High energy strikes must be relaxed and fast. The emphasis has to be on speed. If you double the speed, you will create four times the amount of energy, as opposed to doubling the mass, which would only double the energy.
High energy strikes create more local, and structural damage at the point of impact. The Six Points of Power in Shaolin, start from the earth and come through the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, and finally the hand/wrist, in a domino effect.
To develop the highest capacity of power in your strikes, you must develop a strong base with your legs. You must then send the energy up through your center mass, your dan tien, into your fist. As I said, high energy strikes focus on speed. Speed is a vital ingredient in developing high energy strikes. Without speed, there can be no high energy strike.
In order to get that speed, one needs to be relaxed until the moment of impact. If you tighten your body too soon, you will slow your strike down, and the result will be that your strike has less power.
A good technique to practice in order to develop high energy strikes, is to create a snap at the end of the strike and then pull the fist back. This will also ensure that you place the fist in the ready position for the next strike. It will also help you train faan da, replacing hands.
If you combine a momentary, short, forward motion of the same side hip as you strike, you will combine the speed of your hip and the speed of your striking limb, to create more power. If you add stepping, you can combine the step, the hip, and the limb to multiply the power even more. You must combine all these parts in a high energy strike.
In Wing Chun, punches travel in a straight line, as opposed to circular punches. We punch on the diameter, while others punch on the circumference. The circumference is 3.14 times farther to travel than the diameter.
This means, all other things being equal, the punch on the diameter is already 3.14 times faster than the punch on the circumference, and that does not include the typical reach back before the punch.
This makes your punch more than four times faster. If you take into consideration that you punch more relaxed, and twice as fast, you could essentially throw eight punches to their one. That is a huge difference!
There is also a difference between high energy strikes versus high momentum strikes. High energy strikes are ½ Mass x Velocity squared (½ M x V2). Whereas, high momentum strikes are Mass x Velocity (M x V).
Wing Chun does not completely avoid momentum strikes or only depend on high energy strikes. But you can obviously see the advantage of using a high energy strike as opposed to a high momentum strike, when you have the choice between the two. Knowing this can give you an advantage.
For example, while using the Po Pai (double palm strike) or shoulder strike, they can be utilized to move an opponent using momentum force. The hand or shoulder are contact points, but the body moves the opponent.
Stiff and rigid opponents give you access to their center of mass, allowing you to easily control them. When you are rigid, you allow your opponent access to your center of mass, which makes it easy for him to control you.
If you are relaxed, your strike stays far away and is disconnected from your center of mass. This technique helps prevent your opponent from controlling you.
We can control the outcome of the fight by striking very specific areas, while knowing the effects of each strike. It is the same as setting someone up in a game of chess.
Wing Chun also uses linear and angular momentum in the Lap Sau technique, which is both defensive and offensive at the same time. The determination of which to use is dependent on the circumstances and what you are attempting to achieve with the energy of your opponent’s strike.
