chain punching till my arms fall off

[Jaybo]

Hi guys

I have been training for a few months now. Last nights sesson was a killer. With punching weights we did 5 punches to the count, we did pyramid building from 10 to 50 then back down (i.e. 10 x 5, 20 x 5, 30 x 5 etc), followed by 100 (x 5). inbetween each set, we did a quick drill. This totals nearly 2000 punches. What is gained by punching to this degree? surely 50(x5) is plenty as a warm up? I guess it is for building the muscles that we punch with, i.e biceps, triceps and back?

[kowloonboy]

With punching weights

Sorry I am new to Wing Chun, what is punching weights?

[Jaybo]

They are just short lengths of 25mm diameter steel bar, about the width of your hand. Not that heavy to just lift but when chain punching you can feel the difference

[kowloonboy]

They are just short lengths of 25mm diameter steel bar, about the width of your hand. Not that heavy to just lift but when chain punching you can feel the difference

Thanks for your reply

[couch]

Hi guys

I have been training for a few months now. Last nights sesson was a killer. With punching weights we did 5 punches to the count, we did pyramid building from 10 to 50 then back down (i.e. 10 x 5, 20 x 5, 30 x 5 etc), followed by 100 (x 5). inbetween each set, we did a quick drill. This totals nearly 2000 punches. What is gained by punching to this degree? surely 50(x5) is plenty as a warm up? I guess it is for building the muscles that we punch with, i.e biceps, triceps and back?

Punching with weights is a good way to develop strength in the muscles that are required for such an action. I feel it's important to not go at full speed when the hands are weighted down and it's very important to practice form. This prevents injuries and fosters good technique.

Also, weighing down your hands makes your hands 'lighter.' Put on a pair of 16oz boxing gloves and go hit a couple rounds on the heavy bag. Then take them off and put on some MMA gloves. You'll be as fast as lightning!

[LoneTiger108]

Punching with weights is a good way to develop strength in the muscles that are required for such an action. I feel it's important to not go at full speed when the hands are weighted down and it's very important to practice form. This prevents injuries and fosters good technique.

... You'll be as fast as lightning!

Personally, I leave all the weights alone when practising chong kuen and I opt for using my blades

http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/1...witterpic1.jpg

[wingchunIan]

I don't personaly use weights when punching, but we do have a drill called the 550 where you cycle through clusters of chain punches none stop. Its a killer drill but its great for building stamina, punch speed and for encouraging students to relax the shoulders and arms during punching. In the same vein we also do timed continuous chain punches, 20 seconds is normally enough to fatigue beginers but you can realtively quickly build up to a minute or two.

[mvbrown21]

The methods above can be good to a degree for speed but can also cause some bad habits too.

Ultimately, the most important thing is a well-timed, well-executed punch. Your main focus, especially as a beginner, should be on proper form and hand/arm conditioning.

A wall bag will develop your fist/arm to take the necessary shock that you'll encounter when landing a solid blow on a human body. When you hit the bag make sure that your arm is not fully extended upon impact but don't be too bent at the same time, just enough to where your explode power will kick in. A wall bag is also important for focus. You have to be accurate in your straight punch, especially when you'll be turning and facing your opponent very quickly and quite often in a skirmish. It might sound mundane punching straight forward into a fixed object but it will improve it. You can also get the slightly stiffer wall bags and have a friend move around the room while holding it on his chest. This will help a lot too but your friend has to be willing to take a little bit of a beating too!

Practicing your punch in the air is the best way for developing form and will increase your power in it's own right as well. You don't need to go fast. Just make sure you come out on your centerline from start to finish. Your punch should end up around the base of your neck area with the knuckle of the thumb being in line with where your adam's apple is. Don't clench your fist, just put it in the shape of a fist. Your fist will be at a slight angle out when fully extended. If you're doing it right, this will be natural. When punching your fist should come up at an angle in a smooth continuous line, no hammer fisting. It helps beginners to imagine a string pulling up on the inside of their elbow until fully extended. The pinkie knuckle of your rear hand should rest right about where your solar plexus is in a relaxed position(at an angle) with your knuckles facing away from your body and your fingernails facing in. Do not rest your rear hand on your body.

Now this part is very important, when practicing make sure that both arms move at exactly the same time. You might think you're doing it right but this takes months, sometimes years to perfect. This is what will create your punch timing. If you have to record yourself until you get it right, do it. As the rear fist initiates, the extended arm rolls back. Neither one moves first but at the exact same time. Remember that and train that more than anything. This reason alone is why doing a blurry of punches can harm you and you'll see, hopefully, that as you progress a blurry of punches is a bad thing to do and will make you plateau quickly with your ability to control the opponent.

This video I have posted here is how chain punching should be applied in Wing Chun. This isn't about lineage or anything like that but a concept that came down from the top that is widely misunderstood.

http://fongswingchun.com/ChainPunchDemo.mp4

Hope this helps!

