The Deadly Wing Chun Baat Jaam Do

Insights Into The Eight Slash Knives.

- Phillip Redmond

THE WING CHUN BUTTERFLY SWORD is not really a sword, but instead a large knife. In Cantonese, the word Gim means sword (as it is a double-edged weapon), while Do is a knife (which describes singleedged weapons). The character for butterfly is Woo Dip. Many Southern Kung Fu styles use the Woo Dip Do (“Butterfly Knife”). Wing Chun uses the Baat Jaam Do or “Eight Slash Knives”.

According to legend, the Baat Jaam Do was used by monks in their travels when they left the monastery. The monks would sometimes carry large sums of money that were donated to the temple. They had to protect themselves from bandits. Since Buddhism doesn’t allow killing, the monks would slash the wrists, elbows, knees and ankles. So bilaterally you have eight places to slash without killing an opponent.

The Baat Jaam Do construction consists of the handle, guard, hook, spine, edge and tip. Each Baat Jaam Do blade length should be customised for the individual. The blade length should be from the elbow to the end of the closed fist. Should the blade be longer than that length, when the individual twirls the blade to the inside they risk severe injury. The bottom 1/3 of the blade should be blunt and used for blocking. The blunt section prevents the weapon from getting stuck in a softer weapon and provides a greater surface area to prevent the blade from fracturing when making contact with another edged weapon. This also has the possibility of damaging another attacker’s blade.

The back of the blade, the hook, the handle, and the guard can be used to strike. The guard acts as a knuckleduster when the opponent is within punching range. The hook may be used to stab into the eye or face of the opponent and is also used to trap an opponent’s weapon.