by D. Kearney Sparano

Created on: June 14, 2009

For martial arts enthusiasts and practitioners it is a famous scene: a single chair placed alone on a gym mat. One to two feet in front of it stands a man in a Gi (martial arts uniform). He is standing there waiting, look at the small but incredibly lithe and wiry Asian gentleman in front of him. The Asian gentleman stands perpendicular to the uniformed man, his arm is extended and his hand is curled into a fist/ the fist is one inch away from the man's chest. Within the time it takes to blink an eye the Asian gentleman has shifted his body, made contact with the man and the man has now not only fallen into the chair, but out of it as well.

That was how Bruce Lee demonstrated the 1 inch punch.

What is the 1 inch punch and what is its purpose?

Seemingly on its own it is an ineffective combat or self defense technique. If you are in a fight at no point are you going to ask your opponent to stop, stand still and allow you to hit him with this punch. However, that doesn't mean that the one inch punch doesn't have practical self defense applcation. To understand the punch it is best to know how it works.

I learned how to perform the punch several years ago. As with other things it is simple to learn but it takes a lifetime to master. The technique I learned can be broken down into six words: fingers, fingers forearm, fingers forearm hip. It worked like this, standing in front of a bag or someone holding a bag, extend your arm and touch it with your finger tips, then curl your fingers into a fist. Repeat again but this time flex your forearm the moment after making a fist. Finally, after making a fist and flexing your forearm, tork your hip into the punch. Chances are you won't have the exact same result as Bruce Lee (unless of course you've trained and studied as long as he did) but you should be able to feel a difference in the power you generate when flexing your hip.

So the one inch punch is both an exeercise and demonstration by practicing and working on the technique the practioner is learning to isolate and use his/her hip muscles when striking. This will allow them to generate more power in their strikes as well as learning that the power of a strike does not reside in the arm or shoulder. In a way, it is an addictive exercise sine the result of the technique is seen the moment it is correctly done, it becomes its own motivation to keep practicing as well as building strength in the hips.

Just remember: fingers, fingers forearm, fingers forearm hip!

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