The One Inch Punch is perhaps one of the most famous martial arts techniques of all time. Found in various Southern Style Forms of Kung Fu which focus on more on hand techniques in contrast to Northern Style kicking styles, the punch gained much notoriety after it was demonstrated by the legendary Bruce Lee at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships.
As the name suggests it is a punching technique delivered one inch away from the target which harnesses fa jin (explosive power) that generates an incredible amount of force in a short distance.
So is the One Inch Punch simply a martial myth or is it as formidable as its reputation suggests.
Well on this edition of ‘Stan Lee’s Superhumans’, host Daniel Browning Smith travels to New York City to meet up with Shi Yan Ming, a 34th generation Shaolin Warrior Monk who founded the USA Shaolin Temple in 1992 to get a firsthand look at his incredible martial arts abilities.
After meeting up with Shi Yan Ming at his New York Academy, Daniel got to witness a demonstration of Shi Yan Ming’s abilities, in particular Iron Shirt Qigong which he uses to break sturdy pieces of wood with his body.
After this is all said and done a crash test dummy used to measure high velocity impact was rigged up for Shi Yan Ming so he could test out his One Inch Punch and reveal how much force he could actually generate.
Needless to say the results were surprising.
Stan Lee’s Superhumans is a television series that debuted from August 5, 2010 to September 17, 2014 on History. It is hosted by comic booksuperhero creator Stan Lee and follows contortionistDaniel Browning Smith, “the most flexible man in the world”, as he searches the globe for real-life superhumans – people with extraordinary physical or mental abilities. [Source: Wiki]
