Loving your work. Can you take us through the basic punch routine again? Some practitioners have their fist slightly at an angle at the end of their punch, what is the right way?
hey Ian, trust me, we’ll be going over the punch mechanics and concepts over and over and over again. but each time, covering a little more detail, like i said, this is just like a jigsaw puzzle, over time, you’ll see the “big picture”. I can only do that if i focus on covering the concepts.
welcome to the site, start by watching all the videos in the “forms” and “concepts” section and also do search at the top of “straight punch” and watch that as well. let us know how it’s coming along. peace!
I was looking at the chain punches again and there were instances where it looked like it was moving like a hammerfist down to the target (as the other arm goes over to punch, the fist was moving downwards towards the target and then once it was set, it moved forward). I was just wondering if that is the correct movement bec. in the first form the movement of the punch is straight out.
hey Lans, i get this question quite a bit, when you are practicing slow, your fist “falls” into center then launches straight out with the support of the body structure. this is correct. but as you do it smoother and faster, you don’t notice the “falling fist” but it is still there. remember that it’s the body and the elbow that does all the heavy work. we’ll get more into this in the future.
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around punching with the bottom 2 knuckles. After all the years of using the upper two as the point of contact. The transition from horizontal fist to vertical, was easier.
Drop some knowledge Sifu Jinny, Jin, Jin. Here’s your opening to say “not by the hair of my chinny chin, chin, but don’t. I’ll cry………..
haha…no no no…”i’ll huff and i’ll puff and blow your centerline down!”. you remember the video about “anchoring”? make contact with the whole fist but the final action of the punch is “anchoring the wrist” which causes the action of “setting off the grenade”. we’ll get into this in more detail soon.
When I studied Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do (Korean), we used the top two. When I boxed (western boxing) we were taught to use the bottom three. Bruce Lee used the bottom three as well, but when I studied southern praying mantis we used the fong ngan (phoenix eye – first knuckle of index finger) to strike mak points.
Shotokan Karate, as well as Aikido, uses a horizontal fist, and the point of contact is the two bigger knuckles. Most arts use that formula. Funny you haven’t heard/seen it.
The problem with the horizontal fist is that it turns your elbow out which will corrupt your structure. The vertical fist was also favored by western boxing legends, Edwin Haslet, Jim Driscoll and Jack Dempsey. This idea is not new and it has great merit that has been forgotten by many.
I was told that the reason the bottom three are used is because they line up with the forearm whereas the top two will cause the wrist to buckle on impact. This used to happen all the time to me when I was doing Tae Kwon Do and then I learned why I shouldn’t hit like that and it made sense. Strike a heavy bag with all your might using those two top knuckles and you will immediately see the folly in such a strike.
I have a question regarding the footwork in a properly applied chain punch. I have a lot of material from Paul Vunak and his PFS system; he, as did his teacher’s teacher refer to it as a Straight Blast and Paul talks about the differences between the JKD way of doing the chain punches and the WC way. He says to “Do the 50 yard dash straight down their centerline”, my question is this…when you are aggressively driving into his centerline with chain punches, are you simply creating that forward intent by anchoring to the apex of an imaginary triangle on the floor in front of you? If the person backs up quickly, how can you maintain the punches without running after the guy and corupting your lower triangle?
when you do the JKD “straight blast”, you aren’t “listening” but “talking”. in other words, you’re trying to use brute force and speed to make the movement work. and you are correct, when your hands are “in charge”, you compromise your “center and balance”.
What kind of footwork is needed in this case? Is a step with the leading foot and a slide with the trailing foot going to cover enough ground to keep up with the attempts to get away from the punches? Can you walk forward and still maintain the bottom triangle?
the only way they teach it, “running straight blast” is the only way to do it. but there is no “bottom triangle” because while you run, you have to be “top heavy” instead of “bottom heavy”. how can you run fast AND stay rooted? you can’t do both.
Bic Bo does look funny to the uninitiated tho. We all know, it’s to keep your base (bottom triangle) underneath, and moving with you. I was told to use whatever footwork gets you “there”, and then drop down into your stance. Makes sense to me!
When I studied Southern Mantis, we practiced Bic Bo and yes, my Sifu also said that what the JKD guys did lacked structure. Jin, I just watched your lesson on the “Punch and Step Basics” and a lot of my questions were answered, thank you.
