The 4th major strike is the Sau Chui, a strike which is like using your forearm to hit your opponent’s head like a baseball bat.

In PKK, the Gwa Chui, the Chau Chui and the Sau Chui are practiced together as a trio of three consecutive strikes.

In SKD 3.0 I made Sau Chui a standalone technique so that we can focus exclusively on its practice. In application, the Sau Chui can be used as a follow up after Yum Chui, Gwa Chui or Charp Chui.

How to practice the Sau Chui :-

1) Stand with feet together
2) Place both hands near to your chin in ready position
3) As you take a step diagonally forward to your left, use your left hand to swipe from the right side of your body to your left as if to clear the way. As you do so, get ready your right hand to execute the Sau Chui. Release the Sau Chui the moment your weight shifts from the right leg to the left leg. Bring the left hand up to your head as if to block upwards. Strike the Sau Chui all the way to your left hip

When you practice the basic Sau Chui enough you will be able to feel the knockout power, especially if you test it against a pad held by a training partner.

Initially, I did not like the Sau Chui. I was partly influenced by what I was taught in Wing Chun, that Sau Chui is easy to block because the strike uses a wide arc. In retrospect I would say that never believe everything people tell you, even your own instructor, especially if they are not an expert in the art that they have a strong opinion about.

Master Leong changed my mind about the Sau Chui. He did not give an elaborate explanation about its use or its power mechanics. Instead, he showed me something interesting. Master Leong could use his Sau Chui to hit me even as I tried to hit him with a straight punch.

This is a strange experience considering what I was told in Wing Chun about the shortest distance between two points being a straight line which means if I throw a straight punch and Master Leong throws a big circular punch I should hit him first. Right?

Wrong! Master Leong didn’t try to block my straight punch. He just used his stepping to make me miss and then entered to hit me. He did this a few times.

Master Leong said that the Sau Chui the way he did it with stepping is the highest level technique. I didn’t quite believe it since I was still hung up on linear strikes. Later I got him to admit that in the pantheon of techniques it is the Charp Chui that is the highest level technique.

Still if you want a technique that can knock a person out then Sau Chui should be your technique of choice.