Wen Hsiu Quan

Hello and welcome back, everyone. Today we look at this movement in our Striking Form. Shaolin students would probably call it "Black Tiger and Stopping Fist". Karate students may say I stole this from Heian / Pinan Nidan (although I have recently learnt that some styles actually call it Pinan Shodan...).    A demonstration of the move is here below: When we attack first it is better to attack a target that is opening up than one that is closing. We know that by now, right? We are all familiar with opening up the body with a jab to the face. As the opponent's guard raises his ribs open up and we can take the shot. Well- now we have a way to open up the face... Unless the opponent sidesteps one of two things will happen. Either he will get hit or he will block the punch to his midsection. If he retreats in a straight line he will get hit anyway... Now... if the punch does connect the opponent is likely to drop his arms in response...

Hi, everyone! :) It is said that a picture is better than a thousand words. I think that one thing which is better than a picture is a moving picture. Like I have said earlier- the striking form is pretty much straightforward where its applications are concerned. That is the thing about striking moves in forms- you can easily see what they are meant to represent. The openings for interpretation usually lie with blocks, parries and grappling moves. Oh! And then you do get that bunkai researcher/ analyst that will give you some non-striking applications for apparent striking moves...   Well- none of that stuff is going to happen over here. This the creator of this kata speaking and he knows very well what he had intended when he put these movements together. First thing that I want to say about this form before I get on to discuss today's movement is: The first 3 knife hand blocks in the form were only meant to place you in a kamae or ready position from ...

I could probably have called the movement "Tiger Bares Teeth and Black Tiger Steals Heart" because that is more or less what Kung Fu students would call it. Still- the stances featured in this movement and the techniques used are common to both Karate and Kung Fu. They can be found in Korean Arts like Taekwondo as well. The block itself here does not use the tiger claw hand form that is seen in Shaolin Kung Fu. If you want to use it, however, I really have no objection. To me the fingers spread apart like in the tiger claw form indicates a readiness to grab the opponent's wrist upon blocking it. In Kung Fu the tiger claw can also be used to dig into the punching arm's bicep, disabling that arm from further use in the fight. What I have done here, however, is a simple block and a punch. Really straightforward, actually. The stuff one teaches white belts... Nonetheless- I thought it a good idea to summon a shadow clone to show you some of the applications to th...