CST Wing Chun #1: Penetrating Punch in the Martial Art – An Effortless Way of Power Generation
The human body is a mysterious organic system. Despite the fact that scientific exploration has opened up tremendous knowledge about it, its unknowns are still charming wonders that attract lots of our curiosity.
I am particularly enthusiastic about power generation of the human body in an alternative way, a totally different way from what we have been familiar with, maybe subconsciously, during brought-up. And I found such a remarkable mechanism (maybe among others) from practising Wing Chun (of the lineage of Grandmaster Chu Shong Tin, abbreviated as CST), a Chinese martial art. I am delighted to have the chance here to share with you its beauty.
If you have ever joined workout and exercise classes of any kind, probably you would have come across the topic of powerful punching: boxing, karate, taekwondo, muaythai, etc. While there are certainly differences in the techniques involved, there is one big common similarity: the punching movement is initiated and simultaneously powered by the muscular system. As such, regardless of the kind, the punching process of these different kinds can more or less be described in terms of the following typical components.
- Draw support from the ground – Legs/feet must be firmly planted onto the ground in order to start power generation in the body.
- Distribute weight on the two legs – The distribution matters such that the initiation of the torque (twisting) can be started from the leg bearing more weight (the heavier leg), and the weight is usually being shifted to the other leg during the power generation process.
- Create the torque: The torque starts from the heavier leg, to the waist/torso, to the upper body, to the shoulder, to the arm, and to the fist. Every part is twisting on the way to add power to the torque, including the fist giving the final twist.
- Thrust and blast: Empowered by the twisting torque, sometimes also by throwing, the punch lands on to blast-open the target.
- Breathing matters: When the punch lands on the target, all muscles contract to solidify the whole body into one shot. This is greatly facilitated by an exhalation right at the moment of the tightening.
Joint-rotating and the Jackscrew Analogy
The CST Wing Chun punch operates in a totally different way. It is initiated by “joint rotating” rather than muscles. The term “joint rotating” is used in the place of “joint rotation” as the former signifies a deliberate motion by the joint itself, while the latter conveys the impression that the rotational movement is normally caused by something external to the joint. In other words, in the former the joint is proactive; in the latter, passive.
How the punch is launched can be analogously described by the jackscrew mechanism: the fist is being “jacked” forward along a straight line by “lifting” the elbow joint upward through “joint rotating” in the shoulder; “joint rotating” in the elbow and wrist joints acts simultaneously. Throughout the process, there is no intent of thrusting the fist to hit nor to blast!
To be specific, the jack mechanism concerned is of the scissor jack, a manual jackscrew type commonly used for lifting automotives. The diagram illustrates how the jackscrew mechanism can be employed to explain the penetrating punch movement. With the name labels and note dialogue boxes, the diagram should be self-explanatory enough. Only some points are elaborated.
The jackscrew is applied along the horizontal instead of the vertical as in its normal usage. Thus the load is from the side, not from above.
The wrist joint only serves as a hinging connector to the fist which is in contact with the load. No jackscrew operation is intended in the wrist. Rather, constant focusing prevails so as to always navigate the fist to travel along a straight line. And this is vital for “maintaining” the punch penetrating (while the elbow operating in the jackscrew way “causes” the punch penetrating).
The three dots representing the elbow’s positions at different times (blue at t1, green at t2, orange at t3) do not fall in a same vertical straight line, as would be easily mistaken to be true when describing the elbow “moving up vertically”. Here, it is the mind (we call it the Idea) always intending the elbow upward at any “instant” of time, i.e. t1, t2, t3, etc. The path along which the elbow travels is not necessarily an upward vertical.
Punches launched in this way can immediately penetrate the target (e.g. a sandbag); the punching force will not be wasted in “pushing” which normally exhibits as a pronounced displacement of the target. On the contrary, force from thrusting will be largely dispersed before it can cause further harm, as manifested commonly as loud impact noises when hitting a sandbag. In fact, the “loud impact” will gradually creep into your mind and evolve into the end effect you pursue in training as if it can sufficiently indicate your punching power.
The argument for its penetrating capability is as follows. With the jackscrew operation, it is extremely difficult, if not all impossible, to stop (at the fist position) the arm from straightening out. This means any power from the shoulder end will be fully and completely transmitted to the fist end, as there will be no constrictions within the arm, and no bouncing back of force that would cramp the arm. It is this unstoppable straightening, accorded with the sharp focus to travel along a straight line, that renders the punch highly penetrating.
What So Different?
When compared to the punch empowered by twisting torque, as described at the beginning, the CST Wing Chun punch taps into your own body mass, not the ground, as the solid base for generating power. There is no need to care about the distribution of weight on the two legs since the initiation is from joint-rotating inside, not weight-shifting outside. It does not rely on twisting to create the torque which gives a thrusting and blasting punch. Rather, independent yet simultaneous rotating of different joints accumulates sharply-directed power to give a penetrating punch. And throughout the process, exhalation doesn’t play a role because no muscular contraction is expected.
And the whole thing appears to be – effortless!
