Edit: El, in Wing Chun is the bottom three. If you don't believe me, ask any Wing Chun instructor, in any place, in any country, of any experience.
The punches you are speaking of uses the bottom three knuckles. Will it hurt your hand? If you never conditioned yourself before, it might. This punch is very unique, COMPLETELY different than punches from boxing.
If you are punching with just your hand or arm, then you are wrong. This kind of punch draws its power from the entire body as a single unit. Wing Chun is a double-sided art system. If you punch with your right hand, BOTH sides, INCLUDING your left side moves as one, even though your left side is dormant. Otherwise, you might as well turn your waist and learn boxing.
When you punch, your move using your elbow. Elbows are super important in many martial arts. The elbows are aligned with the hips. The hips are one of the key aspect to the punch's power. Your hips and body is like a one big hammer. Your forearm is nothing more than a nail. YOUR forearm is DEAD, NOTHING, a blade of grass. Your elbow is the "butt" of the nail.
So, using the wing Chun punch with just the arm is like you trying to slam a piece of nail into wood with just your hands. IT IS DARN WEAK AND LAUGHABLE!
So, that is why you punch with your body! It is the hammer! Your right hip slams your right elbow (Not literally hitting it) and and the same time your elbow thrust forward, and your wrist then makes that upward motion which also helps preventing you from locking your elbows at the end.
Your body makes a wave like motion while doing so. And, people who master this punch soon polishes it to where the hip and wave motion gets smaller and smaller to where it's barely noticeable from the outside. But, for people beginning to learn this, feel free to exaggerate your hips and body (wave) motions to REALLY get your to FEEL it.
There are LOTS of small details. Many don't do them, and many SUCKS at doing them too!
Good Luck! yes, bottom three, but condition your knuckles beforehand.
depending upon the linage, it can be the bottom three knuckles, middle knuckle or top two knuckles.
your hand is completely relaxed until the moment of impact.
Im not sure which linage punches with which knuckles. and wing chun is not the only style that utilizes the pinky and ring finger knuckles, there are a few other styles that do as well
ignore kw, he is upset that he spent 10 years training a style that doesn't exist and he now teaches in a known mcgym
The WC and JKD guys I hung out with would do it different depending on what they were doing. They would pivot thier wrist up or down at the moment of impact to project into the target. If they want to root you into place, rotate downward, to move you away, up. A similar Idea to the rotation in a corkscrew punch. This is one of the things that gives just a little snap to those 1" and 3" punches.
Anyone telling you to hit with your bottom three knuckles should immediately stop giving anyone martial arts advice. It should always be the first two knuckles. If your doing a technique that requires using the other knuckles, stop doing it. It will most likely lead to hand injury if ever applied with force.
EDIT source is irrelevant. It's a horrible idea.
Kw I meet a wing Chung guy at comp he killed experienced people standing an on the ground he would **** me up. It's just like out boxing. If someone said they did wing Chung I would run.
Ok ok there are many Wing Chun lineages.I 've been practicing under a certain one and I have a question regarding the punches...you know,the straight ones.
Which knuckles have to connect? Which are the knuckles of the fist that have to strike the target? Is it the bottom three? Or maybe the top two knuckles? Help!
Thanks in advance!
