Wing Chun Academy of Thailand

WING CHUN LESSONS

SIU LIM TAO

SECTION ONE

Movements 9 and 10 introduce you to the Wing Chun Punch. Wing Chun takes into account the structure of human anatomy to devise its fighting style. Isn't it better to devise a style according to the kinetics of human anatomy than to adapt the human to a style? Simple as it may sound, this is not how it works with many styles. They push the practitioners beyond their limits to accomplish a movement, when in actuality, the same can be accomplished using simpler movements within the human limits. Granted, those who train themselves to perform incredible feats are somewhat superhuman. Nonetheless, the ability to continue such feats is usually short lived, as evident with Olympics gold medalists. It is not often that gold medalists are able to reclaim their championship in the next Olympics event. The human body can only take so much punishment. For every man who accomplishes superhuman feats, there are perhaps hundreds who injure themselves trying to achieve the same.

One of the most evident differences between Wing Chun and other styles is the way the WC punch is executed. Wing Chun punch is often called the "sun" punch. The Chinese character for the sun is a an upright rectangular box containing a horizontal line in the middle. That's what the vertical punch looks like when viewed from the receiving end. Wing Chun stylists punch with their knuckles aligned perpendicular to the ground, as opposed to the common horizontal position, i.e. with the knuckles parallel to the ground.

Let's first analyze the horizontal punch. If you are doing another style and punch this way, let me ask you this question. "Why do you punch this way?" Don't read further ... stop here and answer yourself this question first.

Make a note of whether you have an answer readily, or if you had to think about it.

Take your time.

I have more questions for you.

"Why do you twist your fist when you punch?" and "Why do you twist it back when you withdraw?"

Answer them before you go to the next question.

"Do you keep your wrist flat (versus bent) when you punch?" "If so, why?"

Answer them before going to the next question.

"Which knuckles do you use to strike an object (boards, bags, opponent, etc)?"

Answer them before going to the next question.

"How do you do your knuckle pushups ... do you position your fists like the way you punch horizontally, or do you have the inner fists facing each other?"

Patience! Just another question to go.

"Which knuckles do you use for pushups?"

Achtung! Ziz iz zee endzov zee interrogation.

The purpose of these questions is for you to analyse your own actions.

Now, if you readily answered the above questions, it means that you had either been given the answers by a teacher or that you have given thoughts to them before. However, if you had to think up an answer, then you've been doing what you do only because you were told to do them that way; that you were not given an explanation or that you had never asked for an explanation.

So, why do you punch horizontally? "Because it is the strongest and fastest way of punching!" Is that your answer? But that doesn't explain the proverbial question "WHY?" Yes, why would this punch be stronger than any other punch? I don't recall ever getting a sensible answer to that question when I asked my Taekwondo teacher. If you have a scientific answer for this, please let me know. However, I do have sensible explanations to why the vertical punch is faster and stronger, which I will explain a bit later. Question 2. "Why do you twist your fist when you punch?" I remember the answer I got from horizontal punchers. "There is more impact and force when you spin your fist ... like a bullet when it travels." I liked that explanation... "like a bullet." The truth of the matter is that a bullet spins at a much faster rate than a fist ever will. The comparison is beyond apathy. In fact, the twisting slows the punch down because of the many counter muscles you employ. Instead of applying only the extension muscles for the punch, you are applying rotation muscles that cross and resist the extension muscles. I am not saying that this type of punch is slow or weak, but that you are likely to deliver a faster and stronger punch without the twist. Why do you twist your punch then? Because you have to in order to move from the natural position of your arm structure to the twisted horizontal position. When you "twist" or "rotate" something, you are twisting or rotation from a natural or neutral position to another position. So, in twisting your punch, you are in fact twisting your arm from a natural position to an unnatural position. You also twist your horizontal punch because you cannot punch repeatedly and fast if you kept your fist in the horizontal position. Try it.

Try putting your dukes up with your inner fists pointing down (like how the punch would end). You will find them awkward and unnatural. So, if you put your dukes up like boxers and fighters do (inside of fists facing inward), you will of course need to twist them to end the punch horizontally.

Stop reading for a moment and get yourself up for an "en guard" fighting position that you feel most comfortable in. Look at your fists ... are they not in the vertical position? So why twist at all, when you can simply extend your fist from the starting position? Wing Chun system punches from this position to end in the same, therefore using only the extension muscles for this action, rather than getting the twisting muscles involved.

Many styles twist their punches for one main reason; i.e., to generate circular Qi power. I'm into Qi. I related Wing Chun to Qi more than most WC practitioners do. However, when it comes to using circular Qi for a punch, I see the trade off as being unworthy. Turning the fist involves extra muscles and movements that slow the punch. It has more demerits than merits (as you will see in my explanations further on). Circular power is more effective when used in the main channels (along the spine) than the tributaries. You will have more use of it to turbonize your torso than the arm.

Next: Why do you withdraw and twist your fist when you complete a punch? You twist because you want to return to the most comfortable position for your arms and hands. You withdraw, because you were trained to prepare for another punch. Wing Chun does not see any sense in that. You are, in effect, retreating after breaking through the gates of your opponent's the castle. Why? You will need to reattempt entry again from the scratch. Once you are in the compound of a castle, you continue attacking the inside until you have taken control of command.

