wing tsun Lesson 1 Chain punch

Lesson 1, Chain punch

Wing Tsun's main attack motion is a machine gun like delivery of straight punches referred to as chain punching. The WT punch is very different in use than most martial arts punches, in that it serves as a defensive posture until landing. We punch in various methods, for example we have elbow in or out for various defensive reasons. We have lifting and round punches that superficially resemble uppercuts and hooks. We generate power through various methods that will be introduced later, such as falling step of Jack Dempsey fame, lifting step somewhat similar to a tai chi uproot, and turnning step which resemble paukua or hook type punches. Chain punch serves two purposes at this stage, First it is an exercise for conditioning the shoulders and arms. Secondly and more importantly it introduces wing tsun's concept of 'swarming' the opponent using speed and mulitiple aggressive attacks. It is very important that you try to have a minimum of muscle tension in the delivery or landing of this technique. DONT tense up as you hit. In order to generate lots of power at short range, the limb must be very loose, and the force come from body actions. Right now, you are trying to develop a muscle memory of punching loose, even if for now it feels weak. Think of muscle tension as 'putting on the brakes'. We want our punch to stay loose and feel light on our side. Later we will show you how to make the strike feel extremely heavy on the receiving persons side. This chain punching concept will be gone into in more detail once we start getting into application. For those new to Wing Tsun, and especially those new to punching at all, it is suggested that you do about 75% of your practise punches at this stage in slow motion, or a medium but very relaxed speed for now. Dont worry if the punch feels weak at this stage. Your main focus is strictly on the mechanics of the motion, and then of letting the body adjust to the physical action.

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