Cannon Fist; the "other" hand?

old warrior horse · #16 (**permalink**) August 7th, 2008, 11:55 PM

The upper hand is a perfect for a block if used against the proper element..... think of it in terms of the five elements....fire destroys metal....as the downward motion of Pi Quan comes in at you, the motion of the arm going up of Pao Quan moves the metal out of the way....very important to remember that Pao quan starts with fist at dan tian, palm up....and ends up by in the upper position with the pam side of the fist facing out.

It is the rolling motion of the arm that works to deflect the incoming "metal" attack....not force against force....then the lower hand strikes in to center.

Li Ma-Keh · #17 (**permalink**) August 8th, 2008, 02:16 AM

everybody has some good points,...also' you can 'intend' the upper fist(near the temple), as a pull-back arm.(option) Initial-block as it rises, catching/grabbing your opponents arm, and pull him into the out-going Cannon-punch. i also like the standard idea of the upper-fist twist/pull as a block/re-direction technique. So many options to the 5-elements,...it will keep us busy for Years! Coach Li

li xiao long · #18 (**permalink**) August 13th, 2008, 05:11 PM

I train pao in the traditional method for drawing a bow in archery. Its probably the easiest method I've found to teach people on energies and movements needed.

As for positioning etc, I'd need to get a pic up, as im too old to be explaining things!

Li Ma-Keh · #19 (**permalink**) August 13th, 2008, 06:42 PM

Archery/Bow-Drawing,...hey' that's an excellent one!

li xiao long · #20 (**permalink**) August 14th, 2008, 05:18 AM

Well I've always maintained that its a battlefield art first, noncy daoist feel-the-qi-maaan stuff second. So, it fits in with the training, and works a treat too. You also get to understand the bio mechanics of the energies and positions relative to the bow strength - i.e. a low bow strength and you can have elbow up for aiming purposes (like you see contemporary archery), or for uber bow strengths (we train with 85-135lb draw strengths) the elbow must be down, otherwise you cant pull the string to full extension.

iron_leg_dave · #21 (**permalink**) September 25th, 2008, 09:29 PM

Pao quan is a "deflect and counter" movement. There are a lot of deflect and counter movements in hsing yi. This one is just designed to be the rawest, most basic technique really illustrating this point. We have to keep in mind, that the five fists contain the whole essense of this style. With that in mind, it is easier to see their proper uses, once we start to get a feel for xing yi.

The deflection and the counter are both occurring in one motion. The front fist is beng quan, the rear fist rises up, tiger's mouth down, stopping one fist width above the forehead. The lineup, for it's normal use, is like this:

Standing both feet together, with the hands in front of the waist, in fists, palms facing in, the weight is on the left foot, and the hips face the direction on the feet. The head is upright, and looks 45 degrees to the right. The nose, is the line of attack.

As the opponent approaches from directly in front of your nose, which is remember, NE of your center line , he steps with his right foot, and throws a right jab. As he is stepping, before he throws the jab, you step directly on his instep. As he jabs, your right forearm near the wrist circles up, parrying his punch up high. Before he can withdraw, your left fist is driven into his floating ribs. Your weight, will be 100% forward for the parry, rocking back to the rear foot for the punch, the rear foot being lifted and brought forward one step and slammed into the ground, supporting the strike.

The front foot, immediatly after the strike, is naturally lifted, and steps forward again, along the same line drilling into the ground, as you continue to press into the opponent and attack.

My two cents.