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Central to Bruce Choy's hair-cutting technique are his Flyingshears, which enable him to use up to five scissors on each hand at a time. He cuts hair dry and never uses a comb.

Two-Fisted haircutter Bruce Choy has created multi-piece scissors that make his styles distinctive

SHEAR INVENTION

By Mary Gottschalk Mercury New

The sight of hairstylist Bruce Choy approaching with his Flyingshears multiple scissors in each hand might make some patrons wince or run for the door.

Not Lisa Wong.

“When I first came to Bruce, he cut hair with one scissors,” says the 38-year-old San Franciscan, who quit her attorney job four years ago to become a stay-at-home mother. “Then it was two scissors, then three, then four and now it's five.”

Far from being fearful, Wong is enthusiastic about Choy's scissor-wielding technique and unorthodox approach to hair styling. He never uses a comb and cuts hair dry. He gives my hair nice movement,” says Wong who is also appreciative of the fact she can get her shoulder length hair cut and styled in less than 15 minutes when she's pressed for time. Choy, who estimates his age at “46 or 47,” was born in China and moved at the age of 4 with his family to Hong Kong. He started as a barber in 1969, cutting hair at a boys boarding school and earning 10 cents a cut.

Moving on to become a stylist, Choy worked in Hong Kong, studied at Vidal Sassoon in England and moved to San Francisco in 1982 to be near his mother. A decade later, he opened his own salon, then called Scissorhands, on Clement Street. Then salon has since been renamed Flyingshears to reflect his invention. Choy says the idea of cutting hair with two hands-he charges $60 a cut for both women and men – came to him in 1990 after watching musician Stanley Jordan play two guitars at once.

“I thought maybe I could cut hair with two hands,” he recalls. He soon could, but says, “The technique forced me to find a new tool. I came up with the idea of three scissors connected together.”

Choy moves very quickly, and the angle at which he holds the scissors to the head determines the angle of the cuts. Sometimes he uses his Flyingshears to thin, other times to trim. He hopes to have his instructional video anf Flyinghsears on the market this fall. The Flyingshears will retail for about $1,000 to $1,200, in part depending on the number of connected scissors.

Although Choy sold his home to finance the U.S. patent, he obtained in 1998, as well as production costs of his scissors, he says, “I'm not in this for the money, and I'm not in this for the name. It's just for fun.”

He compares his quest to when he was an avid guitar player improvising jazz for hours everyday. “I'm looking for the same thing. I'm looking for my voice, my own style. I can get that from cutting hair with scissors.”

Contact Mary at mgottschalk@sjmercury.com