[kowloonboy]

A wall bag will develop your fist/arm to take the necessary shock that you'll encounter when landing a solid blow on a human body.

Since I am new, could you let us. What filling should we use inside the wall bag? Also should the bag be fill to the max like a pillow? Thanks.

[shaolinhouse]

Punching with weights is a good way to develop strength in the muscles that are required for such an action. I feel it's important to not go at full speed when the hands are weighted down and it's very important to practice form. This prevents injuries and fosters good technique.

Also, weighing down your hands makes your hands 'lighter.' Put on a pair of 16oz boxing gloves and go hit a couple rounds on the heavy bag. Then take them off and put on some MMA gloves. You'll be as fast as lightning!

Very well put. As for the mma gloves, you can purchase weighted ones as well.

[wolf3001]

We used to use a weight in class it was a bar probably 3 pounds or so. I have heard this is bad and doesn't help but I think it can help some. What we did was we would hold the bar bring our fist to center and then throw a punch as fast as we could and rechamber. After throwing punches we would then hold the bar strait out and bring the arm back as quickly as possible. I now have a wall bag hanging in my room unfortunately I don't have a place of my own and all the banging bothers my family. I do 2 level punching drills on my wall bag. 1 strike to the head, 2 to the body then another 1 to the head in rapid succession as I step forward and back. We do this in the air at the beginning of class as one of our warm up drills. I love the 2 level drill because in many cases you go for a strike to the head and people raise their arms. It really helps to teach newer people to switch targets quickly and keep getting hits. I tried my hand at candle punching it's a good way to develop proper technique and speed. The candle should be at shoulder height so that when you punch the fist goes strait out to the flame. Stand back far enough so that you can't actually touch the flame. Increase distance if your blowing the candle out easily. The flame should be blown back but not really blown out.


I had the kids in our class line up I put on a chest pad and held my arms behind my back. I then had each kid come up and do rapid chain punches as I moved around the room using my footwork. They had to keep up and not break contact until they were out of breath. At times I would simply walk slowly towards them and had them try hard not to retreat as I pushed towards them. I do a similar exercise with kicks because a lot of newer students have trouble dealing with a moving target and a target coming forward can throw some off balance when they land a hit.

[Frost]

Hi guys

I have been training for a few months now. Last nights sesson was a killer. With punching weights we did 5 punches to the count, we did pyramid building from 10 to 50 then back down (i.e. 10 x 5, 20 x 5, 30 x 5 etc), followed by 100 (x 5). inbetween each set, we did a quick drill. This totals nearly 2000 punches. What is gained by punching to this degree? surely 50(x5) is plenty as a warm up? I guess it is for building the muscles that we punch with, i.e biceps, triceps and back?

Punching with weights is not the best thing to do, the weight /resistance is going downwards which teaches the wrong muscles to work/fire at the wrong time, bio mechanically punching against rubber bands is a much better idea as the resistance is in the same plane as it will be in real life

What’s to be gained by doing so many punches in class……to be honest nothing much apart from wasting time and your money

[Vajramusti]

[QUOTE=Frost;1101383]Punching with weights is not the best thing to do, the weight /resistance is going downwards which teaches the wrong muscles to work/fire at the wrong time, bio mechanically punching against rubber bands is a much better idea as the resistance is in the same plane as it will be in real life

What’s to be gained by doing so many punches in class……to be honest nothing much apart from wasting time and your money.
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Agree with Frost on the first part.
Second depends on who is doing what and how.I have not seen what he is doing in his punching..

joy chaudhuri

[trubblman]

What’s to be gained by doing so many punches in class……to be honest nothing much apart from wasting time and your money."

Agreed! If you must do physical conditioning why waste time in class? Physical conditioning can always be done at home.

[k gledhill]

chi-sao is a vt specific punching, force exchange drill.... lost to the "feel me, oh yeah I'm redirecting you, etc...bs.
...if the elbows are centered in the cycle of the drill chi-sao, you use the triangulation of the feet and hips to the centerline to maximize force exchange for short range ko power not requiring large retraction or telegraphic action.

Centers can be shown by holding the elbow of the partner and centering, then pushing lightly. The centered elbow has the whole body structure behind it....the one being shown center will be pushed back easily unless prepared by doing ygkym.

If each partner strikes forwards with opposite elbows as one does tan and one jum [slt] you feel the hips engage then the legs....striking, roll to the other side and you striking with the other tan or jum, roll and you strike v strike, roll strike v strike, if you relax or have bad positions you get hit, or corrected to improve each other, not war. Thats later .

Done properly and you will not need weights you will develop explosive short range striking skills. Add the dimension of facing and tracking movement with CK and you have a fighter with forceful striking ability while facing and not a "feeling flow'er" with elbows and arms all over the place.