• Archive through April 22, 2008 April 22 - 05:02 am [20]

""In my mind, it comes down to skill and experience. The end.""

Why can't I catch a punch with gloves on then? Surely with sufficient skill and experience, anything is possible.

Oh I guess I mixed the two stories- Master Lu and the Boxing.
Thanks for clearing it up.

Jamie

"Why can't I catch a punch with gloves on then? Surely with sufficient skill and experience, anything is possible."

Facts are facts. No amount of circle walking will allow you to take a jab to the eye. No amount of hsing yi marching will allow you to take a spear to the throat. No amount of taiji will allow you to take a bullet to the face. No amount of "gung" training will allow you to jump onto a building or walk up walls. Anybody with real training in internal martial arts doesn't believe that crap.

However, there are things within reason that serious training can allow you to do that others cant. I believe that sticking, trapping, etc is possible and achievable. Catching punches with a boxing glove on is not in the realm of reason. With an mma glove, who knows?

No amount of posting will allow you to make sense

can you catch a punch? unless you had some kind of hydraulic terminator hand with sensors on it, or a little kid was punching at you, MAYBE... but i dont think that the human hand is strong enough to do that, test it out, have someone place their fist inside of your hand and have them try to pull it out, unless you have one of their fingers or thumb hooked its pretty impossible to hold steady onto their hand. now you would have to time this perfectly and also be able to hold their hand in place while they are trying to retract it, this would be easier i suppose if you catch the wrist, but even when you do catch it, you would be applying the sticking or following or whatever you can do instantly, or else what happens, the punch is no longer under your control and two more are coming at you within the next 3 seconds, There are plenty of instances where you are in a sense "catching" your opponent, but(unfortunately) not in the classic batman style.

its more realistic if you use the word parry, or deflect, ive noticed in xing yi that most blocks are also dual purpose pushes and pulls that throw the opponent off balance simultaneously while blocking, anyway, it usually works in the order of parry, off balance, then catch.

but it wouldn't be nice if you could just catch a punch, twist the dude's arm, break it, light a cigarette (cough a little bit) and walk away?

well maybe not break his arm, but if you could catch a punch then you could probably crush a hand with your grip.

Good post Robert. I read through this thread and was not sure what was meant by "catching a punch" in the first place. In wing chun a major goal of trapping is to jam the elbow, which does not require wrist control. One of the central tactical differences between wing chun and taiji is that wing chun players get into "trapping range" and stay there trying to deflect strikes or control limbs while landing punches and elbows but taiji players transition through "trapping range" to get a throw.

Master Lu caught my wrist/forearm. He applied the Chin Na fast enough that I would not have been able to punch him again. In my own tryings so far, I have been mostly unsuccessful. I have been able to stick and move in to the point that I can control his arms.

Mr. Taichi Bob, I do not know how to respond to your post.

his, means somebody i am working with. not master lu. when looking back on that post, it seemed confusing.

A video would sort all this out almost immediately.

Here is a video of someone some of you all seem to respect. Watch till the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iwbCTvIVt8

I found his opinion of MMA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQFFpA0C4LU

Fantasy!

Man, if those "mma" guys would just stop using force on force and use some technique, they'd be pretty good. Someone should tell them about leverage and body use...

Well, here's what I think haha. What he is saying is sound. What isn't sound is that he wasn't showing anything against someone that grapples. Does that mean that he cant do it against a good grappler, not necessarily. It just means that we haven't seen it and don't know.

I don't think he is saying that mma fighters dont use leverage and body use. He is saying that kung fu does too and if you know how to apply the kung fu, then we can be just as effective.

and somehow you just did respond

Please my Father was MISTER Tai Chi BOB
me Just Master Tai Chi BOB

i have no idea what you are talking about, haha.

We know

apparently.

Kelly
You say that as if you believe I know what I am talking about.
I assure you I rarely do.

Tai Chi BOB

Well, I try hard not to point out peoples disabilities and instead look at their strengths.

Oh and I am really strong on disabilty

Haha, well that just means you get the chance to overcome something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMNd3tVWxHg
6:00 on. A good demo of catching punches.

That's not what I call "catching" punching. It is a form of "sticking". It's the primary method I use to enter into the clinch. I picked it up from greco wrestling, believe it or not. Both Randy Couture and Dan Henderson teaches a variation of the tactic.

In greco/freestyle wrestling, you grab your opponen't wrist and as he pulls it back, you follow it back into a underhook. You use the same concept when parrying a punch. You parry a punch and follow it back into the opponent's body for an underhook.

Well, when I have been referring to catching punches, this is what I have meant. I am not saying that like your fist is going to enter my palm and my fingers close around your fist. That is stupid and wouldn't even be that useful. (other than making that person look stupid, haha) Nah this is all I have meant by catching punches. Sorry for this misunderstanding.

Master Lu did it like this accept he had his fingers and thumb wrapped around my wrist and controlled my arm instead of following.

"I am not saying that like your fist is going to enter my palm and my fingers close around your fist. That is stupid and wouldn't even be that useful."

obviously you haven't read Of Mice and Men when Lenny cathes Curley's punch and crushes his hand, breaking the bones.

Thats what Master Steinbeck taught BOB

oh I see. my apologizes.