There are two updated videos now available: Siu-Nim-Tau Section 1 and Chum-Kiu Section 1. These are down-graded videos from our members-only resource section so I wanted to make them available on AWCAOnline.
The July Video of the Month is being re-filmed tomorrow due to the previous video having some uncorrectable audio problems, so look for that either Saturday afternoon or evening.
email2friend Pak-sau, or Slap-hand, is one of the most effective, efficient, and basic counters to a straight punch, jab, or cross. But which is better: 45-degrees or 90-degrees?
When we think about the sheer power of most punches, we have to take into consideration the distance from our body that the most opportune chance of defense will occur on. With a 90-degree Pak-sau, this means we are allowing the punch to reach closer to our body. Because of the power and speed of the punch, a 90-degree Pak-sau will many times still see contact, even if only slightly.
However, with a 45-degree Pak-sau, contact is made further away from the body. This is both safer and more efficient since the trajectory of Pak-sau is going towards the attack vs. merely to the side.
I liken this action as being somewhat similar to Jing-cheung, or Erect-palm, in that rather than viewing the action merely as a redirective movement, we view it as an attack. Not that Pak-sau is an attack, mind you; rather, we envision Pak-sau first as Jing-cheung in order to produce the beginnings of the proper trajectory.
For example, an opponent launches a straightline punch, jab, or cross directly at my face. I counter by driving a palm forward via Jing-cheung. This produces “explosion” in the elbow in order to drive the palm into the opponent. However, I also want to defend the incoming punch, so Jing-cheung moves to the side slightly in order to slap the punch out of the way.
That is the “vision” of the trajectory that a 45-degree Pak-sau travels. Again, it is not so much that Pak-sau is really Jing-cheung; instead, it is merely a description of what is actually taking place for the trajectory.
I have found that working Pak-sau at 45-degrees vs. 90-degrees has been much more effective and responsive, and in many cases it produces so much power that it can drive the opponent’s entire body backwards. It is almost akin to a forceful push vs. a simple slap, and that can rebound into the opponent to the point that it literally explodes into them with so much force that it knocks them off balance.
Give it a try sometime in class and experiment with what it can do. Keep the “vision” of Jing-cheung changing suddenly to Pak-sau, too, in order to produce the proper trajectory. For those who have trained in section 3 of the Siu-Nim-Tau, you will also see a Pak-sau-to-Jing-cheung combination. This will give you a better idea of one of the concepts that this action is already applied to.
email2friend One of the confusing issues surrounding Tan-sau and Fook-sau for most beginners concerns what each are really for and how they are used.
Tan-sau, or “Bridge-On arm”, sees the palm facing upward and the elbow slightly inward. With this angle, the arm can project forward by slicing into the incoming punch. Tan-sau’s main purpose is defense against a straight punch, but some will train it as a defense against hook punches.
Straightline and hook trajectories have different angles of attack, which in turn cause different muscles to be used for creating the most force when employing them. By contrast, defense against these two punches would see difference musculature being used, too.
Because of the angle of attack with a straightline punch, Tan-sau’s elbow can project the arm directly forward by using the wrist to “slice” into the attack. The fingers are pointed towards the shoulder of that attacking arm, which keeps the necessary angle (thereby affording a proper defense). When it comes to a hooking punch, though, Tan-sau’s elbow and forearm angle is somewhat insufficient.
Fook-sau, or “Bridge-On arm”, has two uses. The first is the position seen during the slow cycle of Siu-Nim-Tau section 1 and will not used for this discussion. Instead, we will focus on its second position.
The second position is with the palm directly downward and the elbow outward a bit. With this arm position, the angle is such that a strong connection is established from wrist-to-elbow-to-shoulder. This connection then allows the body to play a more prominent role by “wedging” into the hooking attack.
Should Tan-sau be used for countering a hook punch, the palm facing upwards sees the elbow moving slightly inward. The angle of the forearm changes to the point that it requires a great deal of strength to actually halt a real hook.
Those that train Tan-sau to defend against a real hook punch will see one of two things happening:
The problem with point 1 is that the angle of the attack is overcoming the angle of the defense. Therefore, Tan-sau would not be an appropriate defense to begin with. And the problem with point 2 is that the practitioner is now using two hands to defend against one of the opponent’s, thereby breaching a basic Wing Chun tenet.
The correct action would be that rather than using Tan-sau for hooking attacks, Fook-sau is much more capable of wedging into even the most powerful of hooks. No reinforcement is needed, either, since the wrist-to-shoulder connection allows for giving up of our force and absorbing the attack (while simultaneously providing enough strength to withstand the original force to begin with).
Take the time to experiment with real punches that you would encounter and you will quickly see the angles that our defenses were meant to counter. Things will sometimes work in class that will not work in real life because not enough speed and strength is used as we would encounter for real. But when you work things with “real” power and “real” speed? It is a lesson that will go a long, long way for seeing what will really work.
email2friend