Fook Sau
伏手
Literally: subduing hand
Wing Chun covering technique with a rising diagonal arm and palm down that controls the opponent's arm from above and reads their intent.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Fook Sau (伏手), literally taming or crouching hand, is a Wing Chun covering technique. The written form combines the character fook, to tame or crouch, with sau, hand. The arm rises diagonally, the palm faces down or the hand hangs loosely to the side. The wrist is slightly curved, the forearm relaxed and the elbow points forward; the pressure on the opponent's arm only maintains contact, without muscular resistance. The technique forms a covering bridge from above, prevents the opponent's forward and upward movement, and deflects inward pressure. Unlike Tan Sau, which spreads pressure outward, Fook Sau guides pressure from the inside downward. One source says it mainly develops ting lik, listening power, in chi sau practice: the hand rests lightly on the opponent's arm and reads their intent. Under pressure it can change into Jum Sau or roll into Bong Sau, and when the line opens it turns straight into a strike. Fook Sau is one of the basic techniques of the form Siu Lim Tao (Siu Nim Tau).