Power of the Kung Fu Inch Punch

Sifu Craig Rayner with the Phoenix Eye on Tai Yang - Kung Fu Pressure Point Training at Berwick Rowville Murrumbeena Melbourne

On Saturday 18th July about 30 kung fu students from the Golden Lion Berwick, Rowville and Murrumbeena martial arts academies met at the Murrumbeena centre for Sifu Craig’s Inch Punch workshop.

We started with a warm up from Si Jie Jo. It’s always interesting to see the way the different centres go through their warm up and to pick up other warm up techniques. The first technique we learnt was the Phoenix Eye Punch. Sifu Craig explained that this style was about technique and accuracy, using the knuckle of the pointer finger to strike specific points. We practiced a strike to the Lung 3 Point inside the arm after blocking a hook punch. Aiming for such a small point made me very awareof the need for focus when striking to make sure that my punches were as effective as possible. The second point Sifu Craig showed us was a classic ‘death touch’ point, the Tai Yang, which needed the subtle accuracy of the Phoenix Eye Punch to reach it.

The next technique was the Slapping Hands. Here we learned the effectiveness and power that could be generated with a relaxed arm and hand starting above the ear and hitting downwards to a target. Sifu Craig’s analogy of throwing a tennis ball was very useful as itworked to get everyone’s technique more relaxed. The self defence application of this strike showed how it could be used against a hook punch, opening up the shoulder and striking at the clavicle for an easy break. Sifu Craig explained how it could be also used to strike at the nose or forehead with great effect.

Related to the Slapping Hands was the Rolling Hands technique. Here Sifu Craig showed us the additional power that could be generated by rolling the striking hand from in front of the body, past the waist and then over the shoulder to strike.

We then moved onto the famous Inch Punch, as demonstratedby Jet Li in Fearless. Sifu Craig stripped away the mysticism and explained how this punch was all about technique, using biomechanics to generate great power. With the correct stance, waist movement and arm position we were able to build up to some quite strong hits on the red bags, but once we switched the bags for phone books we really noticed how much power came from this very short punch. This technique could be used in close fighting during sparring or self defence situations.

The variation to the Inch Punch was to add a pounce to the punch. The effect of this was amazing! The pounce aligned our bodies’ full weight behind the Inch Punch and turned it into an immensely powerful strike. The phonebooks took a huge battering and both me and my partner talked about how sore our forearms were from bracing the phone books!

Adam Swanwick. Rowville Kung fu student

Back to Kung Fu Techniques and Moves

© Copyright Richard Tsui-Po 1971-2012. All Rights Reserved.
Golden Lion Kung Fu Dim Mak Pressure Points. Phone: 9796 1066
BERWICK: 29 Intrepid Street, Berwick 3806.
ROWVILLE: 2 Laser Drive, Rowville 3178
MURRUMBEENA: 98 Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena 3163.
Melbourne, Australia.