Sil lum tao: First Form

Sil means little or diminishing, lum means thought or imagination, tao means mind.

Opening:
Stand straight, feet together, arms at sides. Turn toes out as cock fists, palms of fists facing upwards, to either side of chest. Then turn the heels outwards into horse stance (yee gee kim yang ma). Shoot hands (palms flat and open) out and down at 45 degrees angle (L forearm crossing over R), then bend arms up at elbow to 45 degrees angle, turning the palms up. Cock fists back to former position.
Notes: do the bounce (shoot hands out/up) quickly, with force.

L fist slides across torso to sternum, vertical fist with knuckles facing out, then punches to chin level. Open hand, palm facing up and flat, at chin level with fingers pointed forward. Bend the hand at the wrist upward until the fingers are pointed to the ceiling, then rotate the wrist until the fingers are pointing to your L and slightly spread. (Huen the wrist up/in/down/out to L in a grab). Keep the wrist in the centerline. Clench fist without dropping arm, then retract the arm to your side. R hand repeats.
L hand, palm up and flat (do not cup at all, keep thumb base from mounding up), slides across torso to sternum(base), then the hand points outward, keeping the palm flat and facing upwards. Extend the hand forward, keeping the elbow angled out to the side, until elbow is one fist distance from ribs (lon tan sao). Curl hand up/back in/down/out/up until edge outwards w/fingers pointed up and slightly forward (wu sao, keep the wrist and forearm exactly in place), and draw the hand in to sternum. Use the elbow to push the lon tan sao out, and to draw the wu sao back.
Let hand go limp, and extend the wrist directly out from the solar plexus, tucking the elbow in, until the forearm is horizontal and the elbow is as centered as you can get it (fook sao). Curl hand edge out as described above into wu sao (the forearm will angle slightly upwards, to where fingertips are at shoulder level), draw in. Repeat fook/wu twice more.
After 3rd, relax fingers only then open flat again, then quick block (paking with open hand) to 1 inch past R shoulder, return to center, then palmheel strike to forehead (fingers pointing up). Rotate palmheel until palm faces up towards the ceiling height, still on the centerline, then curl up/b/d/left and clench, retract to side.
R hand repeats.
Notes: The fingers relax slightly, then open straight again, to remind us the pak hand is relaxed.
L hand opens flat and turns palm down as pushes (palm heel) down to side [gum sao]. Hold L hand in place while R follows. Pull both up to waist (hands flat and vertical w/palms facing behind, fingertips at waist), then strike back w/palmheels (fingers parallel, lock elbows), then raise hands to same position as previous, then strike forwards at pelvic level(fingers outward 50 degrees, want thumb metacarpals parallel). The target area is the wing portion of the pelvis.
Raise both arms so forearms are at shoulder level and parallel with ground and crossed (L above R), and extend arms outward and return (R above L) [fun sao]. The motion should be like cracking a whip: shoulders, then elbows, then wrists move.
Drop the elbows down to solar plexus height, forearms parallel and forward, palms facing [jumm sao]. Turn palms to face up as raise forearm unit to 45 degrees, do not raise palms above shoulder level. Turn the palms over to face the ground as draw down the diagonal line of the forearms to navel (keeping the hands pointed at the same place they were before the turn over) [jut sao]. Draw with the elbows backwards, do not flare the elbows out sideways. Shoot the hands out to eye level, entire arm straight, into a double eye jab [bil sao]. The hands should be straight with the forearm, not bent at the wrist downwards to horizontal. Relax the shoulders and wave arms as a unit (keep elbows straight) down, up and snap hands upwards into fists w/palm down, and retract to cocked position, fists at sides of chest. Keep the arms straight.
Block with left palm to R across the chest at solar plexus level to edge of body, then return hand in wu sao (edge outward) to center of chest. Palm strike to solar plexus (fingers to L), then turn L hand outwards until palm up and bend wrist up, rotate wrist around to L, clench fist and return to stance.
R hand repeats.
Left hand, palm up, extends until arm is at 45 degrees (upward from left and outward from body) and elbow is one fist from ribs. This is tan sao (palm up hand). Keep elbow in place as hand describes a vertical half-circle clockwise until forearm is at 45 degrees downward angle and hand is slightly angled inward. Rotate forearm back up to former position at 45 degrees upwards. huen hand up/in/down/forward to to flat and down, fingers pointing forward, then flip wrist (along long axis of hand) to palm up (flat to floor, fingers facing forward) then palmheel strike outwards and down to bladder area. Bend forearm upwards to former position, (do not arc hand inwards, bend forearm upwards), then huen hand at wrist to down and flat w/fingers pointing forward. Make a tight fist and retract arm to side.
R hand repeats.
Extend L arm into bong sao, drilling into the motion. Wrist is on the centerline at throat height, the forearm is angled outwards (from viewpoint of someone looking down at you from the ceiling) at 45 degrees. The elbow is higher than the wrist, and is bent 45 degrees from straight. The upper arm (humerus) is aimed at your opponent's same-side eye. The hand is relaxed and in line with the forearm.
Pivot arm on shoulder-wrist axis (keep wrist in place) by turning elbow in and down, turn the hand over to face palm up, end in tan sao (elbow 1 fist distance from ribs, fingertips on your centerline. Cup hand slightly into "willow-leaf" tan sao. Strike with palm heel to jaw level (fingers outwards, cupping the chin). Turn palm upwards to face the ceiling with hand flat, then huen hand at wrist up/in/down/out into a grab, then rotate the hand out to point left. Clench fist and retract to basic position.
R hand repeats.
Extend L arm with palm down, arm angled in and down, elbow locked. Place R wrist on L arm at elbow crease, palm flat and facing up. Scrape down your L arm with R hand as you retract L hand into fist. R hand will end in L arm's former position. Keep shoulders steady, do not move them. Repeat this with the L hand slicing down R arm, then R hand slicing down L arm again.
Move L fist to sternum, punch, move R fist to below L elbow. Punch with R,L,R, and as perform L punch, shift stance to R (shift weight on heels) to add force. (at least 5 punches, shift on final odd # punch, final punch is aimed at same target as the others). End.

Comments: All strikes are on centerline, except the extensions from the tan sao. Stay in a good stance for the entire form, weight more on heels than toes, toes pointed in, pelvis tilted slightly forward to straighten the lower spine. Keep shoulders squared, don't move them except on the final punch at the end of the form.
Concentrate on keeping all parts of the body in proper alignment. Sli lum tao teaches your limbs their proper relationship which will make your techniques effective.
Memo: the locked elbow arm on last part is a mystery (6/15/94).

The form is properly done with each extension and retraction of the hand/wrist in 2) taking 3 full minutes. With 4 out and back movements for each arm, this means part 2 should take approximately 48 minutes. The rest of the form is performed at normal speed.