Tan/punch combo may work, but if you can dig up a copy of Mike Tyson knocking out Trevor Burbick, (not sure if I spelt that right), you will see a classic example of how a boxer with quick feet and a tight left hook would render your pak sau vertually useless.
That hook does not have to be thrown from a clinch- you can jab,shuffling in, and hook off the jab(jow-sao) while twisting the body to develop sick power. I would either jam the shoulder, or raise my elbow to either guard the side of my head, and, if my motion was foward, the elbow smashes directly into the opponent/s face. I can also use the other elbow and strike laterally into the head as well.
Hooks no haymakers
We learn to throw hooks because wc does have a problem dealing with them (i’m not slagging wc because we use a lot of the techs in our style).
a well trained practitioner can easily stop a wild swing hook.The tight hook (hand drops elbow comes up punch comes through), causes all sorts of problems. 1 its bloody quick
2 If your trained to use it you wont use the jab, cross, hook, comb cause its so bloody obvious
3 although its not traveling far if the hips are used it can generate a lot of power
The only way i know of dealing with them is to bring you elbow up, put you hand behind your head and take the punch on the bicep.(don t stop it with a stuck out elbow it will push your arm across face and open you up)
My sifu then recomends bring the same arm down on to the shoulder trapping the hooking arm outside yours, and seeing that theyve see the distance for a good hook throw on back with your other arm.
do without doing
hooks
If the opponent is not clinching but just throwing a nice decent hook, arm is not at 90degrees), I’d personally just slip outside of his hooking arm, step in low, and fire a counter punch to the groin, and finish him off with a straight blast to the face and chest.
Video of hook punch
If you want to see the kind of hook we’re talking about go to: http://www.fighttraining.com/, click on “Video Techniques”, scroll down to the half-way point on the frame and download the “Basic Hook Punch” clip.
One is weak because he makes preparation against others;
he has strength because he makes others prepare against him.
– Sun-Tzu
My high school had tons of hockey players and in fights all they did was grab with one arm (usually the left) and use a barrage of tight hooks with the other hand (usually the right)
There are no combinations to “set-up” and the arm’s angle is 90 degrees.
I doubt a pak or tan would do any good. They never worked for me against them. Biu is the best bet when you have some distance, however when really close, you have no choice but to use pow sau. Either way, you must move your head back when blocking because you hand might not block one fully. And stance shifting is a must.
There’s another post here that deals with this in detail as well…
pai jarn? is that the move you were trying to describe bkh?
i went looking for this post cos i got my friend round and asked him to throw some haymakers, and i figured out myself that tan da doesn’t work - sometimes it even helps them.
all i could do is either break teh rules of wc and stick an arm out (john wayne style, you know?) or attack is centre and hold out a firm tan.
obviously i could move in, as he was telgraphing when he was gonna throw the hook, he wasn’t a trained boxer, but it was a slap in teh face (nearly literally) how a hook/haymaker ISN’T as easy to deal with as i thought.
If you guys want to carry this post on, i ain’t gonna stop ya 
“Spectacular immaculate raps massacre cats like dracula bats, I’m snappin yer back cos I’m attackin the wack, duckin yer rapid attack, **** packin a gat, the mechanic of rap’ll give you panic attacks with his Satanical raps.” - Guess who.
Did you try bil sao, Sharky?
do u mean bil sau to the eyes or whatever, or to his hooking arm? Bil sau to the eyes is just the same as a strike i guess, and wouldn’t stop you getting hit unless you put up some barrier or move your entire body?
“Spectacular immaculate raps massacre cats like dracula bats, I’m snappin yer back cos I’m attackin the wack, duckin yer rapid attack, **** packin a gat, the mechanic of rap’ll give you panic attacks with his Satanical raps.” - Guess who.
Stopping Hooks, (or anything for that matter)
I think the bottom line is this: One has to be smarter then simply learning the mechanical aspects of any art. Yes, you have to understand structure, but there’s and infinite amount of ways one can deal with any attack.
You have to make wing chun your own, and make work for you. Theres more than one way to perform any movement, so long as it stays within the core guidlines of course.
Wing chun, well any art to me, has to be dynamic and alive. All this talk of mechanical B.S is to me, an example of a dead art. And thats not how I think of wing chun at all. I may use a tan da to defend against a hook, then again I may use the concept of “jeet kuen” and intercept. I may decide to do the same with a kick. It just depends on where I am at the moment of the attack, both mentally and physically. Ive actually seen people turn into the hook using footwork and simply go with it using bong sau or wu sau. Point is, you make it work. Or you make it not work. Its all up to you.
“From one thing know ten thousand” - Miyomato Musashi, Book of five rings
“Loy lau hoi sung, lut sau jik chung”
And by the way
Who’s the asian guy in the pic sharky? That tan sau looks a little structurally weak to me, if that is a tan sau at all. Just an observation. No offensive intent there…just something I was looking at.
“From one thing know ten thousand” - Miyomato Musashi, Book of five rings
“Loy lau hoi sung, lut sau jik chung”
Really
I didn’t take time to read all the responses since I had already formulated my answer. While this may not fit some Wing Chun theory I believe it’s by far the best answer…
A hook doesn’t move forward, so a slight move backwards will dodge it easily. Your weight should already be at least 70% on your back leg, 100% depending on your lineage, so just lean into it, bend your back knee a little, and move backwards with your upper body. The range of a hook is very limited, you can then move forward and attack.
