blocking the round house kick to the thigh:
tensing thigh and twisting it outward, can supposedly mitigate the force.
blocking the knee kick:
twisting the thigh inward so the force landed at the back of the knee, as if to cup the kick.
--------------------------------------
116 dummy #24-26
L: outside pak sau - cutting the throat - jut sau
R: outside pak - outside pak - lower punch
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Grip strength is more important than you think. Especially if you practice wing chun
Wing chun is not known for grip strength. People do not know it for grabbing people, nor do they know it for ripping muscles off the bones.
What it IS known for is its punching. Fast. direct. deliberate.
The bottom three knuckles handle most of the impact. The middle metacarpal is strong. The ring and pinky metacarpal are soft, flexible, and bendable.
Looking at the fist from a high level shall reveal how soft it really is. A bundle of bones attached together with nothing more than tendons and small muscles.
If your grip is weak, there is a good chance that your fist is also weak. Weak hands soften the impact.
Grip strength will help you hit with a much harder fist.
I came upon this realization after a few weeks of hitting the bag. I had to limit my power cause I could feel my hand reaching its limit. I would not dare go beyond its limit. i am not looking for a broken hand. But then I decide to enhance my grip for a totally different reason. I wanted to be strong. Strong hands help make you feel strong. Thick forearms are also quite intimidating, but I digress.
I discovered that my hand to handle stronger impacts. My hands desired a strong impact. Something that could challenge them. I was shocked to discover that I had surpassed my previous limitation and my hands were asking for more.
So again. what was I afraid of? I have flattened my knuckles from hitting too hard and it has affected my dexterity. The grip training helpped prevent my knuckles from feeling flattened. It was a good feeling. I believe the grip training strengthened my whole hand and tightened the ligaments. Everything got stronger. I could hit harder.
If you want your punches to have impact, you must train your hands.
================
exercise tips.
grip squeezers with that spring thing are the worst. I've lost interest countless times. Here is an alternative.
materials
get a thick rod. a meter long would bee perfect. 3 feet would be ok too. attach a weight to one end.
Exercise 1
Hold the bar like a hammer and hold it like you hold a suitcase by your side. lift and lower the heavy side SLOWLY
Exercise 2
flip the bar to that the heavy side is on the opposite side (pinky side).
Lift and lower slowly.
Exercise 3
kneel down and sit on your heals. On the balls of your feet. place the non weighted side under your shin ; this shall be the fulcrum. The grip the middle. the free end shall have the weight on it. grip as tight as you can then release slowly. When the bar is almost to the point of dropping, start gripping again. THE KEYWORD IS "SLOWLY"
What it IS known for is its punching. Fast. direct. deliberate.
The bottom three knuckles handle most of the impact. The middle metacarpal is strong. The ring and pinky metacarpal are soft, flexible, and bendable.
Looking at the fist from a high level shall reveal how soft it really is. A bundle of bones attached together with nothing more than tendons and small muscles.
If your grip is weak, there is a good chance that your fist is also weak. Weak hands soften the impact.
Grip strength will help you hit with a much harder fist.
I came upon this realization after a few weeks of hitting the bag. I had to limit my power cause I could feel my hand reaching its limit. I would not dare go beyond its limit. i am not looking for a broken hand. But then I decide to enhance my grip for a totally different reason. I wanted to be strong. Strong hands help make you feel strong. Thick forearms are also quite intimidating, but I digress.
I discovered that my hand to handle stronger impacts. My hands desired a strong impact. Something that could challenge them. I was shocked to discover that I had surpassed my previous limitation and my hands were asking for more.
So again. what was I afraid of? I have flattened my knuckles from hitting too hard and it has affected my dexterity. The grip training helpped prevent my knuckles from feeling flattened. It was a good feeling. I believe the grip training strengthened my whole hand and tightened the ligaments. Everything got stronger. I could hit harder.
If you want your punches to have impact, you must train your hands.
================
exercise tips.
grip squeezers with that spring thing are the worst. I've lost interest countless times. Here is an alternative.
materials
get a thick rod. a meter long would bee perfect. 3 feet would be ok too. attach a weight to one end.
Exercise 1
Hold the bar like a hammer and hold it like you hold a suitcase by your side. lift and lower the heavy side SLOWLY
Exercise 2
flip the bar to that the heavy side is on the opposite side (pinky side).
Lift and lower slowly.
