Body unification

[Fungus]

Not sure if I missed the point, but I assume by "static punch" you mean punching while not moving your feet? That's not so say that the hips, knees or legs are "static" and freeze.

I think one reasons for such punching is that the easiest time to sweep or kick someones legs is while they are moving, or even worse jumping. I always feel that moving my feet is also a time where by balance is at risk. Punching while you are moving or one feet in the air works, but feel less stable.

If I want to launch a strong punch where I put my body weight behind I shift the body weight forward into the punch, but I would prefer to not move my feet as it gives me worse balance. I prefer to have both my feet rooted while punching, especially body shots, because there you have massive resistance. To punch someone in the jaw I presume does not need the same rooting as the resistance will not bring you off balance.

 

[Xue Sheng]

The definition of body unification is your

- hand should coordinate with your foot.
- elbow should coordinate with your knee.
- shoulder should coordinate with your hip.

But when you stay in a horse stance and throw many punches without moving your low body, your punch will have nothing to coordinate with. If a form creator created such moves in the form, will that confuse his students big time?

Will you stand still, freeze your low body, and just punch with your arms?

That would be the 6 external harmonies

1) Hips and Shoulders
2) Knees and Elbows harmonize.
3) Feet and Hands harmonize.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The exaggerated movement helps the student grasp that unification more easily.

Thanks for pointing this out.

In one of my China trips, people always like to criticize the way we step down before we step in. They always asked, "Why do your guys always like to step down on the ground?" My answer to them was, "Just like the drumbeats. It helps to train body unification".

Since

step down = compress (or store).
step in = release.

It's very easy for people to train this way.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Not sure if I missed the point, but I assume by "static punch" you mean punching while not moving your feet?

Static punch - you coordinate your punch with your back leg (bend -> straight).

Dynamic punch - you coordinate your punch with your front foot landing.

When you do dynamic punch, your back leg also need to go through bend -> straight. During your back leg bend -> straight, your body hop forward with your front foot landing. The body coordination is much more complicate in dynamic punch than in static punch.

It's very interested to compare these 2 different methods.

It is wrong that you

- disconnect your back foot with the ground when you do static punch.
- still connect your back foot with the ground when you do dynamic punch.



Why do you need to use dynamic punch? Because you want to punch through your opponent.

 

[Flying Crane]

Thanks for pointing this out.

Well, Tibetan Crane is the king of using an exaggerated method for exactly this purpose.

 

[marvin8]

That would be the 6 external harmonies

1) Hips and Shoulders
2) Knees and Elbows harmonize.
3) Feet and Hands harmonize.

Yes. Six harmonies: 3 external and 3 internal. 3) Feet and Hands harmonize does not require "hand should coordinate with your foot [landing]" in all CMAs.

It's the maximum reach and maximum power that people try to train.

I believe jumping in the air and stomping of the foot causes vertical power leaks—not as much force going horizontally into the opponent. The compress and weight transfer (head, knee, foot not aligned) ending in neutral position are weaker. The block/punch and timing seem to be late.

Hearns KOs Duran with a more compress/release, powerful and better timed punch.

https://imgur.com/iNP51Up

 

[Flying Crane]

I believe jumping in the air and stomping of the foot causes vertical power leaks—not as much force going horizontally into the opponent. The compress and weight transfer (head, knee, foot not aligned) ending in neutral position are weaker. The block/punch and timing seem to be late.

Sifu Hsu is not jumping in the air and stomping his foot. He is driving forward from the rear foot. That is simply what I see him doing.

I will not comment on the effectiveness of his method. It is different from the method I train and I am not educated on what he is doing to comment intelligently on it.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I believe jumping in the air and stomping of the foot causes vertical power leaks—not as much force going horizontally into the opponent. The compress and weight transfer (head, knee, foot not aligned) ending in neutral position are weaker. The block/punch and timing seem to be late.

Hearns KOs Duran with a more compress/release, powerful and better timed punch.

https://imgur.com/iNP51Up

Think your opponents foot..... that stomp is useful

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I believe jumping in the air and stomping of the foot causes vertical power leaks ...

I believe the definition of "jump" is both feet should be up in the air. His back foot is sliding along the ground (not up in the air). Of course, his leading foot can slide too. But what if there is a rock on the ground?

I know this because I have trained this

- front foot hop forward and
- back foot slide

for a long time.

Hopping may not be used in the striking art that much. But it's used in the wrestling art very often. You land your front foot, but the distance is a bit too short. So, you use hopping to gain that extra distance.

When you generate power from your back bending leg, you then realize that you will need a bit more distance, you then hop in with the leading leg. Your static punch then turns into a dynamic punch when your back foot is sliding along the ground.

 

[Flying Crane]

As mentioned earlier.... training the longest range, highest power punch is great.... unless you are in a phone booth and don't have the space....

Do people still hang out in phone booths these days?

 

[gyoja]

Do people still hang out in phone booths these days?

Only when ditching my suit before I run faster than a locomotive, or leaping a building in a single bound. 😁

 

[isshinryuronin]

Sifu Hsu is not jumping in the air and stomping his foot. He is driving forward from the rear foot. That is simply what I see him doing.

