In the last few classes I had the opportunity to understand how this internal punch is executed. Somethings I’ve learned:
- Lower body
- Align the “bubbling springs” on your feet on the imaginary tightrope
- Square your hips and shoulders
- Keep a low center of gravity low
- weight is on the back leg
- To advance forward and fill in the range gap between you and the target, simply push your back foot’s heel into the ground and move your body’s structure into range
- Upper body
- The forearm is totally relaxed and perpendicular to the floor at all times
- The fist is tight only enough to keep a structure so that it does not twist your wrist out of alignment
- Keep your shoulders relaxed pressed down and back into the body so that it is not free-floating
- With your shoulders locked into your body and keeping your forearms perpendicular focus on:
- Hitting with your elbow by opening your elbow
- Keeping your fist in the center-line
- Focus on behind the target
- Imagine that you’ve already hit, then hit
Of all the things we are learning in class, this one is the most frustrating. You have to be relaxed to do correctly, and if you try too hard you go back to external punching. You also have to have the right body structure too. Then you have to use your intent. A lot of things to juggle. I should probably work on structure and relaxing while I do the Siu Lim Tao.