Sometimes
you search for something only to discover it was close by all along. A case in
point:-
In
my recent book, Crash Combat, I reflect that the hammer-fist is a somewhat underappreciated
weapon in martial arts. I may have made this assertion in my previous book too.
Reading Joseph Wayne Smith’s book on Wing chun he makes a similar statement.
Hammer-fist
can substitute for the chop, back-fist and even some closed fist punches. It is
much less likely to result in self-injury than some of these techniques. It is
easy to perform correctly and can deliver powerful blows to both hard and soft
targets. Along with the palm-heel it is probably one of the best hand strikes
that we have.
Naturally
enough, I was experimenting with some hammer-fist attacks the other day. I’d
been looking at the rapid 270-360° turn that is possible by using the “closed
step” of Pa-kua/Bagua. (See my book for details). This could be used to power a
spinning back-fist to strike a foe in the outside gate. But a true back-fist
can be fiddly, requiring a terminal flick of the wrist and impact with the
first two knuckles. A spinning hammer-fist is more logical and for most
fighters more powerful.
I
notice that if I bend my wrist inward a fraction my hammer-fist seems a little
stronger or more stable at the moment of impact. I also note that this mode
favours a sort of “snap”. I can throw the technique with a relaxed arm and hand
and snap into a clenched hand just before impact. This, of course, lets the arm
and hand acquire more initial speed and produces a more powerful attack with
less muscular effort.
From
a variety of positions I can just flick my arm and have it land in a
hammer-fist. This curve of the wrist seems a technique worth cultivating.
And
then it dawns on me! This is the hand form of horse-foot palm from Tai chi’s
Single whip. I have written about this as a parrying technique and even as a
form of punch. I have probably even written about hammer-fist like strikes with
this hand form. But I had not grasped one of the other important things that
posture was trying to teach:- that a relaxed, slightly bent wrist gives you a
very efficient hammer-fist.
As
always, experiment for yourselves. Can you use hammer-fist instead of your
other strikes? Can you relax more to make it faster and more powerful?
The Books