For a horizontal punch (inside fist facing ground), do you punch with your outer wrist flushed to the outer forearm? I'm sure you were taught that. All styles teach that with good sense. If you bend your fist, you will likely hurt your wrist when you land your punch with an impact on a hard surface like wooden boards or bones.

Which knuckles do you contact in a punch? Horizontal punchers use the two big knuckles from their index and middle fingers. They say that they are the biggest and strongest, therefore, most effective.

Stand up and Try this:

Go to a wall near you, and imagine yourself facing an opponent a few inches taller than you. (If you have someone near you who is taller, you can try this little experiment.)

Say you want to hit his chin, nose or forehead, smack on, with your two large knuckles with a horizontal punch. Wait! Don't hit your partner or the wall! Just place your two knuckles, flat on his/her/imaginary chin, nose, or between the eyes. As I said, you are standing against someone taller, so your arm is in an inclining position. (See Picture above.)

Forgot something?

Isn't your wrist suppose to be flat? If not, the force traveling along your forearm and your fist will be split in two directions (See picture at left). You'll either hurt your wrist or execute a lame punch.

Okay, flatten the wrist. Now, the fist is supported by the forearm behind it. Hmph! Your main knuckles are no longer in contact with the target. Your finger joints are instead. (See Picture at bottom left.) Good thing you didn't attempt a shot at the wall with that punch! (Ouch!)

A bit of conflict in principles, ain't it?

In fact, the only time that you can have the knuckles flat against the wall and also have your wrist flat, is when you have your arm at your shoulder height (See picture at right). That's when you can apply both principles effectively. This is the height that you subconsciously place the boards for breaking. That certainly narrows down the number of places you can strike an opponent.

Often, what you are taught and what you actually do is quite different. We tend to do what is anatomically natural for us. While our conscious mind recall what we were taught, our subconscious mind perform differently, without even noticing. Next time you do a session of bag punching, consciously throw each punch horizontally (as you were taught and as you thought you have been doing. Punch the bag up and down. You will find yourself punching the bag as if you were doing for the first time. You will feel uncoordinated and awkward. This is because you haven't been punching the bag horizontally all this time. You were most likely punching it with your fist in a semi-horizontal and semi-vertical position, if not fully vertical. Vertical punching is natural. This is because your conscious mind tries to punch horizontally as you were taught while the subconscious mind tries to punch vertically. Consequently, you end with a semi-vertical punch. I've noticed boxers doing the same in the gym or the ring. They rarely punch horizontally.

Still not convinced? Try this test.

Stand arm's length from the wall, and place your two large knuckles on it, holding the arm at the ideal shoulder height. Now take a short step towards the wall, while keeping the two large knuckles in place. Your elbow and wrist will bend to accommodate the distance change. (See picture at left.)

Now look at the alignment of your fist against your forearm, upper arm, and shoulder. Not much of an alignment, is it? They are zig-zagged. See picture at left. The red arrows indicate the directions of the fragmented force. The yellow shaded area shows how the supportive forearm, upper-arm and shoulder of the punching fist is outside of your body area, shaded in red and green. When your arm is outside of your body area, you are using only your arm force. The arm is floating in the air on it's own. However, if your arm is within the area of the side of the body of the punching arm (shaded in red), you will get the support of that side of the body, from the bottom to the top, plus a percentage of the other side (indicated in green shade). A punch thrown outside your body will be weaker than if thrown within the body.

A horizontal punch is only good (or you may argue, "ideal") when your arm is fully extended, and at shoulder level, as shown again in the picture at the right. This punch is most effective if it lands with your arms fully stretched. However, if your target moved back an inch, you'd miss. So, if you anticipate the target to move back, you can add an inch allowance, i.e., one inch past the target, to accomplish the most effective result. However, if the target didn't move ... or charged forward, you'd then land a "not so good or ideal" punch. You may even injure your wrist if the punch landed on a big bone. If you think your incomplete punch would be forceful, then try doing pushups on your knuckles in the horizontal position. Oh yes, that leads us to the next question ... "How do you do your knuckle pushups?"

