Master Tse’s Wing Chun Note #160

Punching Fast

When studying Wing Chun there are many people who like to punch very fast, because Wing Chun is a fast skill. However, if we punch very fast, it does not actually mean that we can reach our opponents quickly. Bruce Lee said, “Boards don’t hit back!”  This is quite true. Wooden boards and concrete blocks cannot hit a person back so even though we have a very fast and powerful punch, powerful enough to punch through a wall it does not mean we can hit an opponent especially if they move away. If they move away then the punch cannot touch them so we have just wasted energy. Some people will think, if I can punch fast enough then the opponent cannot run away. Of course if you are standing so close where you can punch your opponent without having to lean or step forwards then if you are fast enough they will not be able to move away. Actually in this situation anybody can be fast enough to hit another person, you can even ask a child to do this because they can be very fast too. However normally you will not stand so close and so to punch your opponent you will need to step forwards or lean forwards and in this case the opponent can move away in time.

We should remember that leaning forwards is a bad thing when attacking as your opponent can use your energy and your weight to make you lose your balance and this is why we do not do this in Wing Chun. Wing Chun​​​ trains response and position whenever the opponent attacks or defends. This is different to other styles of martial art.