Chinese Kung Fu: Which style is worth it?

[aku aku]

But if you think logically about where the punch is coming from. It is coming from the side of your body. This means that your body is not behind it (ie you are just relying on muscle). You and shaolin warrior are correct that the force generated from your feet transfer into the hit. But this is not bodyweight.

I'm not sure I understand. If the hook is executed with a strong pivot and body rotation, your body is very much developing the power and your arm simply transfers it to the target like any other good punch. Try throwing a hook with just arm strength and without moving your body, without the body driving it there's no power at all.

[suhieb]

Genox -

what are you actually looking for out of a martial art?

[fenwick99]

personal preferences

1. wing chun

2. white eyebrow

3. five animals

4. hsingyichuan

5. hop gar

in no particular order.

also, combat taichi is great, if you can find a taichichuan sifu who will teach you the real stuff.

[Red Rum]

I don't have access to YouTube (which is frustrating).

Sorry

[shaolin-warrior]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKRdUoyUEp4

this is pretty informative, check it out.

[Red Rum]

Yes. In a boxers hook, it is believed that all of his bodyweight is transferred into the punch. It's not true. I had been told this years ago by several boxing trainers, but thought they were joking with me. I also recently watched a boxing programme where the narrator actually admitted this.

It doesn't mean that the punch is not powerful. Sheer momentum from the swing means that you are acheiving a lot of force. But if you think logically about where the punch is coming from. It is coming from the side of your body. This means that your body is not behind it (ie you are just relying on muscle). You and shaolin warrior are correct that the force generated from your feet transfer into the hit. But this is not bodyweight.

To answer your point about knockouts, knockout happen because of the accuracy of the hit. Some people you can knock out with the slightest blows and others you have to dig in and keep hitting

If you reversed the punch so that you pressed against the boxers hook, you would find that there is no weight behind it. In a wing chun punch there is.

Like I said, it doesn't make either better, but I just (personally) prefer the wing chun turn punch

[shaolin-warrior]

Lu, your absolutely right on. A properly executed hook starts at the back foot and ends at the fist. But I understand Rums reasoning, a well trained martial artist can generate just as much power with a straight punch without the telegraphing movements of a hook. Thus beating a circle with a straight line.

[Sagacious Lu]

It is a different type of force from a hook punch but it generates (in my case much more power), because all of your bodyweight is going through it (as opposed to the top half of your body, as in a boxers punch)

This is by no means starting a wing chun vs boxing debate. Both have their merits, but they are two seperate things. I train both and I am good at both.

I'm not trying to argue WC vs. Boxing (there isn't any point in that) but this simply is not true. When a boxer throws a proper hook he gets all his body weight into it by using his legs and hips. That's why so many knock outs come from hooks.

[Red Rum]

Hook uses the legs and hips too. Here's a vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F256qCZtzAc

You place your weight on your lead leg, then explode that lead leg while popping your hips through the target.

I can't access vids unfortunately, but I know what you are trying to say. Your theory is misplaced though. While the hips and legs are used to rotate through the punch, the energies are disjointed. The overall power comes from the top half.

The lower half is merely there to set the punch up.
Although it feels as though your base is giving you power, it is not. It is there to provide balance and position.

I have thrown many hooks from many styles (including the wing chun hook punch and the jeet kune do power punch - which I consider weaker than a boxers hook), so please don't make the mistake of thinking I am talking out of my as*

[Tom Yum]

It is a different type of force from a hook punch but it generates (in my case much more power), because all of your bodyweight is going through it (as opposed to the top half of your body, as in a boxers punch)

Hook uses the legs and hips too. Here's a vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F256qCZtzAc

You place your weight on your lead leg, then explode that lead leg while popping your hips through the target.

This is by no means starting a wing chun vs boxing debate. Both have their merits, but they are two seperate things. I train both and I am good at both.

[Red Rum]

What sort of strike do you use to generate double the power of a hook? The link you posted doesn't work for me. A good hook has the potential to finish your opponent in one shot. I suspect that you feel this way more because your hooks need more work than anything else.

It is a wing chun power strike (huen bo punch). A hook is good and it usually knocks an opponent off his feet, but it is cumbersome and people can often see it coming (especially martial artists who train to see hooks every day). As with all things - everything can be improved. But my wing chun punch which I have trained for years can hit from a small distance and generate a lot of power.

It is a different type of force from a hook punch but it generates (in my case much more power), because all of your bodyweight is going through it (as opposed to the top half of your body, as in a boxers punch)

This is by no means starting a wing chun vs boxing debate. Both have their merits, but they are two seperate things. I train both and I am good at both.

[Sagacious Lu]

As for wing chun being bad for power, that is laughable. I can generate double the power in a hit with wing chun than I can on just swinging a hook in.

What sort of strike do you use to generate double the power of a hook? The link you posted doesn't work for me. A good hook has the potential to finish your opponent in one shot. I suspect that you feel this way more because your hooks need more work than anything else.

[Red Rum]

I am twenty five stone (fat b*stard) and I have found that wing chun gives me a very formidable edge when fighting. Most people expect me to blast out with power, so are shocked to find that I can fight close quarter and in a very fast way. Strength is good, but if you rely on it you will often tire yourself out. As for wing chun being bad for power, that is laughable. I can generate double the power in a hit with wing chun than I can on just swinging a hook in. You have to make sure that when you do wing chun, the wing chun is realistic and that it works. I always give demos using my students when new people come to my class and any questions they have about fighting are answered. What is the point of doing a martial art for ten years and then finding it doesn’t work? Most of our students at Kamon become very good fighters after about a years worth of training (training once a week). Other schools I have been to can’t fight properly after six years!!

Take a look at our vid https://www.kamonwingchun.com/galler...BE_MONTAGE.wmv
and you will get an idea of power use in wing chun works. It is useless to think that doing chain punching in every situation will save you. To be honest I don’t like chain punching and rarely use it to fight.

[Tom Yum]

They also seem to think that one or two of their moves will end a person and are unmoved in this belief. Even in wing chun where an elbow strike is extremely powerful, you have to concede that sometimes it will take more than three moves to floor a guy.

Maybe 5-6 chain punches thrown in too?

Straight blasts can knock people silly, but they don't seem to knock them out. Chops and spear fingers are pretty devastating as well - you can't count them out. Even if a "lucky" spear finger lands where its intended, its going to mess up the recipient.

Why do medium to large-framed men study wingchun when they are built for strength and power? I can see an older man wanting to pick it up or a sub 150-lb guy doing it.

[tsefreeflow]

Its not the style that is more or less effective, but what you as a practicioner can do with what you learn!