Grandmaster Tse’s Chùn Yuén Diaries 俊元日記 18

This is the best position from which to use the horizontal fist but of course, we can step forwards to use the horizontal punch. We can also punch to the side, but to do this we need to turn the waist, and this makes the punch stronger.

The other fist is the vertical fist, and this is used at close distance, a bit like a Wing Chun punch. Most of the time, we use the vertical fist when we are punching in front of our body, though occasionally we will punch to the side. The vertical fist is used at closer distances, so as we punch forwards, we can turn the waist a little as well. When we punch, our elbow points down and then we straighten the arm and this means we can use the power of the whole body and waist even at a close distance. If we were to try and use the horizontal fist this close to the target, the elbow will point outwards to the side and this will reduce the power of our punch. So we can use the horizontal fist at long distances and vertical fist at close distance. Occasionally however, in certain self-defence circumstance, we can use the horizontal fist at close distance and the vertical fist at long distance.