The fist (Hammer)

[SPJ]

In CMA, there are many ways to use your fist.

It is usually called a hammer or Zui.

You may use your fist or clenched hand to hammer. The bottom, the top, the back and the front of the fist may all be used to hit.

And usually the targets are soft spots of the opponent, such as the rib side, chin, nose, temple, sternum and the acupunture points, etc.

It is not "straight punch" per se as in western boxing.

It is called to "drill" (Zhuan) or to "stab" (Chuo); meaning that focusing power on a small point when hitting straight using the front of the fist.

You may protrude the 2nd digit joints/ phalange of the index finger or middle finger out more. They are called "protruding bone" (Tou Gu) fist and "pheonix eye" (Feng Yen) fist.

How do you use the fist to fight in your school of MA?

How do you train or practice the fist to be "harndened" and not injured?

[SPJ]

The reason I started this thread;

There seems to be a lot of confusions between western punches and use of fist in CMA in the Tai Chi Punching (forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34425) thread in Tai Chi forum.

:D

[norther practitioner]

Did you just call the chin a soft spot...:confused:

either way, we have several hammer style punches in my school, some of them I associate more with chi na or breaks.

[MasterKiller]

What we call "hammer fists" are clenched fists swung with the arms out-stretched ala crane strikes. Mainly, we target the bridge of the nose and the collar bones.

[red5angel]

in a "fist" I've always been taught to use the knuckles, although I know some people who use the whole striking surface.

In Capoeira we don't use the fists much, more open hand slaps and strikes.

[omarthefish]

The title of this thread was poorly chosen SPJ. Most of us allready have gotten used to using "hammer fist" as the name for a regular clenched fist that is used to pound like a hammer using the side where your little finger is. Like when someone gets angry and pounds their fist on a table.

norther practitioner,

I'm guessing he just mean 'weak point'. (ruo dian) Again, poor choice of words.

My Shifu pretty much only uses this fist for his taiji. No hardening for the protruding index finger. He holds his hand kind of like the way you hold your hand to pick up a teacup by the handle. The pointy part only hits you in soft areas. If he hits me in the jaw it's always the same knuckles as in a regular fist. He just doesn't clench it. It fits well with Baji which uses, in out terminology, and "empty heart" first. ie. there is a hollow space preserved in the middle.

[SPJ]

I found the most interesting is the Canon fist or Pao Zui.

The name is used across many schools, but the fist form and power generations are diverse.

Pao Zui in Xing Yi is exploding like a canon.

An Shen Pao, Lian Huang Pao etc.

If there are 5 fists in a set, it is usually called 5 petal flower Pao or Wu Hua Pao.

In Tang Lang, it is called Mei Hua (plum flower) fist or strikes. There are also 7 hands in a series.

Do you have canon fist in your school of MA?

[Mr Punch]

In wing chun I use a hammer fist which uses the vertical fist coming downwards and 'raking' the target (it's always used on the face) with the knuckles. I'm afraid I don't remember what it's called in Chinese. It's good in general because it very safe for your hand, coves a lot of the target, makes a mess of the nose, and is easy to get from a position where your elbow has ridden over the top of the opponent's arm.

I haven't heard of the cannon fist... what is that?

edit: and sorry, is that 'canon' like a body of work, or 'cannon' like a bloody big gun?!:confused:

[SPJ]

Chinese discovered gun powder.

Fireworks and rockets were used for celebrations. Some were used to fight for several hundreds years before the westerners picked them up.

Pao or cannon is usually meant that something happens very fast like a cannon exploded.

Before the time of cannon, people usually called the moves are as fast as lightening or thunder. The fastest one would be shadowless such as Wu Ying Jiao kicking by Huang Fei Hong.

Yes, it includes body structure and the fist.

But the same term is used to mean different fist forms and body structures in different schools.

In Tai Ji second routine, there are strikes to the left, right, front, rear, 4 corners, top, mid and low etc. It is called Pao Zui Er Lu.

Then it just means that there are a lot of strikes (punch, palm, wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, leg sweep, kicks etc) in all directions and happening very fast.

[Samurai Jack]

I like the vertical fist we call Tsuki in Aikido. We also use a drilling sort of fist that ends with the palm side facing up, sort of like Tsuan Chuan from Hsing-i. Both of these strikes use the two largest knuckles of the hand as the striking surface. We also do palm strikes, edge of the hand strikes from all sorts of directions, hammer fists, and fists with either the index or middle finger's second knuckle extended.

I condition my Tsuki and drilling punches on the concrete outside, or against a cinderblock wall. One Thousand strikes a day, with lot's of Dit Da Jow. I'm the only Aikidoka I've ever heard of who does this, but the old Hombu dojo used to have makiwara for fist training in the garden.

[Mr Punch]

Thanks for the description SPJ. And sorry, I seemed to miss this line from your post!
Originally posted by SPJ
Pao Zui in Xing Yi is exploding like a canon.Jack, you have a hammer fist in your aiki? I've never used one I don't think.

[SPJ]

Pao Zui may also mean fists with explosive nature and in all directions.

But it really depends on the school of MA.