NTU Wing Chun

Featured Celebrity ( Adapted from Wikipedia )

Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee began his formal martial arts training at the age of 14 in Wing Chun under Hong Kong Wing Chun master Yip Man. Bruce was introduced to Sifu Yip Man by William Cheung, who was then a live-in student of Yip Man, in early 1954. Like most martial arts schools at that time, Sifu Yip Man's classes were often taught by the highest ranking students. One of the highest ranking students under Yip Man at the time of Lee's training was Wong Shun-leung, who is understood to have had the largest influence. Lee would leave before learning the entire Wing Chun curriculum, but Wing Chun formed a base for his later explorations of martial arts and development of Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee was certainly "Great". Bruce Lee's first formal, organized bout came as a teenager at his high school in Hong Kong. He was to fight a young British boxer, a reigning two-time boxing champion. Bruce knocked his opponent out with repeated strikes, using the Wing Chun technique jik chung chuy.

One inch punch
Bruce Lee demonstrating a "one inch punch"The One inch punch is a technique from Chinese martial arts which was popularized by Jeet Kune Do founder Bruce Lee.It is commonly believed that the One inch punch skill comes from Kung fu style of Wing Chun, however, it is present in many styles of Southern Chinese martial arts. As a general rule, Southern Chinese martial arts rely mostly on hand techniques from very close quarters (as opposed to Northern Chinese martial arts which focus more on kicking techniques from medium to long distances). Because the Southern styles martial artists were often fighting nose-to-nose with their opponents, they had to learn a way to deal out punishing blows even while almost touching their target.The One inch punch is a skill which uses Fah jing (explosive power) to generate tremendous amounts of impact force at extremely close distances. There are several different opinions regarding where this power is generated in the body. As with most Chinese martial arts, the power for this attack comes from the Dan tian. The dan tian is an area about three inches below the navel from which all power derives. When performing this one inch punch the practitioner stands with his fist very close to the target (the distance depends on the skill of the practitioner, usually from 0-6 inches). Then in one explosive burst, the legs root, the waist turns, the ribs expand and the arm extends through the target. It is crucial that the entire body move in unison, or else the power will be limited. The target in such demonstrations vary, sometimes it is a fellow practitioner holding a phone book on the chest, sometimes wooden boards can be broken.The one inch punch was brought to popular knowledge in the west by the martial artist Bruce Lee when he demonstrated the technique during the Long Beach International Karate Championships.

Mythic proportions
This technique, because of Bruce Lee popularizing it, has reached somewhat mythic proportions. Bruce Lee was famous for being able to defeat his opponent, or break boards, with merely an inch.The One Inch Punch is immortalized as an ability of one of King of Fighters main characters, K' and Kula Diamond. In the game, the inch punch technique is accurately portrayed as the character moves his or her entire body forward to deliver the strike, which upon contact, sends the target flying.

Documentary on One Inch Punch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx9iPFMriz0

One Inch Punch & Fa Jing: http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/wengshunkuen/oneinchpunch.html

posted by NTU-WingChun @ Friday, September 15, 2006