Some people will say that this is not a forward ‘conquering’ motion and therefor is bad Wing Chun, but at the same time this motion does not cause you to lose ground or give up your position.
-Scott
“I’m just an actor, just like Robert f***ing Redford when I say those stupid words that they expect me to say.”–Art Alexakis
One other
While I still hold by my answer of leaning backwards, which should be full-proof, I just remembered that we do train a block that may work in this situation, though I’ve never tried it.
I have no idea what the block is called, but it basically involves whipping your arm out to the outside (left hand to the left or right arm to the right, never across your body) and when contact is made, snapping your hand so that it is basically a Wu Sau done at a horrendous angle far out from your body. I think it was made with a move more like the Choy Lay Fut downward punch in mind, but it may work on a hook.
I still say… Lean back. When his hook misses, lean forward and press your attack. I think that application is really more of a JKD thing, but if it works.. shrug
-Scott
“I’m just an actor, just like Robert f***ing Redford when I say those stupid words that they expect me to say.”–Art Alexakis
Hook never moves forward?
Scott writes:
> A hook doesn’t move forward, so a slight move
> backwards will dodge it easily.
While a tight hook might not be moving forward in relation to the boxer’s body, that body may be moving forward. For example, someone may lead with a jab, and step in while bending the elbow to ****, and then hit with a hook. Or even off of the cross or uppercut, it is possible the person may step in with a hook. Not to mention all the people who try to imitate boxers and arc those hooks slightly forward.
So while you’re leaning back, you may want to cover up a little as well, just in case that hook DOES have some forward qualities to it. :P.
JK-
“Sex on TV doesn’t hurt unless you fall off.”
Thats true
There are such things as lunging hooks! When I boxed I used a really nice whipping hook…Ive been told it was really deceptive, and effective. I usually knocked down just about everyone it made contact with.
It basically looked like a lead straight, but then hooking in at the last moment, combined with footwork of course to move in and add to the whip and angle. Very JKD’ish. But effective!
Everyone is different…gotta watch out for the ones that dont fight in conventional methods.
“From one thing know ten thousand” - Miyomato Musashi, Book of five rings
“Loy lau hoi sung, lut sau jik chung”
hate to repeat myself and others
there are no blocks in WC.you do not block a hook.there is no need if you understand and have the confidence to perform WC as intended.Vankuen gives aperfect example of why not to block.I have trained against professional boxers.Hooks are easy to stop unless you try to block them.You will end up blocking with your head.
I am talking about a hook not a round punch by the way.couse you dont block a round punch either but they are much less dangerous.
Ok Sharky…
Imagine you are squared off with an opponent.
Now the shape is essentially the same as a Bong Sao with the wrist on the center line. But drop your elbow so that your arm has a “goose neck” shape to it and the hand is more or less above the elbow, straight up and down. It should be the same angle as the bong sao more or less. Now if the hand (your fook sao) is aiming at the shoulder of your imaginary opponent as he hooks you (keeping the same shape)swing your fook sao out to meet it but allow your elbow to move off center and around your ribs to protect them.. Always aim at the shoulder and swing outward and you will never miss the hook. I find this works better than a Tan Sao because the oppoent can’t come around it as easily. I know this is a crappy description if you need more maybe I can get a picture or something.
Now a some things on this Fook Sao: 1)You will move off your own center as your elbow will move around your ribs as you accept the hook. 2)The purists will hate this move because it can be force on force but it works. 3)Maintain the “golden angle” or whatever the minimum elbow angle is for the bong sao so it won’t collapse in on you. 4)The beauty of this is you can block a hook to the head or maintaining the same shape just lower it a bit and the elbow will stop the hook to the ribs. 5)I’ve used it in the clinch and it worked. 6)My 120lbs. wife has made it work against much, much larger opponents who were skilled in boxing and San Shou so it’s structuarlly sound. 7)I try to catch hooks to the head by flicking the fook sao out really fast and hard so that the hook contacts the bone on the opposite side of my wrist from the thumb. This often hurts the opponent. 8)Make it a Fook Dar or step in and use an elbow simultaneously.
Like I say I’m sure some will say this is a violation of principal but the only violations that matter in my book are the ones that don’t work and I’ve used this movement successfully against much stronger opponents. Play with it and make it your own. Good luck.
I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
–Khalil Gibran
bil sau it or tan
sorry guys, tan da does work, and a boxer doesnt just throw good hooks from a clinch. my sifu learned to box scientifically from age nine all the way throught his teen years, he’s as good at boxing as he is wing chun (but he focuses on wing chun now). for tan to work you have to face the punch with your tan, have it on center and face the punch and da. the other thing you can do is bil sau it. with a good boxer they will set you up with a jab, then slip your punch and come from under you on a side. (mike tyson was great at this move). you will also have to be even more weary of there shots to the body.
know yourself don’t show yourself, think well of yorself don’t tell of yourself. lao tzu
how to deal with a hook?
You break it.
Once again whipping hand with another stupid and vague answer.
Im starting to wonder if you know anything at all. I sometimes see some information come from you that seems useful to the people on here, but for the most part, you seem very, how do you say…“up on yourself”?
“From one thing know ten thousand” - Miyomato Musashi, Book of five rings
“Loy lau hoi sung, lut sau jik chung”