One inch punch

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Bruce Lee demonstrating a "one inch punch"

The One inch punch is a technique from Chinese martial arts which was popularized by Jeet Kune Do founder Bruce Lee.

It is commonly believed that the One inch punch skill comes from kung fu style of Wing Chun, however, it is present in many styles of Southern Chinese martial arts. As a general rule, Southern Chinese martial arts rely mostly on hand techniques from very close quarters (as opposed to Northern Chinese martial arts which focus more on kicking techniques from medium to long distances). Because the Southern styles martial artists were often fighting nose-to-nose with their opponents, they had to learn a way to deal out punishing blows even while almost touching their target.

The One inch punch is a skill which uses fa jing (translated as explosive power, it literally means emit jing) to generate tremendous amounts of impact force at extremely close distances. There are several different opinions regarding where this power is generated in the body. As with most Chinese martial arts, the power for this attack comes from the Dan tian. The dan tian is an area about three inches below the navel from which all power derives. When performing this one inch punch the practitioner stands with his fist very close to the target (the distance depends on the skill of the practitioner, usually from 0-6 inches). Then in one explosive burst, the legs root, the waist turns, the ribs expand and the arm extends through the target. It is crucial that the entire body move in unison, or else the power will be limited. The target in such demonstrations vary, sometimes it is a fellow practitioner holding a phone book on the chest, sometimes wooden boards can be broken.

The one inch punch was brought to popular knowledge in the west by the martial artist Bruce Lee when he demonstrated the technique during the Long Beach International Karate Championships.

[edit] Mythic proportions

This technique, because of Bruce Lee popularizing it, has reached somewhat mythic proportions. Bruce Lee was famous for being able to defeat his opponent, or break boards, with merely an inch.

The One Inch Punch is immortalized as an ability of one of King of Fighters main characters, K' and Kula Diamond. In the game, the inch punch technique is accurately portrayed as the character moves his or her entire body forward to deliver the strike, which upon contact, sends the target flying.

Also, in the manga and anime One Piece, Rob Lucci, one of the villains, has a version of the One Inch Punch called Rokuougan (Translation: "Six Bullet King") which can damage an opponent internally.

Quentin Tarantino shows something similar in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, where Pai Mei taught this technique to Black Mamba (Uma Thurman), being two inches instead of one.

Also in Final Fantasy XI, the job class Monk can obtain the use of the One Inch Punch as their second weapon ability if they are using unarmed or brawling weapons.

In the video game God Hand the protagonist has an attack similar to the "One Inch Punch", wherein he punches at a very close range and sends the opponent flying.

The history of the 'one inch punch' starts generations before Bruce Lee, yet he pulled it off with ease at a young age.