At this point, you may be asking, "What's pushups got to do with punching?"
Well, pushups are a pain in the ... you-know-where. No one likes to do them because they're tough to do. They require a lot of force, mainly from the arms. However, that depends on how you do them. Doing pushups are very much like punching. When doing pushups, you are pushing your weight. When punching, you want to apply your weight. Because we normally stand when we punch, we are not conscientious of our feet, legs, and torsos involvement in the punch. Thus, we don't necessarily apply all the potential muscles and weight applicable towards the punch. The less muscles and body weight we apply, the less powerful the punch will be. The most common usage of muscles in a punch are those in the punching arm. Even so, they are often improperly used, thus producing a weak result. Pushups on the ground are good tests to see how you will fair punching if standing in the same position as pushups. When doing pushups, your weight, albeit the upper torso mainly, is a given factor. You can't escape it. So, when you do a pushup, it's as if you are applying all the applicable upper torso weight into a punch. Pushups exclude lower torso and leg muscle use. Nonetheless, pushups will determine the optimum usage of arm, shoulder and upper torso strength. Therefore, if you are able to pushup easily in a certain position, it means that you are managing your muscles and distributing the force economically, efficiently, and effectively. This also means that pushing (throwing) a punch in this position standing on the ground, will allow you to apply your shoulder, arm and upper torso strength most economically, efficiently, and effectively. Furthermore, if lower torso, leg and feet strength were added to the upper body strength, the combined force will render an even more powerful punch. The position of your leg, lower and upper torsos, arm, wrist and knuckles determine the potentiality of a punch. If you are in the optimum position, and manage your muscles optimally, you will execute a powerful punch. If not, you will execute a weak punch. Inversely, if you have trouble pushing off from a certain pushup position, it is safe to say that you are unable to utilize your upper torso and arm economically, efficiently and effectively in this position. Thus, standing and throwing a punch in this position will render a weak punch.
Another factor to consider about your a punch is the impact it will produce. As there are two sides to a coin, there are two types of impact. One is what the recipient will receive, and the other is what you will receive in return (opposite reaction force). Whether you are punching a person or a set of boards, the impact is felt by both, you and the recipient. The more powerful you throw a punch, the more resistance you will require. If you don't have your bones properly aligned along the path of the force, you will likely sustain damage to yourself. Pushups are good tests for correct alignment. Your upper torso weight is upon your arm and hand joints. If they are not properly aligned, you will not be able to sustain your weight. Thus, if you throw a punch, and apply your muscles and weight efficiently and effectively to produce a powerful punch, but don't have your joints aligned properly, you will hear a big "pop." The cracking sound won't be coming from a cheering crowd or from broken boards or from your opponent's bones, but from the sound of your bones breaking or dislocating. I have seen enough knuckle, elbow and shoulder dislocations at competition events, to verify the results of poor alignment.

Most martial arts school train you to do pushups on your two large knuckles, with your fists positioned like a horizontal punch. (See picture at left.) Most students find it hard to do that, and "cheat," by resting the middle knuckle and two smaller knuckles on the floor (See picture at right), instead of the first-finger and middle-finger knuckle; or turning their fists in the vertical position, using the smaller three knuckles (see picture below left). The 3-knuckle horizontal and 3-knuckle vertical fists pushups are easier to do than the 2-large-knuckles horizontal pushups.
Why?
Because they are anatomically natural.
Sounds good?
Well. That shouldn't be the end of the answer. Anybody can say that. That's what many teachers answer; and that's what many students accept. That's no better than answering someone with just a "Because!" I don't know about you, but when I get an answer, I need experiments, facts, or logic to convince me. So, when I answer you, I presume that you want the same.
If you examine the backside of your fist, you will see that the bone joining the wrist to the first finger knuckle fans out more sharply than the other hand bones. (Your middle-finger hand-bone is the straightest of them all.) Also, if you flush your fist flat to your forearm; (i.e., not bend your hand at either the thumb or pinky edge of the wrist), you will see that the first finger knuckle is on the outside edge of forearm (thumb edge). This means that the first knuckle is out of alignment; that it will not have the full support of the forearm in a punch or a pushup. So when you want to use the first knuckle for a punch or a pushup, you will need to bend the wrist at the pinky edge so the first finger bone on the hand is straight, and the knuckle is aligned inside the forearm region. The problem here is that your three other bones are now fanning out sharply; the wrist is bent (at the pinky side), the pinky and ring finger knuckles are out of the forearm region, and the middle-finger knuckly is barely within the edge. All these add up to poor support, misalignment and poor distribution of force.
The poor distribution of force is evident when you try to pushup using the two large knuckles; you will feel out of balance (or a need to balance your body weight). On the other hand, using the smaller three knuckles feel more stable. The reason being that the radius bone of your forearm which supports the first finger knuckle is mobile, whilst the ulna bone of your forearm which support the rest of the knuckles is stationary. The radius is designed to allow rotation of the forearm. The radius rotates over the ulna to accomplish a hand or wrist twist. As with anything else, mobile structure are not be as strong as fixed structure. Mobile structure do not balance as well as fixed structure. Therefore, your knuckles on the ground supported by the ulna will feel more stable and stronger than knuckles on the ground supported by the radius.
Furthermore, when you have your fists in the horizontal position for pushups, and lower your body, your arms leave the shoulder and body plane. (See picture at left. Red shade indicate body region; yellow shade indicate outside region.) This means that you task your arms solely to push your body up. You no longer have your back and shoulder muscles to help you push up. In fact, you are not even utilizing your arms to the maximum potential. You are giving your triceps 90% of the job of lifting your weight, and only 10% to your forearm . (See picture at right. Yellow arrow shows the direction of the force applied by the forearm; green arrow shows the direction of the force applied by the triceps; red arrows show the direction of the force applied by the shoulders' rotational muscles.) The arm muscles in this case do not work as a team. They're doing different things, and apply forces in different directions. The triceps are doing the bulk of the work because they are the main extension muscles. The forearm muscles are designed for radius rotation, and the shoulder muscles are designed for upper-arm rotation. This type of pushup will tax the triceps heavily. That's fine if you want to tear them for rebuilding purpose (that's what muscle building is about); but for punching or pushing, you will be mismanaging your body and arm muscles doing it this way.