Jin, this good stuff!
Could you clarify something for me. If the third stick is like a blade of grass, offering no resistance how does the returning fist in chain punching give the resistance that you are showing in this clip. What am I missing? Is the blade of grass concept just for lateral pressure or ??? thanks, this is a super service.
Hello, wise and powerful Si-Fu Jin. This is my first time writing in, although I’ve been studying your videos for a whole year.
To start off, I couldn’t thank you enough for the opportunity you and your very focused sudents (except Bryan, lol) have offered the genuinely interested students here.
May I also offer that I’m finally getting totally comfortable with my triangles, structure, and my wave is actually getting quite powerful (not compared to my kempo reverse punch yet though…). I have also involved my girlfriend and her 7 year old daughter in my training. I know I’m not an instructor, but the 7 year old developed a strong stance right away, and had no problem turnng her shoulders off… That took her less than 3 hours total training… I wish I was still a kid… Lol!
Back to the “knuckle debate”… In Kempo and most other striking forms, top knuckles seem prevalent. Let me say also, I agree on Jin’s view of locking the wrist…. But, IF using the top knuckles, they should perfectly line up with your arm bones, offering similar solidity on impact. Yes, strong wrists only. Even in self-defence oriented kempo, we leaned toward palm strikes to protect the wrist.
Also, the body structure of each punch is so different, that a karate style punch delivered from wing chun form would certainly hurt your wrist, and vice-versa.
I look forward to any and all the tricks you let slip out of your bag.
Hi Jin,
Loving your work. Can you take us through the basic punch routine again? Some practitioners have their fist slightly at an angle at the end of their punch, what is the right way?
cheers
Ian
[Reply]
hey Ian, trust me, we’ll be going over the punch mechanics and concepts over and over and over again. but each time, covering a little more detail, like i said, this is just like a jigsaw puzzle, over time, you’ll see the “big picture”. I can only do that if i focus on covering the concepts.
-Jin
[Reply]
I’m very new to all of this and would like to know more about aligning the structure with the triangle or three sticks.
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 1st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
welcome to the site, start by watching all the videos in the “forms” and “concepts” section and also do search at the top of “straight punch” and watch that as well. let us know how it’s coming along. peace!
[Reply]
Jin,
I was looking at the chain punches again and there were instances where it looked like it was moving like a hammerfist down to the target (as the other arm goes over to punch, the fist was moving downwards towards the target and then once it was set, it moved forward). I was just wondering if that is the correct movement bec. in the first form the movement of the punch is straight out.
Thanks in advance!
Lans
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
hey Lans, i get this question quite a bit, when you are practicing slow, your fist “falls” into center then launches straight out with the support of the body structure. this is correct. but as you do it smoother and faster, you don’t notice the “falling fist” but it is still there. remember that it’s the body and the elbow that does all the heavy work. we’ll get more into this in the future.
[Reply]
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around punching with the bottom 2 knuckles. After all the years of using the upper two as the point of contact. The transition from horizontal fist to vertical, was easier.
Drop some knowledge Sifu Jinny, Jin, Jin. Here’s your opening to say “not by the hair of my chinny chin, chin, but don’t. I’ll cry………..
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 12:03 am
haha…no no no…”i’ll huff and i’ll puff and blow your centerline down!”. you remember the video about “anchoring”? make contact with the whole fist but the final action of the punch is “anchoring the wrist” which causes the action of “setting off the grenade”. we’ll get into this in more detail soon.
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Who told you to use the top knuckle?
I use the bottom 3 to make solid contact. That is Muay Thai.
I heard a Karate guy said they use the 2 big ones. I dun know. I thought he was stupid.
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David Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
When I studied Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do (Korean), we used the top two. When I boxed (western boxing) we were taught to use the bottom three. Bruce Lee used the bottom three as well, but when I studied southern praying mantis we used the fong ngan (phoenix eye – first knuckle of index finger) to strike mak points.
[Reply]
Shotokan Karate, as well as Aikido, uses a horizontal fist, and the point of contact is the two bigger knuckles. Most arts use that formula. Funny you haven’t heard/seen it.
[Reply]
David Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
The problem with the horizontal fist is that it turns your elbow out which will corrupt your structure. The vertical fist was also favored by western boxing legends, Edwin Haslet, Jim Driscoll and Jack Dempsey. This idea is not new and it has great merit that has been forgotten by many.