I notice that his rear foot is driving him forward and I would also not call this jumping. I also noticed that at the moment of impact, the rear foot is not well planted, and his rear leg is not supporting the punch at this critical juncture. Just an observation as I am not familiar with his method either.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I notice that his rear foot is driving him forward and I would also not call this jumping. I also noticed that at the moment of impact, the rear foot is not well planted, and his rear leg is not supporting the punch at this critical juncture. Just an observation as I am not familiar with his method either.

You are absolutely right on this. When you use dynamic punch, your back foot does not support your body structure during the punch impact. When I trained this on my heavy bag, I didn't feel comfortable in the beginner. It takes me some time to get used to it.

It may be similar to the superman punch - at least to use hop to gain distance.

 

[Flying Crane]

I notice that his rear foot is driving him forward and I would also not call this jumping. I also noticed that at the moment of impact, the rear foot is not well planted, and his rear leg is not supporting the punch at this critical juncture. Just an observation as I am not familiar with his method either.

I agree with your observations. I suspect the situation with his rear foot might have something to do with the kung fu shoes he is wearing. Pretty crappy footwear can contribute to that kind of thing.

 

[Flying Crane]

You are absolutely right on this. When you use dynamic punch, your back foot does not support your body structure during the punch impact. When I trained this on my heavy bag, I didn't feel comfortable in the beginner. It takes me some time to get used to it.

It may be similar to the superman punch.

There are other ways to do it that do support the punch. It is something that I work on the heavy bag and it is effective.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

There are other ways to do it that do support the punch. It is something that I work on the heavy bag and it is effective.

Could you give more detail on this?

 

[isshinryuronin]

might have something to do with the kung fu shoes he is wearing. Pretty crappy footwear can contribute to that kind of thing.

Just a couple of days ago I was at the park practicing my bo kata, one of which entails a double step spin move ending up in a kneel and simultaneously strike. For me, the most difficult technique to do with speed and power in all the kata I know. I was wearing thick-soled walking shoes that caught on a clump of grass as I was pivoting and lost my balance during the spin and fell for the first time doing kata.

Causes: Old age? Perhaps a minor factor. Shoes? A major contributor. Uneven terrain? Definitely. A great reminder to keep in mind the various factors that may come into play when executing a technique and adjusting for them.

 

[Flying Crane]

Just a couple of days ago I was at the park practicing my bo kata, one of which entails a double step spin move ending up in a kneel and simultaneously strike. For me, the most difficult technique to do with speed and power in all the kata I know. I was wearing thick-soled walking shoes that caught on a clump of grass as I was pivoting and lost my balance during the spin and fell for the first time doing kata.

Causes: Old age? Perhaps a minor factor. Shoes? A major contributor. Uneven terrain? Definitely. A great reminder to keep in mind the various factors that may come into play when executing a technique and adjusting for them.

Yeah, perfect circumstances are artificial. If we ever need to use this stuff for real, it will definitely be less than perfect. The chaos of combat guarantees a degeneration of the quality of our technique and application. Terrain contributes, as well as clothing, our mood, if we are tired or distracted, etc.

 

[marvin8]

Sifu Hsu is not jumping in the air and stomping his foot. He is driving forward from the rear foot. That is simply what I see him doing.

I will not comment on the effectiveness of his method. It is different from the method I train and I am not educated on what he is doing to comment intelligently on it.

Ok. Hsu is stepping by pushing off his rear foot. But, his hand coordinates with foot landing (simultaneously) causes him to lose torque and power by not planting his front foot first unlike other MAs. Also, Hsu's bringing both feet together with hands down can result in a KD.

https://imgur.com/nqvONHg

Tyson steps by pushing off his rear foot, plants his front foot and knocks down Golota using compress/release, momentum, two foot punching, torque, weight shift and better timing.

https://imgur.com/P6RXdru

Think your opponents foot..... that stomp is useful

Yes. But, planting both feet before punching is more powerful.

You are absolutely right on this. When you use dynamic punch, your back foot does not support your body structure during the punch impact. When I trained this on my heavy bag, I didn't feel comfortable in the beginner. It takes me some time to get used to it.

It may be similar to the superman punch - at least to use hop to gain distance.

Superman punch is not considered as powerful as planting both feet before punching.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Yeah, perfect circumstances are artificial. If we ever need to use this stuff for real, it will definitely be less than perfect. The chaos of combat guarantees a degeneration of the quality of our technique and application. Terrain contributes, as well as clothing, our mood, if we are tired or distracted, etc.

Absolutely. If we ever need to put our MA training to real combat, it probably won't happen in the dojo, dressed for indoors and primed for action. This is why I think practicing overly fancy and difficult techniques too much is a waste of time. Kata has various bunkai within them, and the same applies here. The simplest interpretation that's most direct with the best chance of success should be stressed.

Getting carried away with kata application may be fun, but always the question should be, "Will this be functional in a combat situation under less than ideal circumstances?" As you say, this results in technique degradation so we must keep things as simple as possible and practice them to a high degree to compensate for this. In my related experience at the park, that difficult technique I described would not be one I used in actual combat.