sil lum fighter

The leopard paw strike to the throat could possibly kill a person if done to the throat. Wouldn't it be possible to crush the lyrnyx with this strike causing them not to breath?

That is correct. If a person trains in say snake style kung fu then his fingers should be conditioned from all the training he has done in that style to withstand the impact of the strikes without causing damage to his/her fingers. This should be said with any style that is practiced that uses crazy hand strikes.

The spear hand strike would attack areas such as the throat, arm pit, soft tissue areas, etc... Because of the shape of this strike it makes it faster than the normal punch. That's one of the reasons for using it instead of a regular punch. It can also strike pressure points and nerve areas easier. The other strikes I mentioned would cause greater damage IMO than just a punch. A tiger claw or an eagle claw to the throat can strike and rip at a persons throat where as a punch just hits and can not rip and tear. Leopard paw strikes soft tissue areas as well and you can put more power into your strike because it has smaller surface area than a punch. You can also strike the bridge of the nose with this strike.

I agree that there are to many variables to say which style is better. The style doesn't make the fighter, its the person. A lot depends on the physical shape of the fighter as well as how often one trains, etc....

Why the vibrations for finger and palm strikes, Sil Lum Fighter? And do you continue the pressure while doing this? The purpose of the vibrating is because if you don't, when you strike the bag the impact or shock of the strike will bounce back and up your arm and cause damage to you. Over time it can cuase damage/effect your vision. I know this sounds crazy, I thought that too but it has been documented. Also the vibrating serves another purpose as well, it cultivates chi flow and can cause internal damage to the person you strike (if done to the proper vital area and/or pressure points).

Do you think that hand strikes such as tiger claw, spear hand strike, and crane beak, leopard paw, and others strikes like them are practical and/or usable during an actual street/bar fight?

Robert, you think having 900 forms is a good thing??? I studied SD many years ago before I came to my senses and started studying from someone else. I can tell you that the self defenses that SD teaches are iffy at best. I would not use half of them that they teach in a real life situation. SD claims to teach kung fu but the movements of thier "kata" look like kempo or some type of karate. The "kata" are to rigid and do not "flow" like a chinese form. Besides that they use Japanese terms such as dojo and kata and sensei. And yes I know their reasons for all of this but I just don't buy into it. By the way, I studied directly under Grandmaster Sin The' at The Sin The' Sports Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

Here are some good exercises to do to strengthen your fingers and hands for any type of hand strike such as eagle claw, tiger claw, dragon claw, etc.... The first one is doing finger tip push ups. The second one is doing push ups on your wrists. This will stregnthen your wrists which is important for snake stylist and doing spear hand strikes and such. Third exercise is striking a sand bag with a spear hand, when striking the bag vibrate your hand right as the hand makes contact with the bag. Fourth exercise is to do palm strikes on the bag, vibrating the palm when making contact. Remember it is always good to use a good dit da jow afterwards to help with any swelling or pain.