# JKD Straight Lead Punch....Is it from Wing Chun?



## IMAA (May 21, 2003)

Hello everyone.

   I was doing some posting on another thread on Martial Talk and I brought up that Bruce Lee taught the straight lead jab when actually making contact that he stated to hit w/ the bottom three knuckles.  Now in Karate and or most martial art systems that goes against thier nature by saying those are the weakest knuckles in the hand, and that the first two bigger ones are more so stronger than the bottom three,  Also that the alignment in the wrist and the median bone in the arm are not in alignment when throwing a JKD straight lead jab.  Now someone posted that this punch was probably taken from the Wing Chun system because of Bruce's exposure to Wing Chun from GM Yip Man.  I was curious so I started digging thru the Tao of JKD and located the explanation of the straight lead on pages 92-99 of TJKD.  It didnt state anywhere the reasoning behind why to HIT with those three knuckles vs. the top two.   I know somewhere in the realm of notes, books and such I have the explanation behind it, in fact I know I do, but I cannot locate it anywhere.  So I thought I'd come on here and ask and see what I can come up with, and if all else fails at least create a topic....  

Thanks


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## Mormegil (May 21, 2003)

I don't know technical, and I don't really know Wing Chun (I've just got JKD training).  But from what I understand, both types of punches are typically fired vertically, and with the elbow down (as oppose to a boxing jab, with horizontal fist, and elbow not necessarily down).   Think about those toy boxing nuns or what not.  With a punch thrown like this, it seems akward to me to hit with the top knuckles.


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## IMAA (May 22, 2003)

Hi,  I was going over some of the topics on the Combative Solutions forum,  and  I noticed this thread.  it is exactly what I Was looking for..


http://www.forumco.com/bigjkd/link.asp?TOPIC_ID=3504 :asian:


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## Gwailao (May 22, 2003)

I cant say he got it from wing chun. As there are alot of styles around and who knows what each uses or not. But in wing chun we do that type of punch, focusing on the bottom 3 knuckles. they say its not strong enough to take the impact but i have never had any problems, bare knuckly sparring, hitting wall bags, or anything. The reasoning behind may vary from person to person but as i understand it there are couple different factors. i will try to keep it brief and some parts would require alot more explanation and understanding to grasp then what i can lay out here for you. 1. when you punch with a horizontal fist like a boxing jab, the bones radius/ulna in your for arm cross, like if you cross your fingers. and when you impact there is a give in your bones. with your fist vertical the bones are stocked one over the other, and we focus on the bottom bone/ulna so that the force/power follow along a striaght solid path, think of taking a pipe and jabbing it at someone right on the top, same principle, and if you look at the bone structure, the unla is bigger at the elbow joint and narrow to the fist, and the radius is opposite, so we also focus on the ulna to fous the power from a bigger point, down to a smaller, like a wedge would do. same thing with using the smaller knuckles over the bigger, it gives a straight, solid, focus point for the power to travel down and dispurse from. And we train to have out elbow solidly behind the punch, and other wing chun concepts for power dispersial, wont go to far off the punch subject here. But we aim to have all proper skeletal alinment for the punch. but thats a brief exp. on the why the bottom knuckles, atleast one perspective.


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## leehoicheun (May 23, 2003)

> But we aim to have all proper skeletal alinment for the punch.



this is very true. Wing Chun get's it's power not from muscle... but rather from skeletal structure. If your structure is good then power is available regardless of size.

The WC punch hase many purposes. For one..... it is a short range punch delivered without telegraphing. To hit from such a short distance with power one needs the structure we mention before. Also, the WC punch has a snap upon impacted that we call "impact power". This punch hurts on the inside. It can be compared to a massive and focused sound wave being delivered into your body. Hence the one and three inch punch.

I trained in just about every way of striking.... from my old karate days, western boxing, Mui-Thai, Kali-escrima and kung fu. Each "way" of punching has it's purpose. The WC punch was specifically designed for the in-fighting and deceptive hands of the Wing Chun fighter.


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## jmdrake (Jun 10, 2003)

Hello all,

While there are other arts that use the verticle fist punching structure, it's pretty clear that Bruce got this from Wing Chun since WC was the art he began training in.  Also when he first started teaching in Seattle his art "non-classical gung fu" looked much like WC.  Bruce also was the technical editor on the book  Wing Chun that was written by the instructor of his Oakland school James Lee.

Regards,

John M. Drake


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