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Arm positions in Shaolin gong fu
Hi Doc,
Hope you brought your biohazard suit with the SARS epidemic over there, & you'll need it when you get back because it's rampant over here! Don't know about Vegas but Toronto has a HUGE Chinese population.
On to pleasanter thoughts… Dear Dr. Shaolin: I was showing a friend of mine that book of Lam Sai-Wing's (on the Tiger-Crane system), we began discussing forms. All of the forms we had been taught said never hyper extend your arms, always keep some bend so as to not damage the ligaments (tendinitis, from the Yuppie- tennis elbow). The Shaolin systems show the arms hyper extended, is this just for the form or would you actually strike someone that way, assuming that it would be a straight punch rather than a swinging punch that would jolt the joint? Otherwise, what's the purpose of fully extending your arms, won't that do damage?
Here's hoping you're tucked away on some little beach shack, suckin' on a coconut with a few native women to sooth those tense muscles & jangled nerves. =) xxxx
Hey, you don't make love with a straight arm, why should you fight with one? God does things for a reason....
From what I've learned so far, there should be a slight bend to the striking arm. If you analyze arm positions in any of the jibengong (the basics), and any of the traditional forms, there is usually a slight bend to the striking or blocking arm. The reason being, any outstretched arm is an invitation to an arm bar or break. If you look at the physiology of the upper arm, the brachioradialis (if I remember correctly), a smaller muscle than the biceps, initiates flexion from a complete extension of the lower arm (ie, from totally straight position). Once the arm has a slight flexion to it, the much larger biceps takes over and completes the flexion at the elbow. If you think about this, consider a situation, where, if your arm is fully extended, and someone grabs your arm in an attempt to hyperextend it (bend it back, the way it normally doesn't go, in order to break it), the muscle that is going to combat that is the smaller brachioradialis. If your arm is slightly bent, and someone tries to extend it, in an effort to break it, the larger biceps will counteract that force.
Also, the arm is stronger in a slightly bent position. When the arm is fully extended, the biceps muscle is stretched, and therefore, loses some of it's efficiency and strength. A slightly contracted muscle is stronger, because more sarcomeres (muscle units) are engaged after slight contraction.
There are exceptions, as always. For example, there is one part of Ing Chuan (eagle form), where there is a backwards claw strike, during which the arm is extended straight. And, also in ma bu dan bien, one of the basic maneuvers, the arms are thrust out laterally and straight. There are also some movements in one of the Da Hong Chuan forms whereby there are straight extended arms moving across the body. But in general, Shaolin teaches a slightly bent arm.
From my perusal of some southern styles, I think you see more of a fully extended arm in some of those, such as Choy Le Fut. Jeff would be able to better answer that than I.
Hi Doc,
Hope you brought your biohazard suit with the SARS epidemic over there, & you'll need it when you get back because it's rampant over here! Don't know about Vegas but Toronto has a HUGE Chinese population.
On to pleasanter thoughts… Dear Dr. Shaolin: I was showing a friend of mine that book of Lam Sai-Wing's (on the Tiger-Crane system), we began discussing forms. All of the forms we had been taught said never hyper extend your arms, always keep some bend so as to not damage the ligaments (tendinitis, from the Yuppie- tennis elbow). The Shaolin systems show the arms hyper extended, is this just for the form or would you actually strike someone that way, assuming that it would be a straight punch rather than a swinging punch that would jolt the joint? Otherwise, what's the purpose of fully extending your arms, won't that do damage?
Here's hoping you're tucked away on some little beach shack, suckin' on a coconut with a few native women to sooth those tense muscles & jangled nerves. =) xxxx
Hey, you don't make love with a straight arm, why should you fight with one? God does things for a reason....
From what I've learned so far, there should be a slight bend to the striking arm. If you analyze arm positions in any of the jibengong (the basics), and any of the traditional forms, there is usually a slight bend to the striking or blocking arm. The reason being, any outstretched arm is an invitation to an arm bar or break. If you look at the physiology of the upper arm, the brachioradialis (if I remember correctly), a smaller muscle than the biceps, initiates flexion from a complete extension of the lower arm (ie, from totally straight position). Once the arm has a slight flexion to it, the much larger biceps takes over and completes the flexion at the elbow. If you think about this, consider a situation, where, if your arm is fully extended, and someone grabs your arm in an attempt to hyperextend it (bend it back, the way it normally doesn't go, in order to break it), the muscle that is going to combat that is the smaller brachioradialis. If your arm is slightly bent, and someone tries to extend it, in an effort to break it, the larger biceps will counteract that force.
Also, the arm is stronger in a slightly bent position. When the arm is fully extended, the biceps muscle is stretched, and therefore, loses some of it's efficiency and strength. A slightly contracted muscle is stronger, because more sarcomeres (muscle units) are engaged after slight contraction.
There are exceptions, as always. For example, there is one part of Ing Chuan (eagle form), where there is a backwards claw strike, during which the arm is extended straight. And, also in ma bu dan bien, one of the basic maneuvers, the arms are thrust out laterally and straight. There are also some movements in one of the Da Hong Chuan forms whereby there are straight extended arms moving across the body. But in general, Shaolin teaches a slightly bent arm.
From my perusal of some southern styles, I think you see more of a fully extended arm in some of those, such as Choy Le Fut. Jeff would be able to better answer that than I.
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