Want to do a more difficult pushup? Normally, when you push up with horizontal fists, you usually have them shoulder width apart. That's because, at this position, you are able to apply some back and shoulder muscles for the push. The tough one to do is to push off with your horizontal fists together, side-by-side, thumbs touching each other, in the centerline plane (middle of your chest). See picture at left and right. The picture at the right shows the maximum that Andy is able lower his body. Not much, huh? Try it. Your wrists just won't be able to hold you if you lower yourself anymore. You'll even find it difficult to hold your weight for long in the fully stretched arm position (picture at left).
Try it please!
Really, try it!

If you tried it, you will know that it is darn tough, if not anatomically impossible. Well, that's exactly the position you will be in if you were to throw a punch at an opponent's centerline. (See Picture at left.)

The punch in the picture may look fine at first sight. The fist and arm are inside the body region. The shoulder, upper-arm and forearm are aligned straight behind the fist. However, when you use the two large knuckles of your fist to strike the target, the alignment is broken (see picture at below left with yellow arrow markings). Although your arm is within the body region (shaded in red) the arm and wrist alignment will be exactly the same position as when you were doing the pushup on your two knuckles placed in the centerline plane. See pictures at right for reminder and comparison. Each yellow line follows the radius and first knuckle hand bone.
Since you are unable to hold yourself long in the fists-together pushup position, you should conclude that your wrist will not withstand a powerful horizontal punch (executed by you) targeted to the centerline plane. And since your wrists feel more weak and painful in the dropped position of the fist-together pushup, you can conclude that your wrist will be even more susceptible to damage if your punch took an impact before your arm was fully stretched. See pictures at bottom left and right for comparison. The yellow lines show the bone alignments.
So, the questions to put forth to the horizontal punchers are ... how should the punch travel? Should the two large knuckles of the fist travel in a straight line from the centerline plane? If so, the forearm will swing from the elbow in a lateral path, thus, not providing forearm support. Should the forearm travel in a straight line? If so, the large knuckles will not contact the target. If you want both large knuckles to contact, then, the fist will have to make a swerve at the last moment before contact. The truth in the matter is, that in all these cases, the punches will not be substantial.

So, if the horizontal punch is so lame or damaging to the wrist, how do board-breakers manage to smash the boards with their horizontal punch?

Board breakers! Next time you break boards, watch how you are positioned. You will discover that you've positioned yourself in such a way that your punching shoulder is aligned and squared to the board, so that your punching arm and 2-large-knuckles will land perpendicularly on it. (See picture at left.) However, if you did that with a live opponent, your punch will land on his shoulder. To land your punch on his chest or centerline squarely, you will need to step to the side so your shoulder aligns to the target. That's fine and dandy. Many fighters do that. Great if you land a solid punch and finished the fight. However, if the fight is not finished, and you need to repeat a few more punches ... are you going to hop from one side of your opponent to another, to alternate the punches?

In Karate or Taekwondo training, when you punch the air or an inch away from your partner, you punch at an angle towards the center of your partner. Because there is no contact, you don't realize that you cannot land your big knuckles on the target effectively, as explained above. Even worse, is when the punch is not completed. See picture at left. See how badly the alignment is fragmented. The dilemma here is, if you execute an optimum horizontal punch at your opponent facing squarely, your punch will land on his shoulder. Shoulders are well padded with muscles. You're not going to finish your opponent off with that punch. Your aim is to hit the opponent on his centerline or somewhere near it. However, the punch will be fragmented and insubstantial if you use your large knuckles to hit.

Again ... how does one break the boards with the horizontal punch? Well, when you stand in front of those boards, your subconscious mind corrects your position for optimum board-breaking position, that is, align the arm and shoulder behind the finished fist/punch. You will not punch at an angle towards the centerline plane even though you've trained daily and habitually in that manner. Your subconscious mind knows better than to let you do something foolish like that, and have you sport a new outfit ... an arm-cast.

Boxers punch horizontally. However, they throw their shoulders into the punch, thus straightening out the shoulder, arm, and wrist alignment. Asian pugilism does not use shoulders. The power is generated from the pelvis and legs. If you are doing Asian martial arts, and using your shoulders when punching, then you're mixing Western pugilism with Asian martial arts. That's okay, and perhaps very effective. However, you have not really understood the principles of Asian martial arts. If you did, you wouldn't be mixing the two. I'll talk more about the superiority of pelvis and leg power in another lesson.

