I have no beef with Wing Chun, I studied it for a few years and I have been trapping and chain punching for over a decade as part of my Jun Fan. I would just start though by challenging your assumption that Wing Chun “has a great reputation for street effectiveness”. I haven’t witnessed anything in my experience that supports this theory, so I’d just be careful about the basis of your belief system, before we start discussing specific techniques. At the risk of being a bore, a chain punch in itself is the same as any other technique from any martial art, it depends on the person throwing it. But, lets take that as a given, and I’ll share my views and experiences.
As a very small part of an attacking strategy, the chain punch can be useful. Only though, in my experience, as a short, violent burst to apply pressure on your opponent to briefly gain the upper hand. The scenes on DVDs and Videos where you see people being straight blasted across a room with 20 or 30 punches, and the bad guy falls down, is not reality in my experience. Typically, around 5 punches thrown hard and fast on the bridge of the nose causes enough pain, pressure and distraction for you to move to better tools (plumm, head, knee, elbow). People who have tried to endlessly chain punch their opponent to death often end up breaking their hands on the top, side and back of the head when the opponent turns away, or they can hit elbows and forearms when the opponent covers up.
The chain punch is not, in my experience, a knock out technique – the hand tools of Boxing are king in this arena. It is not a fight ender, and it is also not a fight starter. If you try to wade in with the chain punch as your opening gambit, it is flawed. If it is to be utilised, then make sure you use pain and distraction as your entry, apply a short burst to gain the upper hand, then proceed to your finishing techniques. Of course, life is never that simple, and sometimes a chain punch can be a good “oh shit” technique when things aren’t going well. If your'e going under and all else fails, charge down the guy’s centreline with your chain punch, then get out of there.
I do think it has merits when used correctly in the right context, I do also think however that this technique has perhaps enjoyed a little too much exposure and kudos. It used to be very much a major part of my arsenal, where as now the tools of Boxing would always be my first choice in hand range. That said, the chain punch remains firmly in my back pocket.
Hope this has been useful for you.
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