Master Tse’s Wing Chun Note 308

Yan Jéung 印掌, Jihk Jéung 直掌, Gahm Sáu 㩒手, Ngun Jéung 䟴掌 – Part 2

Master Tse performs Gahm Sáu 㩒手

Now we will take a look at Gahm Sáu 㩒手. We see this technique in the third part of Tsum Kìuh 尋橋, where the palm strikes down. “Gahm 㩒” means “To hold on to something”. It is like putting a weight on a piece of paper to stop it blowing off your desk. “Sau手” means “Hand”, “Gahm Sáu” means “Hold On Hand”, so it is not a strike. If we use this technique to strike, then it should be Yan Jéung 印掌 or Jihk Jéung 直掌. Instead we use Gahm Sáu to hold on to our opponent’s strike, no matter if it is a punch or a palm strike. Also, Gahm Sáu does not need to come from the top down, it can come from any direction. In Tsum Kìuh we call the hand strike down Gahm Sáu, so it means that this technique is holding down a low punch which is attacking our stomach area or another lower part of the body. For this reason, it needs to be strong, but once it reaches the target, it becomes soft to hold on and control the attack. Once we have stopped the opponent’s strike, we can attack back using a punch or chop etc. So Gahm Sáu is for blocking and controlling the opponent, which is very different from Yan Jéung and Jihk Jéung, and we must not get them confused.

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