how many "sau's" are there?

[Shaolin Dude]

I've heard alot of them.

[old jong]

Sau means "hand" .....Two!....:D

[Phil Redmond]

WC people have "3". Each of the elbows = 1/2 hand. :)

[old jong]

It must the reason why there are three arms on the mook Jong?...;)

[William E]

Phil

It's no wonder your kung fu is so good with 3 arms and 3 legs... ;)

I couldn't resist.

William E.

[Shaolin Dude]

I meant bong sau, pak sau.....list the ones you know

[old jong]

It varies a little depending on lineages but this link (http://www.springtimesong.com/wchands2.htm) to an excellent Wing Chun site ,will give you a good answer.:)

[Phil Redmond]

William E: thanks for reminding me ;)

Shaolin Dude,
All WC schools don't have the same "saus". This problem is encountered on other WC forums all the time. We use different names in different schools. It would be good to start a list of them so that we would all be on the same page. I'll name some of the one's I'm familiar with. I'll start with the one's we ALL should know first.
bong (wing arm?),
tan (disperse/spread)
gan (plow/cultivate)
pak (slap)
fuhk (subdue)
biu (thrust)
gum (pin)
jut (jerk)
heun (circle)
lau (slipping)
lan (barring)
kwan (binding)
luk (rolling)
faak (swinging)
wu (guarding)
lop (grabbing)
lim (lifting)
jaam-chum (sinking)
dahn (bounce off)

I know I've missed a few so it would be nice for others to add to this list so maybe we could all be on the same page.

[Phil Redmond]

Old Jong,
You must have posted while I was typing. Good examples.
I noticed that the "tie sau" is what we call dahn sau. That's a good example of how we speak different languages in WC.
p.s. they got the man sau and the biu sau pictures mixed up.

[old jong]

Yes Phil!
It is true we have a slight language thing between families but it is not so bad IMO. I think we share at least 80% of it!
Happy holidays to you,your family and all the "good Wing Chun people" everywhere!...:)

[PaulH]

And then there were...

Fun Sau - outward neck chop
Jip Sau - Catching or trapping hands
Tai Sau - Long bridge upward lifting hands
Jau Sau - Running hand
Kau Sau - Palm catch with hooking fingers
Lai Sau - Double grabbing or pulling hands
Tok Sau - Palm up upward hands
Tuet Sau - Scraping arms

but my favorite- Paul Sau. This is my secret hand reserved only for life and death situations. Ha! Ha!

Regards,
PH

[Brithlor]

I thought Sifu Redmond had 3 LEGS, not three saus?

Shouldn't Tsuen Sau (threading hand) be added to that list?

[yuanfen]

Assuming variations in names...names not important-the actions are... some saus....

bong, tan, fok,pak, ngoi, luk, poon, lop, lan,lut, kiu, tok or pau, kwok, jip, jut, sup gee, jau, kao, fong, bue, huen,gwat, buejong,
chi, jong,ding,tuit,faan.fak, jum.jaam, ngoigan, hoigan,wu,lop,gar,
gum,haan,hoikwan,ngoikwan,---too many-so many in the
wing chun tool box.

[IronFist]

And how many do you actually use in fighting?

[yuanfen]

Iron Fist asks:

And how many do you actually use in fighting?
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((Each when you need them. There is a time and use for every one of them. No flowery or wasted motions.))