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Boxing, Muay Thai and basic MMA do not punch like that.
Yes, the fist is turned, but they focus with the two central knuckles.
It must just be Japanese styles who do it like that. I wonder if it is correct Japanese form, or a Western perversion?
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David Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I was told that the reason the bottom three are used is because they line up with the forearm whereas the top two will cause the wrist to buckle on impact. This used to happen all the time to me when I was doing Tae Kwon Do and then I learned why I shouldn’t hit like that and it made sense. Strike a heavy bag with all your might using those two top knuckles and you will immediately see the folly in such a strike.
[Reply]
Jin,
I have a question regarding the footwork in a properly applied chain punch. I have a lot of material from Paul Vunak and his PFS system; he, as did his teacher’s teacher refer to it as a Straight Blast and Paul talks about the differences between the JKD way of doing the chain punches and the WC way. He says to “Do the 50 yard dash straight down their centerline”, my question is this…when you are aggressively driving into his centerline with chain punches, are you simply creating that forward intent by anchoring to the apex of an imaginary triangle on the floor in front of you? If the person backs up quickly, how can you maintain the punches without running after the guy and corupting your lower triangle?
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
when you do the JKD “straight blast”, you aren’t “listening” but “talking”. in other words, you’re trying to use brute force and speed to make the movement work. and you are correct, when your hands are “in charge”, you compromise your “center and balance”.
[Reply]
David Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
What kind of footwork is needed in this case? Is a step with the leading foot and a slide with the trailing foot going to cover enough ground to keep up with the attempts to get away from the punches? Can you walk forward and still maintain the bottom triangle?
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
the only way they teach it, “running straight blast” is the only way to do it. but there is no “bottom triangle” because while you run, you have to be “top heavy” instead of “bottom heavy”. how can you run fast AND stay rooted? you can’t do both.
Bic Bo does look funny to the uninitiated tho. We all know, it’s to keep your base (bottom triangle) underneath, and moving with you. I was told to use whatever footwork gets you “there”, and then drop down into your stance. Makes sense to me!
[Reply]
When I studied Southern Mantis, we practiced Bic Bo and yes, my Sifu also said that what the JKD guys did lacked structure. Jin, I just watched your lesson on the “Punch and Step Basics” and a lot of my questions were answered, thank you.
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
glad the videos helped you, peace!
[Reply]
Jin, this good stuff!
Could you clarify something for me. If the third stick is like a blade of grass, offering no resistance how does the returning fist in chain punching give the resistance that you are showing in this clip. What am I missing? Is the blade of grass concept just for lateral pressure or ??? thanks, this is a super service.
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
the power comes from your “body structure and your elbow” not from your hand, always focus on the “heavy elbow” even when retracting.
[Reply]
hmm Jin its been a while and I know u’re getting kinda of more busier LOL.hmm well how to make our movements,hands faster.any exercise O_O or anything
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Hello, wise and powerful Si-Fu Jin. This is my first time writing in, although I’ve been studying your videos for a whole year.
To start off, I couldn’t thank you enough for the opportunity you and your very focused sudents (except Bryan, lol) have offered the genuinely interested students here.
May I also offer that I’m finally getting totally comfortable with my triangles, structure, and my wave is actually getting quite powerful (not compared to my kempo reverse punch yet though…). I have also involved my girlfriend and her 7 year old daughter in my training. I know I’m not an instructor, but the 7 year old developed a strong stance right away, and had no problem turnng her shoulders off… That took her less than 3 hours total training… I wish I was still a kid… Lol!
Back to the “knuckle debate”… In Kempo and most other striking forms, top knuckles seem prevalent. Let me say also, I agree on Jin’s view of locking the wrist…. But, IF using the top knuckles, they should perfectly line up with your arm bones, offering similar solidity on impact. Yes, strong wrists only. Even in self-defence oriented kempo, we leaned toward palm strikes to protect the wrist.
Also, the body structure of each punch is so different, that a karate style punch delivered from wing chun form would certainly hurt your wrist, and vice-versa.
I look forward to any and all the tricks you let slip out of your bag.
Cheers, Shaun.
Vancouver Island, B.C.
[Reply]