Can you find the mistakes (Black Tiger Steals Heart)?

[Leo Shaolin]

“Black Tiger Steals Heart” can be found in every martial art. It is one of our basic punches in Shaolin Kung Fu and can – of course – be found in Tai Chi Chuan too.

The performance looks quite forceful, but is it correct?

[George]

I like these videos a lot (but I can say that about all of Leo's videos)

I'll start with one of the easy ones: Black Tiger Steals Heart is a straight punch and does not involve the whip action with the arm.

[sancrica]

Dear Sidai,

Great job with the videos. Totally agree with George Sihing. All your videos are great! :-)

Regarding the video, could it be that front foot (left) is not in the correct position (45°)?

Thanks again for your wonderful work.

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

Santi

[David Langford]

Awesome! Thanks for another video!

Besides the floppy punch already mentioned by George, I noticed Leo's chin lifts and his head snaps back a bit as he lets out the strike exposing the chin and throat. At 19 seconds the spiral force is disrupted as it moves from his dantian to his shoulder because everything becomes disconnected. It appears that while his shoulders are facing north-west that his hips are facing more north-east, this causes his lower back to become way too arched and will likely be injured, to correct this full waist rotation with a neutral spine to keep the hips and shoulders squared up is necessary.

[Anton S.]

Nice video! Besides the points mentioned above: the feet are not in line, the tiger spirit is missing

[Mark CH]

All of the above

[George]

Another easy one: the punch is over-extended with too much weight going over the front foot and the arm completely straight at the elbow and even the right shoulder moving forward with it.

[Daniel Neubauer]

Hey Sifu o\

The Arm is not Twisting, its look like to throw it away.
At this performenc is the upper body over twistet.
There is a hollowback and the three harmonies are not present.

All the best o\

[Leo Shaolin]

Ladies and gentlemen,

Some good replies so far. There is one mistake left, hidden in the open.

See you later today to see, if I could hide a mistake for the first time in this series. :P

Best wishes,

Leo

[George]

Black Tiger Steals Heart is a mid-level attack (the "heart" in the name refers to the middle dantien). In the video, the punch is too high.

[LeeWeiJoo]

When exploding force, or fa-jing, in Black Tiger Steals Heart, the mouth should be kept open and there is an accompanying "HER-IT" sound. In the video it seems that not only is the mouth not open, it seems to be clenched tightly shut. This can cause the force to bounce back and hurt the internal organs. Keeping the mouth tightly shut when exploding force is very harmful.

With Shaolin Salute,
Lee Wei Joo

[Leo Shaolin]

Now, here is the solution video:

Thanks to everyone taking part.

I'll follow up with my comments on your findings.

Best wishes,

Leo

[Leo Shaolin]

Here are the intended mistakes:

• The wrist is too loose and instead of a straight punch it looks more like a whip. Hand, wrist and forearm should build one entity. For those who have seen RZA's Kung Fu movie "The Man with the Iron Fist" (not the Marvel TV show), the forged iron fists (from fingers to elbow) are a good analogy.
• The back is too hollow. This was the intended mistake and many other symptoms follow from this root, like the snapping head and the over-twisted upper body.
• The mouth is closed. Having the mouth open is one of the most frequent advice every of our beginners hears. Like Wei Joo Siheng correctly pointed out, exploding energy could bounce back from the shut mouth and hurt the back and internal organs.

But the feet are in line and at the right angle (45°).

In the corrected version you might find some of the points mentioned by some of you too. In the solution, the arm still looks completely straight, although it isn't. This will be due to the camera angle.

From my perspective, while heading for an angle of 90° with the shoulders / upper body, having the shoulder of the punching arm slightly in front is acceptable. Also, when trying around today, I found out that the shoulder looks like being more in front, simply by having the arm stretched forward. When holding the other arm in front too, the fists were on the same line. Interesting. I think my "correct" punch was okay and the camera perspective made it look worse.

While the name of the punch suggests striking to the heart, Sifu once told me that punching at one's own shoulder's height is also okay. If your opponent is taller than you, you might even have to punch upwards.

But still, it might have been better to punch at breast level for the presentation.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Next Friday we'll have a lot to discuss, I guess. See you then at the latest.

Best wishes,

Leo

[George]

In the corrected version you might find some of the points mentioned by some of you too. In the solution, the arm still looks completely straight, although it isn't. This will be due to the camera angle.

This is a good reminder that even an excellent video, of a simple pattern can introduce misunderstanding - no substitute for direct instruction.

While the name of the punch suggests striking to the heart, Sifu once told me that punching at one's own shoulder's height is also okay. If your opponent is taller than you, you might even have to punch upwards.

I think you are right. I had a look at some photos of Sifu doing it and that is also higher than I thought. Must be my own personal bias of having to punch down most of the time.

Next Friday we'll have a lot to discuss, I guess. See you then at the latest.

Looking forward to it!

[Leo Shaolin]

This is a good reminder that even an excellent video, of a simple pattern can introduce misunderstanding - no substitute for direct instruction.

This statement is so right. Nevertheless, I hope that this series serves as a good supplement to the regular training and will be a collection of the most frequent mistakes.

Must be my own personal bias of having to punch down most of the time.

Haha