Tightening or clenching the fist!

[Clint]

This is something I get alot of mixed opinions on! Some tell me I should tighten or clench my fist upon impact. This doesn't really feel right to me. When I practice chain punches, I never clench or tighten my fist, because you can make a fist obviously without clenching it closed. It can still be relaxed. When I tried practicing with the fist clenching tight upon the end of each punch, it felt incorrect, like I was using to much energy or interupting my flow. Different students tell me different things. Anyway, I will ask my sifu, but I am interested in your opinion as well. What does everyone think about this, and which do you recomend?:confused:

[kj]

I agree with you, Clint.

For us, clenching or tightening the fist in our "sun character punch" is a definite no-no. The reasons you mentioned are relevant. Due to the nature of our strikes, the hand is also at less risk of breakage with a soft fist, yet the opponent still receives the full brunt of the power.

Others' mileage varies.

Regards,
- Kathy Jo

[yuanfen]

Clint- my advice- FWIW- dont clench. But practice a lot of airpunching and a little soft wall bag punching. You have to learn how to align all the little bones and joints in the hand and wrist.
Cheers. Joy

[tparkerkfo]

Hi Clint,

I wont pretend to know the correct way to punch, but I have always used a rather loose fist as it just feels better than a clinched one. But then, I have always sucked at wing chun, so I am not sure if it is a coincidence or one follows the other ; )

A semi relevant side note. I do practice Hung Gar, and yesterday I did some interesting punching drills on one of these wave bags. Now, I have never had tramedous punching power, but I found that I could really hit the bag with a reverse punch. That would be relative to what I was used to hitting with. I found that my wrists were not really prepared for that much power and they bent a little and I could feel the pain. So I would have to really clench the fist upon impact in order to stabilize the wrist. But the wrist would have to be loose before so as not to tense up the forarms and to allow a natural and relaxed punch at the begining.

I note this only to perhaps deferentiate from different types of hitting. In wing chun that I am familiar with, we do not use the crushing power shots that are found in other styles. Our power is a bit different and not relient on shear brute strength. I have not seen the need for this extra tightening up at the end as with Hung Gar.

Just my experiences
Tom
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[Clint]

Thanks alot for your imput everyone. That does help me alot. I guess everyone does what suits them best. Not clenching the fist, definitely suits me best! As you said, tparkerkfo, different styles do things differently and different methods work better in different styles. :)

[[Censored]]

If you hit your target at an unexpected angle you can easily hurt your fingers. The two popular solutions seem to be:

1) Always tighten your fist to minimize possible damage
2) Never hit your target at an unexpected angle

Personally I favor #2. :)

[EnterTheWhip]

Muscles are part of the body as well. The WC community seems to want to distinguish itself from other arts as a bone structure art. Bone structure is not enough. The muscles help to support the structure. The ability to control those muscles at varoius times in a particular movement (as opposed to just letting it fly out) is how optimal power will be induced upon one's opponent. Not to mention that there are numerous ways of hitting in Wing Chun with various outcomes in mind.

Tom, there's much to be learned about your Wing Chun from Hung Gar. They are not intended to be so different as they appear.

[reneritchie]

EnterTheWhip is correct. WCK is seldom bound to extreme. Tightening or not tightening should not, IMHO, be subject to a lineage or absolute approach, but rather a flexible application reality. The punch is not just a punch, but is made up of many components (e.g. the forearm can slice defensively during the punch). One of the components is the fist, and once you have punched, there is an assortment of things you can do with your fist to create different effects on and in the opponent. Keeping it relaxed throughout is neutral. It transfers pure, clean power. One excellent option, but not the only option.


RR

[azwingchun]

I have to agree with you on this. We for the most part punch with a relaxed fist, though depending on the type of power you want to deliver this may change. Though we never completely clench our fist.;)

[TjD]

to release power correctly, the some muscles must tense at the end of a punch