---
title: Cha Chui (插捶) — Charging Punches
---
**插捶 (Cha Chui / Chā Chuí, "Inserting Punch" / "Charging Punches")** is one of the **foundational follow-on forms** in the Seven Star Praying Mantis curriculum — typically taught immediately after **Bung Bu (崩步)**. Where Bung Bu introduces the mantis vocabulary at large, Cha Chui drills the **straight-line piercing-punch attack** that gives the form its name: punches *inserted* through gaps in the opponent's structure, one after another, in tight stepping advance.
The Wong Hon Fan recension has **48 postures** — same length as Bung Bu — and continues the foundational training the practitioner started in Bung Bu.
## What the form trains
- **The inserting punch (插捶)** itself — a straight piercing fist driven through the opponent's centerline gap, often after the lead hand has trapped or deflected
- **Continuous advance** — Cha Chui pushes forward; the practitioner takes the gap and *stays in it*, hammering with successive insertions until the engagement breaks
- **Hand-to-hand transitions** — the trapping/deflecting lead hand chains directly into the next piercing strike with no pause
- **Combined entries** — the form pairs the insertion punch with sweeping kicks, knee strikes, and elbow follow-ups in the canonical Seven Star "seven-long-eight-short" pattern
## Full posture script — 48 postures
The bare posture-name list from Wong Hon Fan's *插捶* (1944, expanded 1953), reproduced under fair-use citation; English are the wiki's own working glosses.
| # | 中文 | Working gloss |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 背轉雙蓄勢 | Turn-the-back, double storing posture |
| 2 | 白鵞掠翅式 | White goose sweeps its wings |
| 3 | 雙封手撲腿 | Double sealing hands, pouncing kick |
| 4 | 登山封統捶 | Mountain-climbing stance, sealing thrusting punch |
| 5 | 封手十字腿 | Sealing hand, cross kick |
| 6 | 撤步右補捶 | Withdrawing step, right filling punch |
| 7 | 撤步左屯掌 | Withdrawing step, left massing palm |
| 8 | 登山封統捶 | Mountain-climbing stance, sealing thrusting punch |
| 9 | 馬式挑劈軋 | Horse stance, lifting chop-and-crush |
| 10 | 十字掛撐腿 | Cross-hanging, propping kick |
| 11 | 馬式右劈軋 | Horse stance, right chop-and-crush |
| 12 | 進式倒轆轤 | Advancing, reverse windlass |
| 13 | 登山封頂臍 | Mountain-climbing stance, sealing navel-strike |
| 14 | 封手橫軋腿 | Sealing hand, sideways crushing leg |
| 15 | 蹬𨁏右疊肘 | Stomping kick, right piling elbow |
| 16 | 斜登山崩捶 | Slant mountain-climbing stance, avalanche punch |
| 17 | 雙封手統捶 | Double sealing hands, thrusting punch |
| 18 | 登山番車式 | Mountain-climbing stance, wheeling-cart posture |
| 19 | 圈手十字捶 | Circling hand, cross punch |
| 20 | 登山右圈捶 | Mountain-climbing stance, right circling punch |
| 21 | 封手左劈捶 | Sealing hand, left chopping punch |
| 22 | 馬式偷心捶 | Horse stance, stealing-heart punch |
| 23 | 雙封手插掌 | Double sealing hands, inserting palm |
| 24 | 封手十字腿 | Sealing hand, cross kick |
| 25 | 雙封手撲腿 | Double sealing hands, pouncing kick |
| 26 | 登山封統捶 | Mountain-climbing stance, sealing thrusting punch |
| 27 | 轉身封統捶 | Turn-around, sealing thrusting punch |
| 28 | 疊肘小蹬𨁏 | Piling elbow, small stomping kick |
| 29 | 七星式低劈 | Big-Dipper stance, low chop |
| 30 | 走步髙挑手 | Walking step, high lifting hand |
| 31 | 七星右補捶 | Big-Dipper stance, right filling punch |
| 32 | 封手右圈捶 | Sealing hand, right circling punch |
| 33 | 右抅摟採手 | Right hook-pull seizing hand |
| 34 | 馬式左攬捶 | Horse stance, left embracing punch |
| 35 | 翻勢右攬捶 | Turning posture, right embracing punch |
| 36 | 雙封手撲腿 | Double sealing hands, pouncing kick |
| 37 | 登山封統捶 | Mountain-climbing stance, sealing thrusting punch |
| 38 | 封手十字腿 | Sealing hand, cross kick |
| 39 | 馬式右劈軋 | Horse stance, right chop-and-crush |
| 40 | 偷步反封手 | Stealing step, reverse sealing hand |
| 41 | 封手穿心腿 | Sealing hand, heart-piercing kick |
| 42 | 封劈右崩捶 | Sealing-chop, right avalanche punch |
| 43 | 封手十字腿 | Sealing hand, cross kick |
| 44 | 馬式右劈軋 | Horse stance, right chop-and-crush |
| 45 | 蹤跳掛撐腿 | Leaping, hanging propping kick |
| 46 | 馬式右劈軋 | Horse stance, right chop-and-crush |
| 47 | 登山封統捶 | Mountain-climbing stance, sealing thrusting punch |
| 48 | 跨虎挑統捶 | Crossing-tiger stance, lifting thrusting punch (closing) |
The full bilingual translation is on Brennan's site, linked below.
## Place in the curriculum
Standard Seven Star curriculum (Wong Hon Fan lineage):
1. **十四路彈腿 (Tantui 14-Lines)** — basic stance + kick drill (everyone's first)
2. **崩步拳 (Bung Bu)** — foundational form
3. **插捶 (Cha Chui)** — the next foundational form (this one)
4. → into **十八叟 / 八肘 / 梅花** and onward
Cha Chui is also the form that introduces the practitioner to the **rhythmic continuous-strike** mode of mantis — the *"once you enter, do not stop"* tactical signature.
## Primary source
- **Wong Hon Fan, *****插捶***** (Hong Kong, 1944, expanded 1953)** — the published manual. Held in the **CUHK Wong Hon Fan Special Collection**.
## Open English translation
- **Paul Brennan, "Charging Punches" (2018)** — full bilingual translation of Wong's *Cha Chui*: [brennantranslation.wordpress.com](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2018/10/29/charging-punches/). 48 postures with original Chinese + careful English.
## See also
## Sources
**[1]** Wong Hon Fan, *插捶* (Hong Kong, 1944/1953) — the original published manual; the posture script above is the bare form-name list reproduced under fair-use citation, with the wiki's own glosses.
**[2]** Paul Brennan (tr.), *"Charging Punches" / 插捶* (2018) — open-access English: [brennantranslation.wordpress.com](https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2018/10/29/charging-punches/).