Power Generation of each Kung Fu style

[RAGINGbuddha]

Can we discuss the power generation of these Kung Fu styles?

Wing Chun
Hung Kuen
Choy Lay Fut
Xing Yi
BaJi
Ba Gua
Pak Mei
Shaolin

How do they do things differently to create power for a good hit?

[Bil Gee]

Originally Posted by RAGINGbuddha

Can we discuss the power generation of these Kung Fu styles?

Wing Chun
Hung Kuen
Choy Lay Fut
Xing Yi
BaJi
Ba Gua
Pak Mei
Shaolin

How do they do things differently to create power for a good hit?

I dont know how they do it differently, because I don't know how the others do it. But with Wing Chun the emphasis is on ging/jing which I think translates as "explosive energy" the energy is applied for the shortest possible time, at the point of contact, before and after you are relaxed.

[Stingrae789]

Originally Posted by RAGINGbuddha

Can we discuss the power generation of these Kung Fu styles?

Wing Chun
Hung Kuen
Choy Lay Fut
Xing Yi
BaJi
Ba Gua
Pak Mei
Shaolin

How do they do things differently to create power for a good hit?

Hung gar: stance switching, good arm positions. Tiger element can help develop aggressiveness. =D

Choy lee fut: speed, flowing and always moving.

this is probably not what you want lol.

[sliver]

Pak Mei and Lung Ying (sister styles) both generate their striking power from the waist. Typically, the stance stays firm while striking and the waist twists very quickly transmiting power down the arms. The arms act somewhat as the lash on a bull whip flicking in and out quickly and relaxed. When not striking the footwork tends to be highly mobile and foccused on getting into close combat range.

[blue eagle]

bagua uses the bagua step. hip pulling, leg extending into stance thing(hard to put into words). and i know other styles such as xing yi, tongbei use it just by watching.

chaquan has power generations in a so many ways, most famous would probably be from the springy leg(tan tui). there's also falling energy(mountain), whirl wind, dead weight, etc. who knows, i keep discovering new energies just from training.

just as a note, all the bagua energies are in chaquan and more. though it's harder to find.

[Infrazael]

Choy Lay Fut > continuous, destructive flowing. Do not stop to give your opponent a break (unless you are doing rule-governed sparring which totally defeats the purpose of CLF. . . . ).

The greatest, and most important element is the waist/hip. Without proper hip rotation, no power, no torque, no destructive energy. CLF = brick tied to the end of a rope.

Also, proper stances are very important. Or else, you throw yourself off balance.

So, to sum it up simply.

Power comes from the ground up. It hits the waist. The waist rotates (ALOT). The power comes through the swinging smashing hand strikes (forearms too).

[Stingrae789]

Hung gar has its nice horse stance to front stance to generate power =P

[onyomi]

Of course, all CMAs derive power from the use of qi and the explosive power derived from a contrast between relaxed and tensed. All CMAs also emphasize the use of full-body power whenever possible. There are, however, differences in which muscle groups different CMAs choose to focus on. Northern Shaolin and Praying Mantis both derive the majority of their strength from the waist. The legs, although adding to the power of a strike whenever possible, cannot always be included as they are also required to be doing nimble footwork and kicking.

Taiji is rather unusual in that it uses primarily the power of the legs as focused through the "kua" (band of muscles going around the butt and hips) to generate what they call "silk-reeling energy." This also includes adding as many circular movements into the knees, hips, body, shoulders, and elbows as possible in order to effectively transmit the power of the legs to the hands and also decrease the need for a windup.

Mizong-quan actually derives power from its footwork in that many of its strikes are performed in tandem with the feet stepping down and forward, which when done properly can generate a lot more power than it sounds like.

I believe Bagua-zhang also derives its primary power from the waist, but with strong emphasis on twisting motions.

Anyway, those are all the CMAs I know anything about. I'd be very interested to hear what other types of power generation are out there.

[chasleeuk]

Southern Chow Gar Praying Mantis, uses the compression of the ribs and shoulders to help generate ging, ive never seen this in any other system, all other systems ive seen tend to use the waist/hip shaking type movements to generate power.

The result is that ging can be created at even shorter distances with weird parts of the body at weirder angles that you normally would have trouble generating power from...such as upper arm when its like almost touching say 1/2 an inch away from the target.

ive also seen power generated by the compression of the spinal cord.

[Bil Gee]

Originally Posted by chasleeuk

ive also seen power generated by the compression of the spinal cord.

Just checking, you do mean the spinal column don't you?

[chasleeuk]

Originally Posted by psin

Just checking, you do mean the spinal column don't you?

woops my bad!!! your right of course what i meant was the bones in the spinal column!

