Defense Form- Movement 2: Ducking Phoenix Eye Fist, Vertical Back Fist and Canon Punch

Hello, everyone and welcome back!

Today we are at this sequence in the form:

The sequence started from drawing in the left leg from the last Horse Stance while shooting out the Phoenix Eye Fist. That high guard at the beginning is a dead giveaway that I am ducking a face punch while countering with that blow. Then of course- we see the last two blows following shortly afterward.

For those of you who has not yet seen a Phoenix Eye Fist- this is what it looks like:

As you can see, my index finger is curled up, but made to have the first joint from my knuckle portrude to give it a hard point with which to hit soft or sensitive targets. I have been practicing this particular kind of blow against a heavy bag for some time now, so you can see some callousing on the impact point.

Now- blocking works and learning to block is a good way to develop defense, but it is not necessarily the most efficient way to take control of a fight.

The thing that makes this counterattack so effective is the fact that anyone who throws a punch also exposes his ribs. Yes- boxers, MMA fighters, kickboxers and full contact fighters all do it. The moment that arm straightens the ribs are open.

And you thought you were smart because you remember to keep your guard up while punching...

Thing is- that window that you have within which to hit those ribs is a very small one. So only blocking first is not going to cut it.

So... you duck to the side and shoot this pointy fist into those ribs before that punching arm pulls back again!

In Shaolin Kung Fu forms the ducking motion is enough to avoid your opponent's attack. The guard that I use in my form might therefore not appear in other forms.  Sifu Wong Kiew Kit referred to this form of counterattacking as a "no-defence counter".

Legendary Sword Master Musashi Miyamoto referred to this way of attacking as the opponent attacks as Tai Tai No Sen.

Well- that about covers the beginning of the sequence. 

We know however that two more blows follow after this one...

It is common for martial art styles to use a single attack when they demonstrate defense and counter maneuvers. This may make you think that that one counterstrike is enough to end the fight.

This is often far from true...

Now- Karate people- I have heard of ikken hissatsu and if you are strong enough to hissatsu anyone with your ikken I acknowledge your supreme badassery, but the fact that MMA fights can take as long as 26 minutes and the street fight videos on my Facebook timeline all have durations longer than 1 second tell me that for the majority of us- this is not the case.

That counter you land in your prearranged sequence does not mean that the fight has now finished. It means that you have now taken control of the fight and have a green light to go until the opponent is lying still. 

I like using attacks that alternate from left to right or from down to up.

I am sure we all agree that a good shot to the ribs is very likely to get your opponent to pull his arm down. So- as the face opens that vertical back fist can slam into it. This would call attention to the face, but leave the opponent open to an attack that rises up from below his guard- like the Canon Fist/ Uppercut that I use at the end. Sure- if need be I can even follow up with more attacks, but a kata sequence has to end somewhere, doesn't it?

So does this blog post...

I hope that you have enjoyed today's post. Next week's post is going to show a bit more proactive approach to defending against an attack.

Until we meet again- train well!