Man breaks record as fastest puncher in the world

By Freddie Noble

A man who took up martial arts to beat the bullies at school has set three Guinness World Records - as the fastest puncher on the planet.

Joshua Lyalla, 23, says aged seven he was picked on so he joined a Taekwondo club to learn self-defense.

He has since embarked on the path of creating his own MMA business and growing his social following to 982K on Instagram and TikTok.

Joshua then started posting content on social media and in 2021 it blew up posting regularly, earning 2k-200k in a few weeks, and doing three jobs at once.

He has now set three world records for the fastest punches in a minute.

They are full extensions without glove (453 in 60 seconds), full extensions with gloves (374 in 60 seconds) and full extensions with dumbbells - (333 in 60 seconds).

Joshua, a content creator from Leicester Forest East, Leicestershire, said: "A lot of my training was a mental battle because the mind is where it begins. People must’ve thought I was crazy.

"I would actually imagine that I had the world record, and I would picture myself in the gym and feel the emotion.

"Because it’s a 60-second record, sometimes from the outside looking in, it’s a short time, but it is actually longer than you think. This was tough because when I first started.

"I trained for a year without my parents' knowing, and when I told them, it was very overwhelming.

"I did the first record without gloves, and when I finished the punching, I had to wait a little while, and I was so nervous.

''When they announced that I did it and he handed the first certificate over, I let it all out.

"I definitely have these three, but I am just getting started with these records, and I want to show people that people are limitless and humans don’t often explore their capabilities."

In 2024, Joshua, who has a math degree, started his intense training program in preparation for the world record attempts.

After failing his first attempt in 2024, Joshua started training twice a day, and his whole life revolved around this record.

In the lead-up to the record attempts, Joshua's training intensified by completing five rounds of 15-minute circuits every day.

Joshua's philosophy is that "you train hard and fight easy."

One drill that Joshua did was with a resistance band. He would go on a treadmill, setting the speed to 6-8, and throw a minute of punches.

He said that he definitely threw over 10,000 in some training sessions.

Joshua's records:

• Full extensions without glove - 453 in 60 seconds
• Full extensions with gloves - 374 in 60 seconds
• Full extensions with dumbbells - 333 in 60 seconds