[QUOTE=Oso;901325]basically, in my backyard physics analysis, you can initially break the spine in to two planes (x and y)[/quote]LOL, I’d rather not be breaking my spine in any plane! :eek: 
X/Vert ‘power’ is shown in xingyi, western wrestling (the head snap preamble to a lower level shoot {credit to MP for pointing that out a couple of years back}, and a lot of mantis stuff in our line (Peng Lai) via a lot of short striking up the center combined with short choppy footwork pumping the hips vertically and transferring the power to the arms via the spine.
Hmm, similar vertical power is supposed to be in wing chun, but I must admit I’ve found more power incorporating the few xing yi principles of power generation, or even tai chi.
Back to the lower spine tuck subject. In vertical power there must be some kind of ripple/wave or in the very least, some kind of expansion (ie stretching the spine) to generate enough motion for a significant force. A few years ago I would have thought that tucking the lower spine would cause some kind of ‘block’, an obstacle to the power coming up from your legs. Since doing Japanese koryu ‘internals’ and a little xing yi, I see it more as the lower spine being part of the base as opposed to the base being the legs/feet only. My koryu teacher explained it as being the keystone to the arch of your legs (however straight they may actually be) and therefore you can generate power at short range in any direction.
Y/Horiz ‘power’ is shown, well everywhere a little more obviously than the X axis, IMHO, but most punches and kicks of any ‘style’ evolve out of the Y axis of the hips torquing the spine and releasing through the shoulders.
Dunno, we’ve already mentioned xing yi and wing chun which don’t seem to do this. Given, of course, that many wing chunners seem to punch like small girls ( :rolleyes: ).
And while for example, the boxing jabs certainly starts off with exagerrated torque in the horizontal plane (or more like a corkscrew involving both planes I’d say) when you’ve got it off pat you can deliver it with minimum torque from basically a vertical platform which if you sit on acts in a similar way as tucking the base of the spine. I know the jab isn’t a power punch by nature (though it can pack a wallop), but the uppercut and even the hook to a large extent also work the horizontal plane right?
‘S’ backs vs. concave vs. convex…doesn’t it really come down to the transition between one to the other?
See, that’s interesting too. I think part of the reason that wing chun’s punches do have sucha rep for being girly slaps is because people misunderstand the basic principle of sil lum tao, which is a dynamic base, rather thana static one: they don’t practice enough with motiion (which partly comes down to the whole lack of usefull sparring thing: and by useful I mean that most chunners sparring concentrate almost exclusively on speed to the detirment of postion and power).
Plus, especially in some lines, I’ve heard that wing chun punching should be like as if your suspended by a line from the top of your head. Now I’ve heard this in tai chi too, but that’s just an analogy to get you to pull your head up in the right way, whereas in those chun lines I’ve actually heard some nutters say that you’re effectively swinging your whole body into the punch from the line attached to your head. This of course, defies physics, as there is no real line attached to your head.
I digress. Surely the chain ripple effect in vertical power should come from the interaction between the tucked and the untucked spine, and therefore the important quality is the transition, the flex.
