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Requirements of the Basic Strikes of the Lion System:
Chopping Strikes
By Jim Lindsay
Smoky Mountain Study Group, Knoxville, TN
Disclaimer: The following requirements are primarily gleaned from paying attention to the videos provided on the Lion System Foundational Practices, though corrections and insights I have received from my instructors, including He Jinbao, are included to the level of my understanding and my ability to manifest them in my training. I claim no authorship of these ideas. These lists are almost certainly not comprehensive and welcome correction or addition.
Chopping Palm (劈 – pī: to hack, to chop, to cleave, to split open, to divide)
The chopping palm brings to mind the methods of using and applications of an ax, and the attacking arm’s forearm acts as the head of that ax. The force should be powerful and straight, driving into the opponent powerfully and generally in a straight direction. In general, the chopping strikes require the practitioner to sit down at the waist, particularly at the terminal moment of each strike.
Straight Chopping Strike: (n.b.: This strike is performed differently in the static practice that I have been exposed to over the past two years as compared with the way it is demonstrated in the video. The details below are for the stationary drilling method not presented in the video, hopefully not mixing the requirements.)
Body mechanics:
The force is primarily generated by expanding the chest and crunching it inward while simultaneously turning some at the waist, letting it govern the movement. The feet are planted in the typical shoulder-width stance with the toes digging into the earth. The hands are in the ox-tongue palm, thumbs squeezing into the laogong (palace of work) points (PC-8, centers of the palms). The body sits down, in fact more so than with many strikes. The chest concaves. The back rounds. Both hands move in a straight fashion, one pulling back from its finishing point to the starting point of the next strike. The eyes move with the hand, watching it from the moment the two hands pass one another in front of the body. When stepping, the hand and foot move in harmony, as do the knees and elbows. Striking should be performed with a slow-fast cadence.
Lead arm:
The strike chops downward, equal force being applied via all parts of the forearm, ulna-side. The elbow should be above the (same-side) knee and should be rolled under. The shoulder is down. As the strike concludes, the forearm should be parallel to the ground, striking primarily with the middle of the forearm.
Supporting arm:
- This arm rises sharply in opposition to the direction of the striking arm, pulling up to a cocked position beside and just posterior to the head.
Hacking Chopping Strike:
Body mechanics:
The force is generated by turning at the waist fully from one side (wind-up) to the other (execution of the strike). There should be little, if any, in the way of arm movement except to change the positions of the arms. The feet are planted in the typical shoulder-width stance with the toes digging into the earth. The hands are in the ox-tongue palm, thumbs squeezing into the laogong (palace of work) points (PC-8, centers of the palms). The body sits down, particularly at the end of the strike, as with all chopping strikes. The chest concaves. The back rounds. Both hands move in a round fashion, one circling from its finishing point to the starting point of the next strike. The eyes move with the hand, watching it from start to finish, including the wind-up. When stepping, the hand and foot move in harmony, as do the knees and elbows. Striking should be performed with a slow-fast cadence.
Lead arm:
The arm strikes with a hacking force inward. The arm does very little moving once in position in this strike, particularly at the elbow The strike begins with a small circle to get the hand and arm into position, taking place down by the hip at the beginning of the wind-up. The elbow is down. The fingers are at eyebrow height. The arm comes across the body to the opposite side, stopping with the elbow above the opposite knee. The striking area is the middle of the forearm. The six forces are present to as much a degree as possible, through wrapping back in dominates.
Supporting arm:
The lower hand pushes down at the tantien, positioned directly below the striking arm. A small scraping force is present on this. After one strike is concluded, the next begins by continuing the motion of the lead hand and executing a scraping force with it before pushing down as directed.
Arcing Chopping Strike: (n.b.: at a workshop this strike carried the admonishment to pay attention to the forces and requirements carefully and to practice a lot as the power in it is more difficult to develop than the other chopping strikes)
Body mechanics:
The force is generated by turning at the waist fully from one side (wind-up) to the other (execution of the strike). There should be little, if any, in the way of arm movement except to change the positions of the arms. The feet are planted in the typical shoulder-width stance with the toes digging into the earth. The hands are in the ox-tongue palm, thumbs squeezing into the laogong (palace of work) points (PC-8, centers of the palms). The body sits down at the waist, as with the other chopping strikes. The chest concaves. The back rounds. Both hands move in a round fashion, one circling from its finishing point to the starting point of the next strike. The eyes move with the hand, watching it from start to finish, including the wind-up. When stepping, the hand and foot move in harmony, as do the knees and elbows. Striking should be performed with a slow-fast cadence.
Lead arm:
The strike begins with the arm coming across the body, executing a powerful scraping force with the arm and elbow raised high and tight in. As the arm assumes the lowered striking position, the chest concaves, having expanded somewhat during the high scraping phase, pulling the elbow down forcefully. The force of this strike is straight and arcing at the same time. The shoulder is down. The arm should have a natural curve to it. The striking area is the middle part of the forearm, outer edge. The hand should be as far out as the heel of the foot. DO NOT reach forward with the arm; remain upright. The force of this strike is primarily unleashed from the waist as the striking arm passes the thigh of the leg on the same side, once the skeletal structure and body alignment are proper and solid.
Supporting arm:
- This hand follows behind, ending parallel with the elbow of the striking hand.
- Optionally, this hand can execute the same technique in the opposite direction to increase strength through opposition of movement.
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