The last question, "Which knuckles do you use to do your pushups?" is partially dealt with in the previous section. The explanation I got when I was taught using them was that they were bigger and stronger. Quite logical, of course. The bigger, the stronger. You'd certainly need them to break boards and concrete slabs. Not that they're ability to break boards is significantly higher, but that they could withstand more of the counter force, if the boards and slabs decided not to break. By the way, for those of you who have never participated in martial arts, and are highly impressed with the breaking demonstrations, let me inform you this: the boards and slabs chosen for breaking are the crispiest and the weakest that are available in the market. Most laymen will be able to break a couple of those "one-inch boards". The trick is to apply the force along the grain. An experienced martial artist will have problems breaking one or two of them, going against the grain. He will also have problems breaking one along the grain if the wood was a little more dense, like redwood, mahogany or maple. The concrete slabs are also specially made for breaking. It's not the type you use for constructing a building. Albeit, a person will need some training to break that, it is not as difficult as it appears. Normally, breaking one successfully will break the bottom ones, because of the law of physics. I'm getting side tracked here, so let me get back on line.

So, the big knuckles are required to withstand the counter force; prevent them from getting smashed instead of the boards. Nonetheless, there is a huge list of martial artists who have gotten their knuckles broken because ... uh, it wasn't their day for breaking boards. It was the boards' or the slabs' day for breaking knuckles instead! One of the boards may have been just a bit more dense, or the slab was just a bit damp.

Big does normally equal to more power, but not always. In fact, if the same mass was packed smaller, it will have more concentrated power. For example, if I dropped a wooden slab that was 1"X10"X10", and weighed a couple of pounds, and it landed flat on your bare foot, you'd probably walk away with no injuries. However, if the wood was in the form of a ball or pointy stick, weighing the same, you'd probably have a fractured bone. So, in effect, your smaller knuckles would have more concentrated power than the larger ones.

This brings me to the vertical punch now.

Let's ask the same questions and get answers from Wing Chun perspective. Some of them were already answered when pointing out the flaws of the horizontal punch. However, I will reaffirm the positive side of the vertical punch with more details. So, let's start with ...

"Why do you punch the way you do?"

Same answer ... "Because it is the strongest and fastest way of punching!" The following are the reasons:

When you stand with your arms hanging down (palms facing inside), you are relaxed because they are in the most anatomical comfortable positions. When you walk, they swing also with the palms facing inward. That is natural. You neither twist your arms nor swing them with the palms facing front or behind. Try it, and see how awkward you'll feel. If you were to lift your arm up to your shoulder height from the natural hanging position, and clenched your fist, you will have a vertical fist. Your arm is in a very relaxed and natural position here. A punch in this position is well supported . Your forearm, upper-arm and shoulder are directly behind the fist, whether the arm is bent (see picture at left) or fully stretched (see picture at right). Do the experiment of placing the fist against a wall and stepping forward. Instead of placing the two large knuckles on the wall, place the three knuckles (middle, ring and pinky) against it. Although your elbow bends to accommodate the shorter distance, your and forearm is still directly behind the fist. Your upper-arm, although not aligned directly, is behind the fist. The half side of your body is also behind the punch. (See picture below left.) Even if you were to stretch forward the punch from this position, your body and arm will still be directly behind the fist (see picture at right.

Do the other experiment of raising your arm in an incline, while maintaining the knuckles against the wall. See how they are still in contact? (See picture at left.) Also see how the fist is solidly supported by the forearm that is aligned straight (shaded in yellow) behind it. (See picture at right.) Lower your fist to your waist level, and they're still in contact, with your forearm supporting it from behind. A horizontal fist cannot accomplish that. You will need to turn the inner fist upwards (upper-cut) to make a direct hit.

As I said in the leading sentence of the previous paragraph, your arms are most natural in the hanging position. Why? Because, in this position, the muscles and bones in your arms suspend off your shoulders with the minimal amount of resistance from each other. When your hands hang facing inward, the two bones in each of arm are in neutral position. These bones are structured in a manner that allows them to rotate the forearm, wrist and hand. Although we think our wrists, hands or upper-arm rotate, they don't. The wrists are joints between the hands and the forearms. They allow and limit the hands for bending. Your upper-arms rotate a little because they are connected to the shoulders in a ball-and-socket system. The wrists have minimal rotation allowance. This is why they are so painful when someone twists them.

The hands and wrists don't rotate. They are rotated by the mechanism of the forearm muscles and bones. The forearm bones consists of the radius and ulna. The ulna joins the outer wrist (where your pinky bones ends) to the upper-arm bone at the elbow. Ulna rotates, with the elbow end as its axis of rotation. The radius is attached to the inner wrist (where the thumb bones end) and joins the upper-arm at the inner elbow. However, this bone has two axis of rotation. One is at the elbow, and the other at the outer wrist (where the pinky bones meet the forearm). When you initiate your muscles to rotate your forearm, the radius rotates not only on the elbow axis, but on the outer wrist axis. In other words, the radius moves across the ulna in a circular path.

Here's an experiment for you:

While seated, rest one of your forearms on a table. Form a fist with your hand in a vertical position. This is a neutral (twelve O'clock) position as you are able to rotate your fist anti-clockwise to the maximum (nine O'clock), and clockwise to the maximum (three O'clock). Now, watch carefully while you slowly turn your fist into a horizontal position (palm facing down). Note how the lower bone, ulna, remains stationary while the upper bone, radius, goes down and away from the lower bone. The radius, in fact, is now positioned diagonally across the ulna. If you can't see that, confirm it by running your fingers (of your free hand) along both bones, one at a time. Yes? What's the point?

