This doesn’t worry me at all when I’m punching mitts, punching targets etc. but if I’m punching a kick shield and I lose concentration for a second my wrist buckles on impact and considerable pain occurs.
The obvious solution is not to punch kick shields but everybody else I train with (even the people on their first lesson) punches them. As I said earlier it’s not a problem if my focus is 100% but I worry that in a real situation when the adrenaline dump happens I won’t be able to maintain that focus.
Any ideas for strengthening the wrists? Not the good ol’ “pushups on the knuckles” thing either 'cos one of my wrists is a bit busted anyway & I’ve been advised by the doc not to do them. I’m not looking for some superhuman gruelling shaolin technique that requires hours of pain and looks really nice, just something simple and scientific (like WC) that other Wing Chun people do. Any takers?
I’ve found that warming them up a little with SLT helps, but it’s the strengthening I need!
The most important thing is to practice how
to properly align the hand/wrist/elbow.
There should be no excessive tension in the
wrist or hand while punching. Try to relax
your shoulders and keep the elbows down and
in.
Practice relaxed “wet noodle” punches on a
wall bag and pay attention to keep the elbows
in and to relax the arms and shoulders.
There should be just enough tension in the wrist
to properly align it.
You are actually punching “from” the elbow and
the lower arm and hand/wrist is just an extension
that should not tense up. If you are tense you
are using localized disconnected force and you
will not be able to generate true Wing Chun close
range power.
Straight Blast: Isn’t sore wrists a symptom of not training in a while? What I’m saying is in particullary boxing, if you been away from training a longer time it takes time for the wrists to adept to the strain on them. Especially if you are throwing hooks on the bag.
Joakim Svensson…thanks, I will bear that in mind next time I jump in front of a wallbag. I’ll wonder if I’ll have to explain to my Sihings what “wet noodle” punching is!!!
Nichiren… I don’t think it’s so much a symptom of not training in a while as it is many years of punching with a horizontal fist getting in the way. I naturally attempt to align my first two knuckles to strike (as in Thai boxing) but I need to be aligning the bottom three. But I have definately experienced the hooks on the bag thing. Moreso for me uppercuts. One poorly executed upper can leave your wrist aching for about a week.
Do both wrists hurt or just one? If it’s both wrists, you might need to adjust your punching mechanics to prevent injury. The proper alignment (physiologically) is for the elbow to be behind the middle two-knuckles (NOT the pinky knuckle, this might be what’s causing you pain), wrist naturally straight (NOT bent one way or another). This way, on impact, you don’t rick sheering the pinky knuckle or developping Repetitive Stress Injuries in the wrist from twist-compressing it.
If its just one wrist, then you may simply have an injury (maybe even a chronic one) that needs care before it can withstand the abuse of heavy punching. A good physio-therapist is the best bet, or if you have access, a TCM/herbalist.
Like others have already said, your alignment is probably off. One way to check or correct is to stand facing a wall. Place your fist against the wall at neck height so that just the middle and ring knuckles (not the whole fist) are making contact. Make sure you have good elbow position behind the wrist and lean into the wall. The feedback should help you feel any pain or buckling of the wrist. You may also feel mis-alignment at the elbow and shoulder as well. Everyone has different body dimensions and this is one way you can find the best alignment yourself.
more than likely the alingment is incorrect at the moment of impact… remember the punch is at an angle, if you over roate it and fist being perfectly vertical the first thing that’ll hit is the middle knuckly, which will cuase the wrist to buckle.
proper alignement is the fist being at an angle… by being at an angle the entire fist hits the target squarly. all to often people put too much emphasis on the knuckles
You have a lot of good advice to help with your problem. I may only add a couple of things that could help you out.
Is your hand/wrist/bridge flat? There should be no bend! Thumb points to the sky and elbow points to the earth. Never contract even on impact!
The Sae Mun Bai Jee (4 corner swaying fingers) section in the beginning of the “modern” Biu Jee set within Yip Man’s WC is excellent for wrist/bridge strength. We preserve this skill in our Siu Lin Tau level and it makes all the difference in the world when understood and trained properly.
Practice it often will change you! (quote from Fung Sang sifu!)
If you have to concentrate to hit the shield correctly,
you probably aren’t using correct structure. It sounds
like the structure isn’t innate, but you can still do
it correctly if you think about it. Or, it could be that
you’re tensing your arm to compensate for the poor
structure and if you don’t concentrate you don’t
tense at the correct time. Seeing how practicing
SLT helps a bit, I’d think it’s the first one.
To help this problem, practice SLT a lot. Also
spend some time lightly hitting a sandbag.
Do this alot and it’ll reinforce the correct structure.
Eventually, you won’t have to concentrate as much.
I’m hitting a curved kick shield…do you think that the curvature may have something to do with it from what you said in your post? Thinking about it it doesn’t happen at all when I hit the wallbag or punching bag. Maybe it’s the curved inward structure of the kick shield?
I don’t think hitting a curved shield is an issue. Although it may be possible if you are manipulating your wrist to compensate for it.
If it doesn’t happen when you hit a heavy bag or a wall bag, then I suspect that it may have something to do with the density of the target. These shields tend to be much less dense than a bag. You may be torquing your wrist as you try to power through the shield and your fist sinks into it.
Either (or both!) you are trying to adapt to the curved surface of the target or, you punch with the knuckles instead of the entire surface of the fist. These are the only things I can see that could have this effect.
My understanding is that the centre of mass of the human body is around dantien (just below the navel)… that’s certainly where rugby players aim to tackle. But presumably wing chun punches aren’t aimed there, so perhaps you are talking about the centre of mass of the head? If so, would that mean you would be making contact with the bridge of the nose? Your comment hasn’t really cleared anything up for me
When I say the “center of mass”, I am referring to the center of the mass of the opponents body as it is presented to you in an attack along your centerline. You will not necessarily be attacking face to face with an opponent, but rather come in on an angle. However, if you were coming in face to face, the target would be along a line from the dantien (as you’ve indicated) up to the forehead. Of course that’s a generalisation, since the relative height of the opponent must also be factored in. If the opponent is much taller, you might not punch to the head, if he was much shorter, the dantien would not be a target. You have to know the natural range of your punch and not reach for a specific target, but rather use your forward energy to drive to the center of mass, and just hit whatever suitable target is presented to you. If you come in at an angle you hit along your centerline and strike, you might hit the rib cage or the side of the head, but again hitting to the center of mass at that point.
Once again, know the upper and lower range of your punch for effective striking. Hit “what is” not “what if”.
