Punching & Kicking

Ving Tsun Kung Fu is more than just punching and kicking, yet if you don’t have powerful, explosive punches and kicks then your Kung Fu is not so good. Even if you manage to control the line and strike your adversary, it will make no difference if you punch and kick like a two year old. Here are just a few ideas for developing powerful punches and kicks.

Punching

First, start of with air punches, you want your chain punches to be loose, relaxed, and well timed using optimum hand replacement. The set I have my students do is what I call a counting set. You start in yee jee kim yueng ma and begin to count. When you say one you throw one punch, two, two punches, and so on all the way up to ten. After you get up to ten drop and do ten pushups, which would be one set. When you can do five sets in a row you are doing great. (Extra credit: how many punches and pushups is that?)

You can also add a focus mitt to this drill; have your training partner hold a focus mitt in front of you for you to punch as you perform the exercise described above. Your partner should give you a little pressure on the focus mitt and you should time your punches so that the focus mitt does not have the opportunity to move forward. See if you can come up with your own variations of this drill that include shifting and foot work.

You may also want to invest in a Sao Bao which is a wall bag that you can fill with whatever you like. My suggestion is to start with something soft like sand or rice and the very gradually, say every month or so move up to coarser materials like gravel. You want to condition your hands so that they can withstand the force of punching but at the same time you do not want to damage your hand. What good is it if you can smash a cinder block but you can’t sign a check?

Kicking

Can you play Siu Nim Tau on one leg? It’s not easy and it’s a great way to develop your horse and build the foundation for powerful kicks. Start off playing just section one, try to play all of section one, first on the right leg and then on the left. Each month add another section with your goal being to play the entire form on one leg at the end of three months.

Another exercise is to have your training partner hold a kick shield, stand in Hau Ma (a rear stance) in front of the kick shield. Raise you leg and touch the shield with Dim Gerk, make contact with the entire surface of the bottom of your foot. Do not use any power and do not use the shield for balance. Also do not straighten the supporting leg. Do ten of these on each leg, feel the burn!

Alright…get busy!