Centreline principle in Wing Chun Gung Fu
Stating the obvious!
Many comments/observations could be made about the centreline principle in the Yip Man lineage of Wing Chun system. Here, I would like to restrict my comments only to one aspect; namely, chain punching and the centreline.
Chain punching, although very basic, can be quite effective. It looks fast and rather intimidating to the person at the receiving end. One reason for that is the fact that the attacker aims directly at the opponent's centreline and, as habit would have it, most punches are directed to the facial area.
If you are at the receiving end of the punches, what you notice is that they all seem to converge on the centreline. This, in essence, means that if you were looking at the punches both your eyes would also converge on the centre. When that happens, your vision goes kind of blurry and rather restricted to a small area. So, you can't rally see all that well and punches look pretty fast, and overwhelming.
Well! There you have it. In a situation like that it is hard to see what is going on and, thus, you feel quite uncomfortable. If you know someone who can do the chain punch then ask them to do it and give it a try. Let them punch you (in a controlled manner, of course) and find out for yourself.
Ah Loong (Fatshan Wing Chun Association)
