A top ranked international boxer (or kickboxer) is almost always going to have a speed and power advantage over some unknown martial artist who doesn't have the benefit of training 6 hours a day. I dont think such comparisions are really that helpful. It can go the other way as well,  i'd bet on a top wing chun guy who trains 6 hours a day over an average non professional boxer.

It seems POWER is the missing thing that it seems we can ALL agree on. There are far too many Wing Chun classes that dont teach power, or have structured methods of power training. Lots of them fall back on 'speed = power' and 'the power will come'. Sure, it will - but if you want power in a reasonable time frame, I believe its very important to train for it. At the least, you should be practising proper form on the wall bag and trying to give yourself an understanding of where your power can come from. This is the big thing I have decided is missing from my technique - I still lack the power I really want. I think Iron Palm or similar is a very good match with Wing Chun. Theres no point in hitting someone if you are not going to be able to really damage them. Because Wing Chun generates power differently to most MA styles, you really need to train this aspect if you want to have anywhere near the power that a boxer, karateka, etc can easily generate - hip and shoulder torquing is much easier to grasp quickly.

But for uppercuts, I agree with Nathan, trapping would be a great idea. A upper-cut can't be thrown with the elbow glued to the body, so trapping  them at the first sign of an uppercut would be good. You could probably either pin their arm/elbow to their body and strike, or fuk-sao and pull their elbow to a better trapping position and then trap.

First, to block a tight hook, we needs to pivot slightly to make some space (we do not want to compromise the centreline by pivoting too much) so we can block the hook by contacting near the attacker's wrist. This way, we'll have more leverage. Also, in the school I'm training at, we use Dai sau for defending hooks. It redirects the force around our heads instead of trying to stop it with a tan or biu sau. It will also give the attacker a false sense that the strike is going through. Also we block/redirect and strike at the same time, so I don't understand why some people are saying even the first hook is defended, the second one will still come through. If you've been hit with a palm strike to the chin, your punch will lose most of its power IF you can connect with the second hook, and the wing chun guy didn't try to block it.

However, it does take a lot of training to be able to use wing chun properly, and a boxer should not be taken lightly in any circumstance.

TO 3 Chopsticks Wong: for the uppercut, just use chit sau(cutting hand)+punch. Also, with good relaxed sturcture, a wing chun'er will not be pushed off centre, actually any contact by the opponent will creat a "bridge" and allow the WCer to get close and strike.

Last, the wing chun "knock out power" mainly comes from your body mass. It's like transferring your body mass to the point of contact (knuckles, palm, foot etc). It has things to do with the internal aspect of wing chun training, which is only taught in some of the wing chun lineages.

Also, at higher levels of internal wing chun training, you learn to attack the opponent's structure at the point of contact. An example would be by connecting your forearm with the opponent, you transfer your body mass on to his arm, it's like throwing a weight almost as heavy as you at his arm, at the same time, you add in rotational force from rotating your shoulder, hips, elbow and even wrist, so it becomes like for example a spinning 75kg weight striking into your opponent's arm. A non high level wing chun'er will not have the structure to take this kind of force, and his structure will crumble. Just imagine someone drops a 75kg dumbbell on to your arm when you throw a punch, if your arm is tense, it'll pull your body down and your face towards your opponent, and boom…. I've seen this in application with my own eyes, so effing amazing! I can't explain the whole thing too well because I don't have enough knowledge of this level of wing chun yet.

Now I've learned Boxing, I know the old Wing Chun would not work. Not the styles fault, just a poor teacher.

I don't know any moves in Wing Chun that'd stop my lead hook to the jaw. But I'm no WC master. Still, it isn't easy. I don't know any moves in any style where you can reach out to stop it like we were trying in Wing Chun. I now either cover up from the punch and take it on my forearms or shoulders, or a dodge it.

I'd say the best idea for Wing Chun guys is use your footwork to dodge around the punch; if the Boxer was going for a KO, if he misses you entirely, it'll leave a massive blind side for you to exploit, probably best exploit it with a pak sau on the failed punch arms elbow, and try and hammer down on his own jaw.

One thing that won't work is the typical style; thinking you can block hooks by contacting the forearm with your own hand or wrist. No no no. I don't think so. You either need to dodge it, or find some way to attack their elbow or upper arm.

About Wing Chun power; I'd say more people need to pay attention to their striking practice. You need to do the Wing Chun iron palm or at least practice hitting something solid daily.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....eature=fvw

and study the Aussie champ's moves, he's in the black trunks.  His name is Jeff Fenech.

I seriously doubt the tan sau or bil sau can stop these punches.  And notice how well he controls his opponent's elbows and cuts Nelson off in the ring not allowing his opponent to circle.  Good footwork.

So, what can we learn to counter or borrow here?  This may be a good video request for Jin.

Some Wing Chun players have a big triangular hole up the middle and I have gotten in very easily with tight uppercuts.  I push their forearm and elbow to one side and as he pivots back I check his attack and I come up the hole underneath and pop him before he completes the pivot.

If the Wing Chun person has his shoulders hunched forward and his chin forward he is in for a bad hit.  It's one of the reasons why I tell students to train with the slight lean back and hip tilt . It helps prevent getting jerked off balance too – the hip tilt and lean back sets up a a nice turn when the arm is jerked instead of being off balance.

The power of the punch is a good item for discussion.  Sports science (physics really) favors the long fist systems for power generation if your target is not blocking you.  And karate players utilize gammaku, the hip power generation, usually swivelly in a figure eight.  They also focus on the arm, elbow, fist rotation and their makiwari board training all lead to a very powerful punch.  I don't see a lot of Wing Chun players hitting the center of the Mook Jong hard with their fists repetitively (I do encourage palm power striking on the Mook Jong and wrist rotation exercises.).  I think Wing Chun players should do a lot of serious sand bag training.

That said, there is Wing Chun Do taught by Sijo James Demille and his whole science of the coverging power punch.  Sijo Demille was taught Wing Chun by Bruce Lee and teaches the one inch and three inch punches.  This is not the push punch you see in old Bruce Lee demos – this is the converging punch with large emphasis on wrist movement.  This punch does create a lot of power and the motion is all forward – no telegraphing.  Bruce taught this technique.

I think Wing Chun instructors should do more to teach counters to the hooks and uppercuts.  Especially if they are thrown in very, very close and the thrower knows Wing Chun too.

Rick

we'll get into "how to redirect" pressure against your strong elbow in the near future.

I recently asked my sifu (Lo Man Kam lineage) about the elbow-strong-as-steel or immovable elbow concept, and he said that it is better to keep your upper arm and elbow as soft as the forearm. The reasoning was that making the elbow immovable makes it easier to push you around or pull you, since it basically acts as a "handle" to your body weight.

I know I am not explaning this properly, but he demonstrated it on me, and it seemed to work. With my elbow immovable, he pushed my elbow and was able to make me loose my balance. However, with my elbow soft, his  manipulation of my elbow didn't put me off balance.

Can anyone tell me some benefits of keeping the elbow immovable, and any comments about the soft elbow? Thanks!

- Farhan R.