Proper form

They say that “practice makes perfect” but it is a misnomer.  Its actually “Perfect Practice that makes the master.”  That means that if you want to get good at something you have to practice it correctly.

In this passage I will talk about what I consider proper form.  These rules are not absolute and I encourage all who read this to do their own research to find the truth that works for the individual.  These tips might not work for everyone, but hopefully they will help most.

STRIKING

Palm striking --

Another misnomer.  You don’t hit with the whole palm.  Doing so will make the attack weaker and it increases the chance that you will hyper-extend your wrist.  The correct description of a palm strike would be to “Carpus strike with the palm side”

Fak Sau --

Same idea as palm striking except you use the “blade” side of the hand.  A common misconception is to use the blade of the hand to hit.  This “blade” is the metacarpal that extends to your pinky.  If you hit with this area, your pinky knuckle will dig itself into the hand.  This metacarpal is very soft so you should not hit things with it.  In the middle of the blade is a nerve.  If it is struck, you will feel the buzz. The correct description of a Fak Sau would be to “Carpus strike with the blade side”

Power generation --  

This section is about the common goal that all striking tries to reach.  You hear time and time again that your punches need to be soft and then hard at the moment of impact and then soft again.  And in the wing chun world you will hear time and time again that you should NOT use your shoulder muscles to punch.  These two things are true.  If you violate either of these you are not punching correctly.  This info about power generation is not something I learned from any teacher.  It comes from self experimentation and paying attention to how the strike feels.

Whenever you throw a punch there will be a certain amount of recoil when the punch finishes.  The goal is to minimize that recoil.  If you punch too stiff, the power will recoil to your head and possible give you a headache.  This is most common when you punch the air.  it happens when you try to pull back the punch before the energy is released from your hand.  When you strike the air, you want the energy to extend outside of your body.  The recoil should stay in your hand.  If you are doing it correctly, it should vibrate your hand and minimal recoil should affect your body.  Another side-effect of striking correctly, is that it will “spring” back.  this means that you don’t have to strike and then pull back.  Its like a yo-yo that is rolled out and rolls back up with the same momentum.

As a quick analogy, picture a whip and a steel bar.  If you hit a tree with that steel bar, the vibration will travel to your hand and back to your body.  This vibration can make your lose grip of your weapon.  A whip on the other hand flings out and smacks the tree.  Pieces of bark fly off.  As soon as the tip whips the target your arm is in position to throw another attack with the whip.  With the whip, you do not feel the recoil at all.  All of your strikes should maintain this “whip” attribute.

Your shoulders should not be used to deliver the power of the strike.  They should be used to aim your punch and nothing more.  Your triceps should be the ones delivering the punch.  Your biceps would be the spring that brings your hand back to defense.  If you follow these tips then you should be able to punch faster and longer.

KICKING
Kicking is the same as striking with your arms.  The quadriceps will be used like the triceps.  The hamstrings will spring back like biceps.  The heel will be used like the palm side of the carpus.


BLOCKING
Do not block.  There are very few occasions where wing chun will block.  Most of the time, it will parry and deflect the attack.  Blocking means that you stop the momentum of the attack.  Don’t stop it.  Ride that momentum so you can use it against your opponent.

bong sau -- Align your wrist to your shoulder.  Align your finger tips to your center line.  You do not want to align your wrist to your centerline.  If it does then your bong has been been defeated and no longer has the leverage to do anything except break.  the wrist must be between the centerline and the shoulder.  

Try this experiment.  Align the wrist to your shoulder and do bong sau.  Ask a friend to lower your arm.  Alternatively you can use a ten pound weight.  Next try placing your wrist  in the centerline.  Ask your friend to lower your arm.  next try aligning your wrist to the opposite shoulder and ask your friend to lower your arm.  Which one is more stable?  Which one hurts?

Also:  Take a look at this link.  Its a weight lifting demo I know.  But doesn’t the posture look a lot like  bong sau?
http://youtu.be/IhZLB48kluc