WING CHUNW I N G C H U N P U N C H I N G
The Wing Chun PunchOne of Wing Chun’s main distin-guishing points from other martialarts is its famous ‘vertical fist’.With its special structure that usesa shorter distance and the strongerbody mechanics, Wing Chun’svertical fist allows better powerand effect. The shoulder structuremakes the vertical fist easier, morenatural, faster and more powerful.Using a vertical Wing Chun punch,the fighter can easily generate a
great amount of power from veryshort distances. The power ofWing Chun punch is hidden in thelast few inches gained through relaxation. It is crucial that the arm remains loose when throwinga punch until the very last fewinches before reaching the target.Like the arm, the fist also remainsloose until just before the point ofimpact as this is the principle be-hind our arm muscles.
You can use the whole body in
order to create an even morepowerful punch, using your stancethrough the hips by rotating themtoward the target and pushing allthe energy through the arm intothe fist at the last moment as thepunch gets closer to the target.When striking, you must aimthrough or slightly past the target(not too far or too close) so thatyou can generate the most power-ful Wing Chun penetrating effect.
Chain PunchingBeing a very practical approach topunching, the Wing Chun chainpunch is generated by holding thehands in the centerline as we cre-ate the punch by pushing thepunches forward by the elbow.After the punch hits the target, theelbow will drop out of the punch asthe next punch is launched alongthe same line simultaneously. Asthis next punch hits its target, theelbow will drop out of the punchand the next punch will follow in
the same manner. One should aimto reach about five punches asecond to ensure an incessant at-tack on the opponent, while at thesame time ensuring the punchesare accurate. Therefore, whenbeginners try to execute chainpunching, they should first developpower and technique not worryingabout the speed.
The punch should always hit thetarget. The punch should not beallowed to drop before it hits thetarget as it will dramatically reduce
the power and the effect of thepunch thrown. Additionally, thehand should be withdrawn backenough to the Wu Sau position,about a fist’s distance from thefighter’s chest, to get power for thenext punch followed. It is also theposition to cover the ribs that ispreviously exposed.
When used correctly, chainpunching becomes like a machinegun as Bruce Lee called it: “theStraight Blast”.
