Quote Originally Posted by TaiChiBob View Post
Greetings..

I spent a day at a workshop with WCC Chen and at least an hour was spent developing the relaxed fist strike.. what we worked on was using a relaxed, almost open, hand traveling to its target.. almost as if you were trying to touch the target with the fingers.. then, just at the 'touch' the fingers curled quickly into a loose, but not hollow, fist.. the quick 'curling' sort of pulled the arm forward, snapping the 'unified and fluid' structure of the arm/hand into place at the point of contact.. as we became proficient at the strike we cut the distance down untill we were actually striking with power beginning from the point of touching with the finger-tips.. the drills were practiced on heavy bags, integrating full-body mechanics.. the increased speed and power became clearly evident.. i was treated to the 'demonstration' by connecting my shoulder to the opposite side of the heavy bag while WCC demonstrated the strike as it originated from his fingers touching the bag.. the impact moved me a couple of feet and my neck was sore the next day, for 70+ years of age WCC 'has it'...

Be well...
Good Post I've been working on something like this for awhile now, not being concerned with the fist but rather just connecting the structure thru the elbow to express a powerful strike.

I find with the students I teach, they tend to make a tight fist right from the beginning of the movement, which makes them stiff and unable to use the VT power generation method.

I tell them to think of holding a egg or small bird in their palms when they strike, this relaxes their forearms, and allows them to lead their strike with their elbows, as per VT concept.

We develop the proper mechanics, then I have them hit the pad and bags to learn to make the fist at the last moment before contact. Hard to learn but worthwhile once it is learned correctly.

James