Bao wrote:"What's the Secret to Bruce Lee's One Inch Punch?"
To what Lee did, there's no secret, there's no inch anything and there's not a "punch". "There is no spoon," and that might be closest to the secret. At least to what Bruce used to perform.
A several inch long whole body push, preferably done when your guest refuse to sit down in the sofa before you sit down.
Excerpt from
A bio-mechanical evaluation of Bruce Lee One Inch Punch,
http://asaikarate.com/a-bio-mechanical- ... inch-punch:
Case 1:
Photo 1-1:In this photo you can see that Lee is standing sideways to his partner in white. This is a big telltale for a push instead of a punch. If he was going to do a real punch then he should be facing his partner straight forward.
Photo 1-2:Here is some proof that he was pushing his partner. See how much he leaned into his partner and his left foot is lifted. This clearly shows that he did not generate this punch (or push) from the hips. He must have pushed about 10 inches judging from the photos.
(Note: this photo may not be related to the first and third photos. I used this photo to show his punch most clearly.)
Photo 1-3:One inch 7Here is the perfect prop to make his “punch” looking effective or powerful; a chair right behind the partner! Why? If there was no chair his partner may just take a few steps back instead of collapsing from the punch. With a chair so close to this guy he had no choice but to stumble and fall. If that was a real one inch punch with a full effect, the partner may take a few steps back but at the same time he would probably bend over from the pain in the chest.
You can see better how he punched in this video. After my explanation, now you should be able to detect that he was pushing instead of punching his partner.
http://popmech.tumblr.com/post/109674670789Case 2:The video here (3 min 29 sec) includes many of his feats such as his two finger push up, etc.
Go to 40 to 45 seconds into this section to see his “one inch punch”.Start 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGktqHzu83cPhoto 2-1:Let me explain what he did in this demonstration. I have to point out that he used another trick. Check his right hand in the photo here. You can clearly see that he is using an open hand in front of his partner’s chest. This gives you an impression that he was not going to use much power. However, it really means he had an additional 2 inches as he closed his hand to push. It is a clever trick but also, unfortunately, deceiving.
Photo 2-2:
Take a look at Lee’s right hand in this photo. He opened it again after the punch (push?) but you could see that he used the fist to push his partner backward. Why did he open the hand? It was obviously used to make his push looking “soft” but yet powerful. I am sorry to say this but this may impress the amateurs but it certainly was a poor trick he used.
Case 3: Six inch punch.In the above film, his six inch punch demonstration is also included but I will attach a different video clip here as it is easier to see how he did this punch.
http://giant.gfycat.com/BigImprobableBullfrog.gifThis video shows his punch in slow motion so you can see how far he moves his upper body to push the guy. I would say he moved his upper body 2 or 3 feet to generate this punch. In this punch where you position your fist is irrelevant as he was using his upper body leaning motion.
Photo 3-1:The start is the same. He positioned himself sideways. You can see his partner leaning backward slightly though I do not know if he was doing this intentionally or unintentionally. With the center of the gravity being pushed back behind his heels it was easy to push him backward.
Photo 3-2:The prop is the same, the partner has a chair right behind him. One thing I need to mention is that the chair he had to sit slid backward many feet. If the chair had the rubber feet, it couldn’t have done this. I could be wrong but I am assuming Lee wanted to have this visual effect, simply to impress the audience. He was a movie actor but at the same time I heard that he was heavily involved in the choreography and visual effects of his actions. This is the reason why I suspect he purposely set this up. Just think, if you really wanted to show a one inch punch, why would you need a chair?
Case 4 Board breakingPhoto 4-1:As he had to break the board, Lee is standing in a straddle stance. This means he could lean his upper body instead of using only the hips.
Photo 4-2:Another photo (from another TV program in Asia) showing how he positioned himself to the board.
Photo 4-3: This is an after the break photo and I consider this as a proof that he leaned his upper body. Notice his punching arm is now bent. This proves that he leaned so much to break the board he bent his arm back as a reaction. If he had used only the hips to punch his arm should have been straight.
If the board is a soft wood anyone can break one or even two pieces with a push like this. Just try it and you can see how easy it is to break a board. But try to stand in a natural stance as you would in the Yoi position, then extend your arm and touch the board before you break the board. This way is much harder.
Conclusion:I conclude that his one inch punch was not a real one inch punch at all but was a one or six inch push with several props to make them look impressive. Once again, the intention of my evaluation was not to degrade him in any way. What I did in this report was to evaluate his martial art skill level from the bio mechanical method. Lee was a great movie actor and he should receive a but obviously not a martial art expert. He did what he could and tried to make it impressive. It was, indeed, impressive as one inch punch was almost unheard of in the 70’s particularly in the western world. . . .
The true irony is his one inch punch demonstration. Though it may have given him some credibility in martial arts in the 60’s and helped his movie career. However, the recorded film of his demonstration is now widely available with the internet technology. Consequently, his martial art skills are being fully exposed and it would haunt his fame some fifty years later.