拳(quán) - fist, punch in Mandarin

拳 (quán) is a fist, and by extension a punch and the martial arts built around one. The compound you will hear most is 拳头 (quán tóu), the fist as an object: 握紧拳头 (wò jǐn quán tóu) is to clench your fist.

拳 also does duty as its own measure word for blows. 打了一拳 (dǎ le yì quán) means "threw one punch", with 拳 counting the punch rather than naming the hand.

Most often, though, 拳 turns up in the names of things people practise. 太极拳 (tài jí quán) is tai chi, literally the "supreme ultimate fist", and 拳击 (quán jī) is boxing. Do not confuse it with its homophone 全 (quán), whole or entire: the two sound identical and mean nothing alike, and the hand radical 手 at the foot of 拳 is the quickest way to tell them apart on the page.