Exercise 3
kneel down and sit on your heals. On the balls of your feet. place the non weighted side under your shin ; this shall be the fulcrum. The grip the middle. the free end shall have the weight on it. grip as tight as you can then release slowly. When the bar is almost to the point of dropping, start gripping again. THE KEYWORD IS "SLOWLY"
Buzzing Mitt
It is spring time. It is also bug time. Flying bug time. If ind my self dodging like crazy. Especially when I heard that buzz of their wings close to my ears.
Imagine a special glove that will help you evade. It is equip with a speaker that sounds like a bee or a a fly or a swarm of them. the closer they travel to your head the louder it will sound. Bee sounds naturally send a chill through us. We can use it to our advantage.
It will help us Pavlov style.
For those of you that don't know Pavlov, he is famous for getting his dogs to salivate whenever they hear the bell. He reinforced this behavior by ringing a bell at the same time he served food. Done enough times, it provoked the salivation with just the bell.
Glove is meant to help you see and hear the glove. Sound can give you a sense of how close something is. Vision can help too, but it can be fooled. Beginners usually stay way to far away. They block when punch is too far to ever hit them. they dodge punches that would never have landed in the first place.
The bee sounds come in to play. When it gets close our natural instinct is to freak out and move away! We will associate the sound with the image of the punch.
take away the sound and we will move away from the punch as if we were dodging a bee.
Buzz like a boxer
Punch like a bee
Imagine a special glove that will help you evade. It is equip with a speaker that sounds like a bee or a a fly or a swarm of them. the closer they travel to your head the louder it will sound. Bee sounds naturally send a chill through us. We can use it to our advantage.
It will help us Pavlov style.
For those of you that don't know Pavlov, he is famous for getting his dogs to salivate whenever they hear the bell. He reinforced this behavior by ringing a bell at the same time he served food. Done enough times, it provoked the salivation with just the bell.
Glove is meant to help you see and hear the glove. Sound can give you a sense of how close something is. Vision can help too, but it can be fooled. Beginners usually stay way to far away. They block when punch is too far to ever hit them. they dodge punches that would never have landed in the first place.
The bee sounds come in to play. When it gets close our natural instinct is to freak out and move away! We will associate the sound with the image of the punch.
take away the sound and we will move away from the punch as if we were dodging a bee.
Buzz like a boxer
Punch like a bee
Friday, May 3, 2013
word connotations
Every word has a subtext that prevents it from being identical in meaning to another.
The word punch is an interesting one. it is a type of strike. A kick is also a type of strike. But these two strikes have different connotations when they are used outside of striking.
To "punch through" is a penetrative meaning. Like Puncture. Puncture an object. What happens if you take off "r" sound at the end? It starts sounding like the word punch!
What does it mean to "punch it in"? this phrase would be used for a quick jab at a specific point. Like if a button was stiff, you would punch it. Or if you were to dial number on to a phone, then the phrase "punch in the numbers" would means you are pressing them rather forcefully and deliberately; not caring if it was damaging the button.
what about the word kick? For a machine, you'd kick start it. Why would they need the word kick? It makes sense if you are using your foot to stomp a lever on a motorcycle. "kick into high gear" means hurry up or it means to start up rather abruptly and go fast. I think the work kick has its connotations in making something go or begin.
In the game of fighting. Particularly Muay Thai, they always start the round with kicks. A few will go in with punches, but kicks help start the fight.
why would I bring muay thai into the wing chun blog? Aren't they like... enemies? Nah, My sifu combined both arts. A lot of the techniques are similar. muay thai fighting is a good way to pressure test your wing chun.
The word punch is an interesting one. it is a type of strike. A kick is also a type of strike. But these two strikes have different connotations when they are used outside of striking.
To "punch through" is a penetrative meaning. Like Puncture. Puncture an object. What happens if you take off "r" sound at the end? It starts sounding like the word punch!
What does it mean to "punch it in"? this phrase would be used for a quick jab at a specific point. Like if a button was stiff, you would punch it. Or if you were to dial number on to a phone, then the phrase "punch in the numbers" would means you are pressing them rather forcefully and deliberately; not caring if it was damaging the button.
what about the word kick? For a machine, you'd kick start it. Why would they need the word kick? It makes sense if you are using your foot to stomp a lever on a motorcycle. "kick into high gear" means hurry up or it means to start up rather abruptly and go fast. I think the work kick has its connotations in making something go or begin.
In the game of fighting. Particularly Muay Thai, they always start the round with kicks. A few will go in with punches, but kicks help start the fight.
why would I bring muay thai into the wing chun blog? Aren't they like... enemies? Nah, My sifu combined both arts. A lot of the techniques are similar. muay thai fighting is a good way to pressure test your wing chun.
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