The first strike we learn is the horizontal punch when stepping in the Two Shift Footwork. Read this post for how to practice the Two Shift Footwork.

The horizontal punch is called the Yum Chui in Pok Khek Kuen. The Chinese character for Yum is the same as for Yin as in Yin-Yang. We pronounce it as Yum because this is how we say it in Cantonese.

The Yin in the name refers to the facing of the palm which when the palm is facing outwards from the body is considered a Yin position whereas a Yang position would be the palm facing the body.

In this regards, the Yeung (Yang) Chui would be a punch with the palm facing upwards. To make it easier and clearer as to which fist position I am referring to I would describe the Yum Chui as a 9 o’clock fist straight punch using the right fist as the reference. If you could remember the name then that would be good.

How do we execute the Yum Chui? Here’s how we start the learning :-

1) Stand with feet together
2) Place both hands near to your chin in ready position
3) Take a step diagonally forward to your left. As you do so form a fist with your left hand and pull your left arm back with the elbow facing to the rear. At the same time your right hand form a fist and punch forward with a horizontal punch
4) Next, step forward diagonally on the right and repeat

From the above you can understand why the Two Shift Footwork is the first thing to learn. It is because when we do the Yum Chui we are using the same stepping and same body posture.

Now that wasn’t so difficult, right.

What would be challenging is to be able to execute say three consecutive Yum Chui with minimal pausing in between each Yum Chui. This takes consistent practice until you can do so easily. You can think of executing three consecutive Yum Chui as firing three arrows one after another, in quick succession.

This relates to the application of the Yum Chui which calls for you to step towards the opponent, causing him to miss even as he is trying to punch you, while at the same time you are hitting him with your Yum Chui.

Master Leong’s ability to step naturally and strike with the proper range was one of the things that made me interested in PKK even though my initial impression was nah, hard style, external art, not that interested.

Which brings me to the topic of power. When it comes to application having power is good but if you are too slow to step in and hit when the opportunity presents itself then the power won’t do you any good. This is why we learn to step first, so that we can move in quickly and when we can do this that’s when the power comes in.

When practicing the Yum Chui, the movement itself can enable you to generate power. You just have to do it properly. The basic arm movements is like pulling a bow that is held horizontally. The arm that is pulling backwards is just as important as the other arm that is doing the striking.

Besides acting as a defensive hand or used as a countering hand, the pulling motion is a key to generating power. In fact, the movement of the arms, the body posture, the stepping, the stance, they all contribute to how much power you can generate.

To enhance the power and speed we can hold an iron lock in each hand to practice the Yum Chui. When you put aside the iron locks you can feel that your strikes are heavy and they can really fly.

The Yum Chui is very similar in concept to the Cross in Boxing. As such, it is the first knockout punch that we learn. It looks simple so it is easy to underestimate its practicality and not put in more effort to train it. Maybe that’s why Grandmaster Nip was so strict when he taught Master Leong, cause the basics are the keys to mastery. In SKD 3.0 I considered the Yum Chui to be one of the 5 Major Strikes.