Master Tse’s Wing Chun Note 313

Kwán Sáu 綑手 and Gāan Sáu 挌手 pt2

When we practise Kwán Sáu 綑手 on the Muhk Yàhn Jōng 木人樁 – Wooden Dummy, we hit the dummy quite hard. In the technique the Bóng Sáu 膀手 is lower and the Tāan Sáu 攤手 is normal. What kind of Bóng Sáu do we use in Kwán Sáu? Many people think this is a Dāi Bóng Sáu 低膀手 because of the Wooden Dummy training and the fact that the Bóng Sáu is lower and so must be harder. They will think like this because they have only ever come across Kwán Sáu in the Wooden Dummy. However, if you have come across Kwán Sáu before, and not just in the Wooden Dummy, you will know that it is actually a soft technique, particularly the Bóng Sáu part of it. The Bóng Sáu is used then our opponent grabs our Tāan Sáu. We therefore have to let go of our Tāan Sáu and change it in to Bóng Sáu. This is to let go of the tension in the wrist area that is being grabbed and change our focus to our elbow, then our opponent will not control our arm. This is a soft technique, a normal Bóng Sáu it is not a Dāi Bóng Sáu. Dāi Bóng Sáu, which is often just called Dāi Bóng 底膀 must be hard because if it is low, then it is very weak, but in Kwán Sáu we do not use Dāi Bóng.