[Bil Gee]

Originally Posted by chasleeuk

woops my bad!!! your right of course what i meant was the bones in the spinal column!

Just checking, I've seem some pretty wierd claims on here.

I'm interested in how you would store and release energy from your spinal column though. I know that there's capacity to stretch and compress it but I can't imagine how you would do that in a practical way in a fight?

[jroe52]

wing chun, pak mei and Choy Lay Fut to me have similiarities in power. i use wing chun, but when i look at the other two i can see similarities from the flowing motions and quick strikes.

in wing chun, the streangth draws from the speed of your chain punches. some of the power can be generated by different strikes (such as a palm instead of fist) or dim mak (striking key areas to immobilize the attacker, such as the floating rib, throat, neck ect)....(dim mak is in pak mei i think as well) yes it is for pressure points, but many of our MAP members are to ignorant to believe in those till they get hit by a strike lol.

[Yohan]

I take a shaolin style. Although I can't claim that these methods apply to other shaolin style, here are a few methods we use for power generation.

All these methods for power generation are used in our style for short ranged power generation, I imagine they could be used for long range.

1. Stance/weight shifting: this method involves shifting from a sam chein stance, which has 60% weight on the back leg to a front stance, which has 70% weight on the front leg. Since the foot position of a sam chein stance is identical to that of a front stance, shifting from sam chein only requires a slight pivot of the leg. This is the most basic form of power generation. This method evolves into a more andvanced version. In the more advanced version, you don't really shift your weight, you just pivot your leg. Although it might not make much sense, after practicing it for a few years it starts to fall into place.

2. Dropping energy: this method involves dropping your stance down to gain power in your strikes. The basic idea would be this: I put my fingertips against my opponent snake-strike style. I then simultaneously lower my stance quickly and drop my hand down and forward into a palm strike (that's just a basic/traning method for this form of power generation).

3. Vibrating energy: don't quote me on this because I can't do the vibrational energy. Shen yin could probably give a better description or Lim Kim Pore. Vibrating energy follows the same principle as stance shifting, but it is faster, more advanced etc. The idea here is that you shift your foot first, then your knee, then your hip, then your shoulder then your arm. After that, your foot should shift BACK to its natural position, then your knee should shift back to its normal position, then your hip, then your shoulder, then your arm. In this way, your arm acts as a whip.

4. Heaviness: heaviness is the way in which we generate power while being relaxed. The idea between heaviness is to leave the upper body completely relaxed, except for the muscles of the back. Whenever we strike or apply any kind of force, we tense our back up. In this way, our arms can remain completely fluid and fast, and still be powerful because you have a direct connection to the ground. This you really have to experience. I don't know if this description really does it justice. Heaviness is a pretty incredible feeling once you get good at it.

All of the above were characterized by my teacher as "yang" energy. There is one technique (that I know of) for "ying" power generation.

1. Ying Energy: The basic idea: put the back of your hand on your opponent. Without moving your body at all or using any other power generation technique, turn your hand over, delivering as much force as possible in the hit. It's difficult to get any kind of power at all, but with enough practice you can make this pretty powerful.

And more information (because I want to).
3 energies

There are 3 major energies taught to us by our basic set.

1. Hula hoop energy (I made that up just now). Imagine a hula hoop around your waist. That is the "direction" of the first energy. It is like a horizontal hula hoop. Hold your hands in front of you, palm up and move them in a horizontal circle. You will feel the first energy.

2. Bicycle energy (Made that up too, sort of). Imagine there is a set of bike pedals in front of your face. Put your hands on the pedals and start moving them around. The second energy is in a vertical circle in front of you (not sure but I think this is "silk reeling energy").

3. Ying energy (didn't make that up). Repeat the above. Ying energy is found by turning the hand over. Western boxers do the same thing. They turn their punches over at the very end to get a "snap."

[David]

Originally Posted by chasleeuk

Southern Chow Gar Praying Mantis, uses the compression of the ribs and shoulders to help generate ging, ive never seen this in any other system, all other systems ive seen tend to use the waist/hip shaking type movements to generate power.

The result is that ging can be created at even shorter distances with weird parts of the body at weirder angles that you normally would have trouble generating power from...such as upper arm when its like almost touching say 1/2 an inch away from the target.

ive also seen power generated by the compression of the spinal cord.

Hi mate, welcome to MAP.

Chow Gar does also use the waist and when it does it's often in conjunction with switching the stance. Switching stance means rotating the stance 90 degrees just by turning on the balls of the feet and not actually stepping anywhere.

Rgds,
David