Bruce Lee popularizes Wing Chun Kung Fu all over the world. Wing Chun Kung Fu has a unique way to punch that is called the ‘sun thrusting fist’. The punch is different from most of other disciplines of Kung Fu because of its special energy form. The energy is believed to be released from the elbow. The fist is first put near the heart and then punched a long the centerline. The fist and arm is imagined as a metal ball linked with a metal chain which is shot from the shoulder. Wing Chun masters say you must keep elbow in center while punching.
In order to punch a powerful sun thrusting fist, the whole body’s muscles must be completely relaxed. People often think that contracting muscles would make the punch heavier. But actually this is totally wrong and makes the puncher feel like the fist is heavier. According to the principles of Wing Chun, the power of a punch can only be judged by the one who received it.
How did Bruce Lee fire an insanely powerful punch within one inch (the inch punch)? Some might think that a punch is done by muscles of the arm only but in fact, punches like that requires the martial artist to uses the whole body’s muscle at the same time which would generate energy like explosion when done correctly. Wing Chun principles say that it uses six sets of muscles from toe to fist to execute a correct sun thrusting fist.
The sun thrusting fist is involved in 3 styles of punching in Wing Chun. The most common one is the Chain Thrusting Fist. This is the favorite of many Wing Chun masters due to its practicality and power. Unlike other disciplines of martial arts which punches one by one, the chain thrusting fist is executed by a series of closely followed sun thrusting fists. When the left punch is done, the left hand will be relaxed by the side of the right arm. The fists are not drawn back. Masters are able to fire the punches extremely quickly and powerfully like a machine gun.
The other very practical way to fire a sun thrusting fist is the bouncing bridge thrusting fist. This technique is introduced to Wing Chun students in the second standard form ‘Finding Bridge’. The technique involves blocking and attacking at the same time. A very important principle of Wing Chun is that two action done at the same time is always more effective than done one after one. In this technique, the left hand is used to block opponent’s attack while the right hand execute sun thrusting fist to attack at the same time.
One other less common form of sun thrusting fist is the double punch. When a double punch is executed, both hand punches sun thrusting fist at the same time but they attack two different targets. Usually, the two punch land on the centerline of the opponent’s body. By doing this, although both hands are extended, the person can still defend from opponents attacks.
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