Slice, NOT Chop

         I had an aha moment the other day, that was then solidified in my one-on-one this morning.  It began with the knife hand that we were practicing in class the other day, and the base of the lesson which is keeping the arms and body loose up till the last moment, so that the limb can act like a whip.  This turned into me thinking about the back fist, then hammer fist, and ultimately the punch.  To some degree these are all the same but different.  Similar in the fact that the movement can all be "whip" like, by keeping the limb loose and having the momentum throw out the arm, before solidifying before contact.  

        The two main things that I took away from the meeting, that were my missing pieces in this aha moment puzzle was: 1) the knife hand is a slice; and B) we should be cuing the solidification off our harmonies (back foot), as opposed to the visual.  I immediately went to the heavy bag after the meeting and started to throw out these techniques with this new knowledge and insight.  First the knife hand, I was totally using a chopping motion, even though I was keeping the limb loose, it still didn't feel right.  Then I changed my intent into the slice, and bam!, or more accurately slash! for the onomatopoeia, it came together.  Especially the reverse of the knife hand was faster, smoother, and more powerful.  Great!  On to the punch.  Imagine the arm as a whip and then solidify.  Bam! Great contact with the bag, and more power behind it, with feeling the connection to that back foot as opposed to my visual cue of the bag.

        Now to begin to apply this to apply this to my forms and weapon.