Would you not agree that a pair of bones, in a parallel position, when thrusted forward behind a fist, is stronger than a pair that are diagonally crossed? In fact, when the index and middle knuckles are used with a horizontal punch, the radius take the brunt of the force, with little support from ulna. Even so, the radius does not support the punch fully as it is diagonal to the direction of the force.

There are many things that attribute to the power of a punch. The forearm support is one of them. A force requires mass, energy and velocity. The mass in a punch is the fist and the support behind it. If you took a putting ball and attached a thin rod to it, and ran it into a dry wall, what do you think would happen? Most likely you'd have a putting ball hanging off a U-shaped rod. However, if you had attached a thick rod to the ball, you'd probably have a hole in the wall. Likewise, a well supported fist is stronger than a thin one.

The radius and ulna are parallel when your palms are turned frontward or upward (depending on whether the arms are hanging or lifted up). Your forearm is at its strongest position when the two bones are parallel. However, as a punch, it is not as quick and relaxed as when the bones are at the neutral position. This is because the muscles are twisted from the neutral position.

When your arm is hanging in the neutral position, or lifted up in a vertical punch, the two bones in your forearm are slightly off the parallel plane. Although this position does not support a punch as well as a fully parallel one, the muscles in this position are most relaxed. Therefore, with a little trade-off, the vertical punch would be the fastest and strongest when compared to the horizontal or upper-cut punch.

The next question: "Why don't you twist your punch?" I already mentioned that the twisting action employs the rotation muscles, which constrict the extension muscles. When you employ more muscles than an action requires, you will also burn more energy. Burning energy before a punch lands is a waste. Energy applied at the impact of the punch is more effective. If you begin your punch applying muscles other than the extension muscles, you are in effect, causing friction inside. The friction causes heat, and burns the fuel your blood supplies. However, by the end of the punch, the energy has already dissipated.

Your punch will have a stronger impact if it began relaxed, traveled relaxed, and exploded at the point of contact. How do you relax? By isolating and using only the muscles necessary for an action. Literally, "throw" a punch. How do you throw a punch? Keep your fist loose, keep your forearms relaxed, disengage your contracting muscles (biceps), and relax your shoulders. Use your triceps only to initiate the punch. Use your lateral (lats), waist, hips and rear leg muscles at the point of contact. Sounds simple? Difficult to do in reality.

You may think you are doing exactly that, but a keen observer will pick out every unnecessary muscles you are applying, before and after the punch.

When you apply other muscles other than the extension ones, you not only burn extra energy, but also telegraph your action. This is how an opponent is able to dodge or block your punch ... by receiving your telegraph. This is how most people punch. (1) They change their facial expression. (2) They tighten their fist. (3) They cock it back. [The degree varies, depending on sparring experience. ] (4) They tighten the [punching] shoulder. (5) They make a step. (6) They move the shoulder forward. (7) Some give out a yell. (8) They push their punch with their shoulder, neck, chest, and arm muscles tightened. Sounds slow? Well, some manage to do all this with great speed. However, they'd be even faster if they didn't.

If you were to minimize your moves, you can beat your opponent to the punch even if he initiated it. I mention in my lecture on "velocity" that whoever threw the punch first is who will hit first. I don't contradict myself now by saying that you can beat your opponent to the punch even if he initiated it first. Although he may have initiated it first, he may not have fired it off yet. To use the example of a Western shootout ... he may have began the draw, cock the gun, and aim, but has not pulled the trigger yet. However, if you already have the gun in your hand (instead of the holster), got it cocked and pointing at your opponent, then all you have to do is pull the trigger. So, in hand-to-hand fighting, if you already have your fist pointing at your opponent, you just need to fire it off when your opponent begins cocking his fist, drawing it from the side, and aligning it to the target. Your punch will certainly land before his in this instance.

Wing Chun teaches you to isolate and minimize the use of your muscles for a punch. First of all, the punching arm, wrist and fist are positioned in the most relaxed position, i.e, neutral. The WC punching fist points towards the target from the beginning, i.e. having the knuckles facing the opponent. Many WC practitioners don't do this. They have their knuckles facing up or to the side (showing the back of the fist towards the opponent). Facing the knuckles up brings the fist down in a hammering manner. A punch that hammers down does not employ 100% direct force against the target, as some of it goes wasted in the downward action. Facing the knuckles to the side ends up in a "backfist" type punch. Similarly, the backfist does not strike the target directly; some of the force is wasted in the side swing. Even if you began in either of these positions and steered it midway to hit directly, you've employed unnecessary muscles and movements that will only slow and telegraph the punch. Therefore, in order to execute the fastest and most powerful punch, you must make sure to always have the face of your fist pointing squarely towards the target from the start. It's like this: If you were to hold a criminal with a gun, would you point it up or sideways? Wouldn't it be best to point the gun at him/the target? If you pointed it up or sideways, and he made an aggressive move towards you, you will have to bring the gun point towards him. In this case, you will have made one extra move to retaliate. That extra move could cost your life. Any warrior, whether carrying a pistol, rifle, spear or sword, when facing an opponent, would point his weapon towards the opponent. Your fists are no different than the other weapons.

