Smoky Mountain YSB Study Group Information

CUTTING PALM

Dr. Xie Peiqi’s comments on the YSB Qian/Lion System Cutting Palm

Transcribed by Rand Cardwell

Note: This article is provided to YSB students in an effort to promote a greater understanding of the Cutting Palm of the YSB Lion System. Recently, the translation has been changed from Smashing to Cutting. This is reflected in the terminology used by He Jinbao. Cutting has been substituted for Smashing in this text due to the recent changes. This is a transcription of the YSB Lion System DVD series available through the Association of Traditional Studies. Any errors are my own.

Dr. Xie Peiqi: As I have talked about before, gongfu often refers to martial arts and martial arts requires that you have gongfu. But, martial arts is most commonly called “fists”, or zhang in Chinese. For example, Do hun zhang, Shaolin zhang, Bagua zhang, etc. Of all of China’s martial arts, 95% of these have fist in their name. It is the main part of a martial arts name.

In the Lion System of Bagua, the second attack methods focuses on the fist. This type of fist is called “cutting”. Cutting closes and gathers the strength of the extremities together in the fist. Once it is gathered in and made smaller… well, everyone knows it is more powerful.

Fists can be described as simply as having eight types or more details. Twelve types; up, down, left, right, front, back, internal, external – all can be accomplished with the fists. For example, the straight fist, the rising fist, a leading fist, a back fist, a hook fist, and an uppercut fist. Fists can have twelve different ways of changing.

Thus, if you practice fists, here cutting, well, then you’ll be fine. In terms

Cha - It is a combination character with the symbol for stone represented on the left. The symbol on the right is a phonetic hint to the pronunciation. Meaning is to cut like glass.

of fighting, you have the basic methods needed. If you don’t have a fist, but instead say that I want to strike points, well, if you don’t two or three years staged practice, you won’t have the finger strength. As if your internal strength is not full, you cannot reach the level of point striking. You can hit the points, but you will not be able to affect them. When there is no strength or qi in the fingers, then the best way to gather qi and strength there is to make a cutting fist. In that way you will be able to harness qi and strength into the cutting attack.

If you wish to bring all the forces of the body into the extremities, then you must rely on having tight fists and cutting methods. When you practice the Cutting attack methods of the Lion System Bagua, good fists are that which opens the way for you. That is to say, while the hand may create the opening for you, it is the fist, which strikes the opponent.

A tricky grasp isn’t as good as a simple strike. Strike means to punch. Thus, fists are the basis of cutting attacks. Note as well that the force of the fists is much greater than a palm. The force of the hand changes when in a fist. It has hard and pressing force. It has charging and piercing force. It has turning and rotating force and that many of the forces that exist can be executed with a fist.

I would like to explain that you must have a tight fist. For a truly tight fist, start by curling from the little finger as if you were rolling a spring roll. The thumb locking down between the middle and the ring finger. Like this (makes fist) This is a turned down fist. This is a turned up fist. This is a straight fist. This is a horizontal fist. This is a turned down fist and this is a back fist. Turning over. Back fist.

The use of fists is the most widespread in the martial arts and the most convenient. Thus, everyone should pay attention to having tight fists and aware of their advantages.

Fists are often called “hammers” in the martial arts. Like the hammers we use everyday. Different hammer styles and thus names are many. [Names several styles with hammer in the name.]. In actuality, there are hundreds of arts that use the name “hammer”. There are so many different types of hammer styles and they refer to fists. I hope that all those interested will practice and we will keep producing books and videos to provide information to study. As I hope that everyone can learn well, this aspect of China’s traditional culture.

There are many ways of taking apart and understanding cutting strikes. In fact, just the opening move contains many breaking of grasping attacks methods. For example, if he grabs me, grabbing me at the wrist, the moment I make a fist, I have broken his grasp. I can then push down my fist to strike his hand and then turn the fist over to strike his face or strike lower into his middle. Or, if he was to reach out a hand, I can smash my fist down to it, breaking the bones. Once down, I can roll the fist where it enters easily.

The Cutting Attacks in the Lion System are among the most profound in combat. It has the ability to have one to control two. The ability to neutralize someone’s force and use force. If he attacks me, I neutralize both of his hands with one of my fist and strike with the other.

It is important that everyone remembers to take apart and understand the moves. The breaking of grasping attacks can be done if seized by two hands as well. By creating a fist and turning, the grasp is broken. This is accomplished by breaking the opponents force from it proper path. Once it is broken from its proper path, even when two hands have grabbed you, then you can respond with a grasp of your own or follow with a strike to the face or strike to the middle. If he blocks the middle, he will lose his head.

Cutting describes the force used. The fist is the shape used. With these there are an infinite number of changes possible. It is important to make a proper fist. In making a fist, one needs to first curl the fingers and press down the thumb. Curling the fist is like curling a spring roll. The thumb presses down between the middle finger and the ring finger.

With a vertical fist there should be a deep eye of the fist here (points at forearm). With a horizontal fist there should be an eye here (points at outer wrist/forearm area). A raising fist must also have an eye of the fist on the back of the wrist. You should be able to see three eyes of a fist. The upper eye of the fist. The horizontal eye and the back of the wrist eye. Three types of curled fists have three types of eyes. When putting out the fists, with the proper eyes, the fists will have the forces of overwhelming, piercing, pressing, and shocking within it. Again, the three eyes are; the eye from the horizontal fist, the eye from a straight fist, which means that the fist is flat and power can concentrate in it, and the eye of the back of the wrist, which means the force can flow through it.

These are the basic things to know about cutting.

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