Apparently in Hong Kong, there is the development of the Bat Fat which are the most affective and deadly techniques of Bak Mei (aren’t they all hehehe) composed. Equivocal to the 10 Killing hands of Wong Fei Hong in its conceptualisation.
Therefore out of curiosity has anyone been exposed to this most recent and interesting set of techniques.
I have heard of the “luk ging bart faat” (six powers and 8 methods) of Bak Mei but I am not sure whether this bart faat is the same bart faat that is analogous to the sup juet sao (ten killing hands) of Wong Fei Hung.
The luk ging is ging that is manifested and amplified by the jaw, neck, back, waist, hands, leg.
The bart faat includes chau (lift), sok (suck), pin (side or whipping??), tarn (bounce), larm (hugging), chong (banging), chung (charging in or barging) and one more I could not remember. These bart faat are some of the important movemnts of bak mei in the broader sense but it can also translate directly into the actual tecnique names. For instance there is chung choi, larm da, sok sau.
Larm Dah would be “Braced Strike” in Lung Ying. That’s more a frontal attack-sort of a ramming tech. It is Bui Tsui in Bak Mei. It’s more a side way and body hit.
I checked the dictionary and it says that “larm” means to grasp. I said “larm” means to hug because I don’t have the proper literary skills in Chinese and am limited to only spoken colloquial Cantonese and I have always associated larm to mean hug. The intent of larm da does not dictate the motion of hugging or grasping but its visual form does resemble the act of hugging doesnt it?
Mantis 108 : Ah yes, poon is the one I forgot. Thanks
I still don’t understand why they named Lam Dah as a “hugging” or “embracing”?
I’ve never seen Lam Dah used in this way. Mantis 108, does this “Bracing” mean you brace yourself before you hit the guy?
I thought Lam Dah was a striking movement, not a grasping movement. The rest of the movements seem much more aptly named - Boi-Gim Draw the Sword you can see, Kow Pek you can see. Although…I guess Sam Tong doesn’t make much sense to me either, in a visual way.
I don’t recall exactly how Lam Dah was explained to me, although it was always with great frusteration and difficulty. The thing that was emphasized was to take in, then hit out. Or, forward strike.
The Hug/embrace is the space, some refer this as the embracing the Chi (a bit too much on the mysticism), that is created by the hands and the body as in you are huging someone. It satisfies the 2 out of 3 rounds, which is advocated by Sifu Cheung Kwok Tai - the round of the Torso and the round of the shoulders. The third round, the round of the palm (tiger mouth), which you would see in the link MoQ has provided, is not in some lineages while executing this move. That is a straight palm is done as standard. It some way, this move is a paradox. You’ll have to keep hugging (to keep the posture) and to strike out at the same time. Not 1-2/in-out, but on one. Some lineages prefer to straighten up at the impact point to add the extra umph of the body bow. I don’t generally advocated that because the flexing might cause a slight lax and imbalance which might result in poor recovery; therefore, lost the oppotunity to capitalize the follow up moves. Besides, there is a huge different in physical attributes between a large person and a small person such as myself. That’s why I call it braced as in I braced myself (I picture myself as a ram) to ram into the target. Try 3 larm dah in a row and you will see what I mean. Also, if you have a heavy bag (the Thai bananas bag is the best)try on it and see. If the hug is poorly done, you will fail on the first larm dah and will not be able to continue with the rest or change to other hands. Also a good drill is to do the seven hands with the heavy bag. All hands start with the jong and enter with larm dah.
Some combos are:
jong-Larm dah-larm dah-larm dah
jong-larm dah-bui gim-kow pek
jong-larm dah-chong Tsui-Kow pek
jong-larm dah-Soy kiu-boi gim
jong-larm dah-soy kiu-chong tsui
anyway you got the idea
As for Sarm Tong, it is easier if explain in person. It not a very hard concept but it helps alot to have someone to train with. I tend to see sarm tong as a connecting hand rather than a finishing move. I don’t know if that would help or not?
Hi MoQ,
Great to see you back again. How goes it? Thanks for the link. A picture is more than words sometimes.
Mantis108
P.S. breath into the hug (especially Dan Tien strengthen). That helps to stablize the posture.
Hi Mantis 108 - thanks for the excellent post and clarification! I was shown three applications for Lam Dah;
Use forarm to sink downward into kidneys / hip - causes leg to collapse
Use as “repulsing movement” (straighten and throw upwards / twist back foot) - hit to side or front
Use as blocking movement (block kick - move in low)
Lam Dah is a very excellent movement.
Could you extrapolate a bit on the 2 / 3 “rounding criteria”? I understand the back and shoulders, is the third the positioning of the arms? Is CKT saying that an effective movement in LY requires these three postures?