Here's a question for you. If you are facing an opponent, and you have your handgun (or sword) drawn, would you put it back in its holster (or sheath) after every shot (or strike)? Sounds silly, doesn't it? That's how silly it looks to a WC practitioner when a martial artist pulls his fists back (especially to the waist) after every punch. WC practitioners should always have their weapons pointing forward, ready for action. When you execute a punch, you have in effect sent your offense team forward. There is no sense in having them retreat unnecessary. In fact, you should be sending your second line of offense to follow the first. In Wing Chun, you accomplish that by moving your elbows and body (battle vehicle) forward closer to your opponent's centerline. You continue your attack inside until you take full control of him. However, if his force is greater than yours, you yield and alternate your position to execute the next best offensive tactic. Unless absolutely necessary, you do not retreat.

Beginners and other stylist will have difficulty imagining how a punch could be repeated without pulling it back first. WC system allows punch withdrawal, but is very different from how other systems do it. Other styles, train practitioners to pull back immediately after executing a punch, no matter what circumstance. The purpose is to reset the punch for the next one, and to draw back far enough (usually to the position it began from) to generate acceleration. However, if the opponent backs up, whether after getting hit or not, the distance between the fist and the target increases vastly, thus requiring big foot step(s) to bridge the gap. WC stylists throws the punch in a very relaxed manner, and tenses (muscles fully extended) only at the point of contact, and immediately relax again. This relaxed state after the tense contact causes a natural muscular contraction to a neutral position which is slightly shorter than the extended muscular state. The difference between the two states and distances allows for additional punches. In this case, the distance of the fist to the target is not as far as if pulled back to the starting point of the first punch. Because the WC punch only tenses at point of contact, it can convert quickly to a defense or another offensive if intercepted. If you pulled a punch after a executing one, your biceps are employed to withdraw the punch. It will take a lot of effort to neutralize it midway to convert it to a defensive or offensive move.

In Wing Chun, you repeat a punch from a relaxed semi-extended arm position after the original punch. If more power is required, you needn't pull the fist back to bend the elbow more; you move the torso forward, which accomplishes the same. You would not only bend your elbow more, but bridge the gap your opponent creates when he backs up. An advanced WC practitioner does not allow the opponent to backup. That's when the pulling comes to effect. Once you punch and have your arms extended, you use it to contact the opponent even if the punch did not land. You use it to keep him in your region and line of attack. Only then, can you finish the job you started. If you do not consider crashing his gates, or keeping him within yours, you will forever be chasing him to the ends of the earth.

Here is another way of looking at the advantage of not pulling back your punch after execution: Let's rate your fist position, close to your body, as zero (0) chances of hitting your opponent; and rate a bull's-eye shot as ten (10); and anything in between as 1 to 9. So, if you threw a punch, it leaves from 0 chances towards 10 of hitting the target. Now, if your opponent intercepts the punch at 7, does it make sense to take the chances back to zero? If you leave your fist at 7, you've got only 3 increments to go, while pulling it back will take it to zero. Supposing you scored, and hit him, thus reaching the 10-point mark, and he is still in the same position, minimal withdrawal of 1 or 2 increments gives you a better chance of scoring again than if the fist was brought back to zero position. Suppose you hit him and he's moved back, the gap between your fist and his body would probably have increased by 3 increments. Leaving your fist in the 10th position, you've got only 3 increments to go, while pulling it back will actually take it to minus three (-3) position. Suppose your punch reached the 7th position, and he stepped back, he will have created an additional gap of 3 increments (depending on how far back), making your 7th position into 4 (6 to go). If you pulled the punch back to the original position, you will have actually created a minus six (-6) chance of hitting the target.

WC practitioners withdraws the punch/hand in one instance, when the punch (offensive soldier) needs to convert to a guard (defensive soldier). The punch does not snap back like other styles, it just returns to the centerline post. Because the punch travels straight along the centerline plane, the forearm still guards the centerline, so does not always require the hand to return to post. The hand only returns to post when necessary, as when the enemy (opponent's hand/punch) has penetrated the first line of defense. That's quite different from other styles that pull back every punch.

As mentioned earlier, a punch ends up at an angle from the shoulder when it is targeted to the center of an opponent. Of course, you can land the punch squared to the center of your opponent if you side step and align your shoulder to the target, as when breaking boards. It is done by many stylists; however, their intention is to finish the opponent with that ONE powerful blow ... that's if it lands. Even so, it is VERY difficult to finish an opponent with one blow, as evident in boxing and no-bars matches. The human body can take a lot of punishment before going down.

