Um, probably sounds dumb, but whats the centerline?

[Apprentice]

i just read that "occupying the centerline" post...lost of info, but i just want to know what exactly is the "central axis between you and your opponent"...is it their waist? just tryin to make sure

"True victory is giving all of yourself without regret"-Ryu

"Your best move is the move you regret not doing"-Fei Long

"Are you prepared to fight today? Someone else is as we speak"-Apprentice

[rubthebuddha]

ask a wing tsun person, and you'll get this: let your arms rest freely at your side. consider the space above where your wrists lie and the top of your head. split that space in have across your body, and that's your horizontal midline. split your body in half right down the middle from crown to crotch, and that's your vertical midline. where those two lines intersect on your torso is your center point. the line that comes straight out from your center point to your opponent (preferably their vertical midline) when you're square to them is your centerline (the line you punch down, the line that's always relative for your tan/bong/fook/kau/jum, etc.

ask a wc/vt player, and i have no idea what you'll get, but i think most families here differ from wt

ask some jkd players, and they'll say centerline is the equivalent to a wing tsun vertical midline.

it honestly depends on who sets the definition.

-rtb

[whippinghand]

And we always punch on the centreline.

[Cyborg]

I know that you punch on the center line, and maybe I should post this as a new topic, but... doesn't that mean that you have to flex your wrists out? That would hurt your wrist if you hit hard enough. Unless you didn't strike all the way down the line but just intersected it at the proper time. I'm not trolling, I really am wondering what's going on.

[Marshdrifter]

Originally posted by Cyborg
I know that you punch on the center line, and maybe I should post this as a new topic, but... doesn't that mean that you have to flex your wrists out? That would hurt your wrist if you hit hard enough. Unless you didn't strike all the way down the line but just intersected it at the proper time. I'm not trolling, I really am wondering what's going on.

When punching from the sternum, the fist always faces along the
centerline, so it does cause the wrist to flex at first and it
straightens out as the fist extends along the centerline.

You would think that, when hitting a target six inches away, this
would hurt your wrist, but as long as the correct structure is
maintained, the force goes directly along the structure of the
arm and down the legs. This does make be wonder about if
someone were to try and apply some sideways sort of force to
make the wrist bend back more...

hmm... something to think about...