Master Tse’s Wing Chun Note 237

Ng Mui Si Tai五枚師太- Part 6

How about the Baat Jáam Dōu 八斬刀 and Lùhk Dím Bun Gwan 六點半棍? When were these created?

All styles of Chinese Kung Fu have weapons. If we think about what kind of weapon would be most suitable for a lady, we would usually think it should be a sword (Jian劍).  However, the Jian is not suitable for Wing Chun Kung Fu and so Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 chose to use a pair thick knives which we call Dōu刀 . Chinese always like the number eight and this is because of the principle of Eight Situations – Bagau, found in the Yijing易經. Ng Mui Si Tai  created 8 sections of Dōu movements. Each section taught a different way of using the knife to chop and so the form was called Baat Jáam Dōu, which means eight chopping knives. Because it was a pair of knives the Wing Chun hand techniques could be applied to them like, Tāan Sáu攤手, Bong Sáu膀手, and Gāan Sáu挌手. The Dōu techniques were Tāan Dōu攤刀, Bong Dōu膀刀 , Gāan Dōu 挌刀, Kwan Dōu膀  etc.

The 8 sections of the form  are:

1. Gáap Dōu 夾刀
2. Laap Dōu 擸刀
3. Tāan Dōu 攤刀
4. Gāan Dōu 挌刀
5. Kwán Dōu 綑刀
6. Yāt Jìh Dō u一字刀
7. Mahn Dōu 問刀
8. Kāp Dōu 扱刀

Obviously this tells us that the Baat Cham Dōu was created after the hand forms. Ng Mui Si Tai did not create the Lùhk Dím Bun Gwan. The pole however was added later when Wong Wàa Bóu 黄華寶 learnt it from Lèuhng Yih Táih 梁二娣.