Grandmaster Tse’s Chùn Yuén Diaries 俊元日記 20

The fist has many surfaces we can use, like the top and the bottom, although they are not as strong as the front, as the front of the fist has the knuckles, but if our energy in strong, the other surfaces are powerful as well. In Xing Shou 行手 – Style Hand there is the movement Dragonfly drinks Water 蜻蜓點水, where we use the top and the back of the fist. The movement appears to be very gentle and it is a Yīn 陰 or soft strike. In Èr Láng Quán 二郎拳, in the movement Mountain Presses Down the Sun 山壓太陽, we use the bottom of the fist, which is soft as well. So, a fist can be used in many ways, from the normal horizontal and vertical fist, to the back, top and bottom of the fist.  Which one we use all depends on the situation and what we want, whether the back of the fist is better in a certain situation or if the vertical fist is better. Of course, the horizontal fist is the most powerful and this includes the hook punch, which is a horizontal fist, that curves to the target and does not travel in a straight line. This also means that the fist can move in many lines and even directions and the energy can be hard or soft. Chinese skills have many different ways, it is just like a Chinese meat clever, it is not only used for chopping.