trust me, put your mind to it, lock in, and get it done.”