Master Tse’s Wing Chun Note 260

Laaht Sáu 捺手 and Jaht Sáu 窒手

What is the difference between Laaht Sáu 捺手 and Jaht Sáu 窒手? They are quite similar and both are in the second section of Siu Lim Tao 小念頭 . Laaht Sáu 捺手 comes after Bīu Zī 標指, and Jaht Sáu 窒手 comes after Jám Sáu 枕手, Tok Sáu 托, Fuhk Sáu 伏手 and then we do Jaht Sáu窒手. With Laaht Sáu and Bīu Zī the arms are quite straight and so the distance is further out. With Fuhk Sáu and Jaht Sáu the arms are bent and so the distance is closer. The arms are in a normal position – chest height. When we use Jaht Sáu we are usually already in contact with our opponent’s arms and then we could just use Laap Sáu 擸手, but we can also use Jaht Sáu to jerk their hands. So Jaht Sáu is used in a situation where we can also use Laap Sáu. However Laaht Sáu does not need pull down with force, it can just hold pull in many directions, and so in most situations we will use Jaht Sáu instead of Laaht Sáu, in fact we rarely use Laaht Sáu. Our ancestors created so many Wing Chun hand techniques, some are rarely used and so might not be very useful in most situations, but we must know them all. The same with all the old philosophy and old stories (like Uncle Choi) as they might help us solve many of our problems.