A question was submitted to me about the difference between the uppercut and the vertical back-knuckle as taught in the Parker system. This is often-asked, so I thought I'd address it here.
First off, what we teach as an uppercut is not like the uppercut taught in boxing. There are fundamental differences I don't want to get into here. The uppercut we do in Kenpo is more like an inverted straight punch at times. The vertical back-knuckle is close to the boxing uppercut, but still different enough. In our basics an uppercut stays below the solar plexus and changes its name when it goes above. And the terms are used interchangeably, which further confuses things. (Bottom line is you hit him and don't worry about what the name of what you hit him with was.)
I asked Ed Parker about these punches and the answer I got was that was just the way he saw them. For the basics, if it's low it's an uppercut. If it's high it's a vertical back-knuckle. They both hit with the front of the first two knuckles, which makes them punches - not strikes. Same punch, different name.
There's more to this. I plan to expand on this in the Member section on my website at www.leewedlake.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment