Master Tse’s Wing Chun Note 259

Laaht Sáu 捺手

Laaht Sáu 捺手 is a technique found in Siu Lim Tao 小念頭, it comes after Bīu Zī 標指, when both hands quickly press down. Many people do not know the name of this technique. In February 2019 I saw my Sīfú, Ip Chun葉準, and asked him again to confirm (as he told me many years ago when I began to learn Siu Lim Tao) the name of this hand. He said to me it is called Laaht Sáu. What is Laaht Sáu? Laaht comes from Chinese calligraphy and is a stroke which goes from the top to the bottom right corner. You can see the hands follow this path, after striking the opponent’s eyes, both hands press down to waist height. When we drop the hands we must do so quickly with power, keeping the arms straight and wrist bent to the finger face upwards. With regards to its application, Laaht Sáu is only used after Bīu Zī with two hands, when the opponent blocks your hands, you immediately press his hands down in order to make them lose their balance. Of course they will try to block you hands and this is what makes the Laaht Sáu work. Once they have lost their balance we will usually strike immediately, but in Siu Lim Tao we are only introduced to single strikes and not multiple strikes. In Tsum Kiu we have a very similar situation where we use Bīu Zī followed by Jaht Sáu 窒手. We do not use Laaht Sáu this time.