Side lunging to square your shoulder to the target and punching is done successfully in the no-contact tournaments, as that one blow, when nearly contacted, is counted as a point, and further exchanges are not counted anymore. The referee jumps in to stop the exchanges. In real situations, a punch like that could drop the opponent if it hits the solar plexus or other vital points of the body. However, it's not something you could not easily and often. You are dealing with a moving target. Imagine hopping from one side to the other, changing left and right punches to hit the solar plexus. Nobody really does that. Most people punch at an angle from the shoulder to the center of the opponent. As mentioned earlier, WC practitioners deflect angular punches by side-swiping them with a forward perpendicular movement towards the opponent's centerline. This type of action requires little effort, therefore is the fastest. It's mathematically efficient, as it travels the shortest route to the opponent's punch. It can quickly convert from defense to offense, as the path of travel is already forward; it does not detour, and does not require realignment. Knowing how easy and efficient a forward action can deflect angular punches, WC system designed its punches to start from the deliverer's centerline to end at the receiver's centerline. Because our arms are joined to our shoulders, if fully extended towards the center, will end up at an angle. We cannot execute a 100% perpendicular punch to and from the center since we don't have arms sprouting out of our chests. The closest we can get is to originate the punch from the centerline and end at a point before the elbow departs from the centerline. To accomplish this, the elbow must remain bent. In this position, it will look like your arm is sprouting from your chest. When the arm/elbow is bent, and the punch is aligned closest to 90 degrees to your opponent's centerline, your arm is less exposed and less vulnerable to blocking, and your gate still remains closed. Your opponent's best defense against a punch like this is to still contact your forearm with his hand or forearm and push forward. However, the timing becomes more critical. An incoming angular punch allows him to divert it by contacting any point from the back of the fist to the upper-arm. He can apply forward pressure early or late, and it will still do the job. However, given the almost zero angle of a bent-elbow punch from the centerline, he must use the first point of contact to apply pressure forward to divert it. He can't afford to delay the contact or let it slide, as the punch will penetrated through. If he were to push it slightly at an angle to steer your punch out of the path of the centerline, he will have actually opened his own gate, thus allowing you more opportunity to penetrate his fortress.

Since Siu Lim Tao is designed for the beginner for learning the principles and for early fighting situations, (and for the advance to continuing training and maintaining the principles,) the first WC punch is taught fully extended. As a beginner, without the experience of close fighting (cut-throat assassin style), you are taught to fight at full arm's length distance (sniper style). As you advance to Chum Kiu and Biu Jee, you will execute your punches with your elbows bent, using your lower torso to generate power. At the SLT level, not knowing how to use your lower torso, legs and gravitational force, you learn to use your extension muscles and square structure to deliver the most powerful punch. Here, you learn to deliver a punch at the first optimum range. Relying on just your squareness and extension muscles, you will need to extend your arm fully to reach the first optimum level. When you learn to do that, you go to the next optimum level of applying your pelvis. When you have achieved that, you learn to apply your legs and grounding for the next level. And when you have achieved that, you learn to add wrist power to the punch. All the different levels can be performed independently, sequentially or wholly. Of course, when done wholly, the punch would be most powerful; however, when fighting, your body is not always at the optimum position to perform wholly. Nevertheless, if you are trained for all levels, you will know when and how to apply one at its optimum, or apply one after the other, or two or three levels together, if wholly is not possible. Being aware of your structure at all times is of the factors of learning Wing Chun and other Chinese martial arts. When your mind is connected to your body, you can perform actions immediately at the will of your conscious or unconscious mind. If you are not connected, you will need to connect to that part of your body before making it perform. That fractional second is what makes your opponent know what you are about to do, and beat you to the punch. Being aware of your structural position, you will be able to apply the optimum level of power at whatever position you are in. If you are in the position to apply your structure wholly, you will then deliver that knock out punch.

Trained and untrained fighters punch, mostly using their fists like they were tied to a string. They swing and throw them with no support behind them. Often the punches land on us, and damage our egos more than our bodies. Our skulls are the hardest bone formation in our skeletal structure. There is less damage done to it than to the fist when the two meet. Nonetheless, it scores the highest points when the ego is involved. That's why fighters like to hit the face. Receivers, although not hurt badly, psychologically give up when a few land. Boxers who get hit in the face often know better. They overcome the fear of getting hit in the face, and can continue fighting 15 rounds, albeit, with gloves. Punches to the head with bodily support although does little damage to the skull, shocks the brain. The brain being the body operator needs to be fully functional in a fight. So, beside damaging one's ego, fighters rightly head hunt in a fight. However, without body force, the fist on a string will not do much damage to the operator, except maybe bruise the ego. Fully supported hits will render the brain dysfunctional, temporarily or permanently, in some cases.

Wing Chun schools often teach the first punch, Movement 9 and 10, to finish at shoulder level. At this height, your arm, although not perpendicularly squared to your shoulders in the horizontal plane, is perpendicularly squared in the vertical plane. This is undoubtedly the strongest punch you can deliver from a squared torso position in Level One range (without applying torso turn and leg push). I learned Wing Chun from three teachers, plus others whom I encountered briefly, and have come to the conclusion that there are more advantages in training to punch higher to the nose, mouth and chin region than shoulder level in Siu Lim Tao's Movement 10. Power is not the only measure for optima. Considering that SLT is designed for the beginner, and Movement 10 is the first introduction to the WC punch, the following are some of the advantages of punching the face region: