Sanda: When Kung Fu created a solution to its problems - then threw it away
This article was generously contributed by Mason Zhong of the Chinese Martial Arts Reformation Society.
Many modern martial arts practitioners or combat sports pundits have critiqued that Sanda / Sanshou (Chinese Kickboxing), a modernized combat sport form of Chinese Kung Fu practiced by the likes of UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili, or Sanshou Kung Fu & MMA Legend Cung Le, as just… Muay Thai kickboxing with Judo throws and western wrestling takedowns.
One such YouTuber in Ramsey Dewey calls Zhang Weili a bit of a "pretender" in that while she may practice Tai Chi, Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling), or Sanda - when she fights, she just uses Muay Thai.Many people tend to believe this narrative - that Sanda ("Free Fighting" in Chinese) is simply a mashup of techniques 'stolen' from non-Chinese martial arts, and that Sanda isn’t in fact, Chinese Kung Fu at all.
Which begs the question, is Sanda actually a modern culmination of Chinese Martial Arts, or not? And even if Sanda truly came from Chinese Kung Fu - why does no one seem to know or believe this?
It turns out, that somewhere along the timeline of the development of Sanda (Chinese Kickboxing), even Chinese Kung Fu / Martial Arts practitioners stopped believing that it was Kung Fu themselves.
"Ultimately, the biggest obstacle preventing Sanda from solving CMA's [Chinese Martial Arts] problems is CMA practitioners themselves: if even we don't own it as Chinese Martial Arts, why should anyone else?"
Abstract:
- In the 1980s, China modernized Chinese Martial Arts (CMA) to create Sanda (translation: "free fighting").
- CMA practitioners have long dismissed Sanda as not being CMA.
- Almost every Sanda technique can be found in CMA.
- While Sanda has foreign influence, saying Sanda isn't CMA is like saying Sambo isn't Russian.
- More work needs to be done to educate ignorant CMA practitioners.
So... what is Sanda?
For a long time, the Chinese government banned the combative practice of CMA among the civilian population, instead only allowing the practice of Wushu Taolu (武术套路), i.e. forms.
While some degree of combative training was maintained in the military and police, it was not until 1979 that the General Administration of Sport of China (国家体育总局) initiated a project to greatly expand and further develop such practices into a modern combat sport for the civilian populace.
After much research and experimentation, this project ultimately culminated in the creation of Sanshou (散手), later renamed Sanda (散打): a full-contact combat sport primarily characterized by punches, kicks, and throws.
After learning Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling) (摔跤) as a child, Chinese National Sanda Team head coach Zhang Genxue (张根学) received his martial arts training in the military while Sanda was still in its early experimental stages.
Given its adoption of the same modern, scientific training methods used by martial arts such as Boxing and Judo, Sanda really should have solved the issues of unscientific mysticism and dogma plaguing CMA by now.
Yet, 40 years on, this clearly isn't the case, otherwise, no one would know who Xu Xiaodong (徐晓冬) was.
Sanda evolved CMA by adopting modern, scientific training methods.
As it turns out, Sanda has struggled to present a CMA identity to the world since its very inception, including towards CMA practitioners themselves.
From the outset of its early development in the 1980s, Sanda was dismissed by CMA practitioners as being "merely kickboxing" (“拳击加脚” - literally boxing plus feet, i.e. kicks).
As UMBC Wushu Club Coach and Jiayoo Wushu writer Matthew Lee pointed out, such a notion is still prevalent throughout the world 40 years on, with labels such as ‘a copy of Muay Thai’ and ‘Muay Thai mixed with Judo’ being commonly used.
Even the fact that Zhang Kaiyin (张开印) wore Muay Thai shorts when he defeated John Wayne-Parr has been brought up as ‘proof’ that Sanda is a ‘copy of Muay Thai’. Read the rest of the comment section at your own peril.
In particular, this notion continues to persist in China and the CMA community.
This Google Search result says it all. The translation is as follows:
- “Does Chinese Martial Arts still have combative ability? How is it only Sanda and boxing [that can fight] now?”
- “What you see right now isn’t even real CMA at all. Firstly, let’s talk about the problem you mentioned in Sanda, Boxing, etc: actually these combat sports/styles are all the same. Sanda is just boxing plus kicks plus…”
After Xu Xiaodong, former Beijing Sanda champion and later Sanda coach, defeated self-proclaimed Taiji master Lei Lei (雷雷), mainstream Chinese media outlets accused him of "using foreign forces to invade China”.
As an amateur Sanda athlete, Xu Xiaodong trained under Mei Huizhi (梅惠志), a Shuai Jiao coach and early Sanda pioneer often credited as being the “father of Sanda”.
Ironically, recent years have seen some CMA practitioners conveniently (read: shamelessly) do a complete volte-face in light of the Xu Xiaodong-related incidents, bringing up Sanda to ‘defend’ traditional CMA. As one netizen lamented:
“Tsk tsk, back in the day when Sanda was dismissed as not being CMA, that's not what certain people [i.e. traditionalists] said. How is it that now Sanda has become an excuse to cover up some CMA’s lack of combat effectiveness?”
“啧,当年散打被开除传武籍贯某些人可没有这么说。现在散打怎么就变成有些传武不能打的遮羞布了?”
The Hong Kong Sanda team's head coach calls Sanda a compilation of boxing, Taekwondo, and Judo (in Mandarin).
Shaolin Kung Fu Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit labels Sanda as "actually Kick-Boxing" (as opposed to CMA), calling it "a joke" and merely "an exchange of blows [where] the one who can take much punishment will win."
Finally, as a piece of anecdotal evidence, I personally know Chinese people, including a martial artist (a CMA practitioner in fact), who believed Sanda (and even Shuai Jiao believe it or not) was "Western".
Yeah, but Sanda IS just kickboxing, right?
“What else do we call kicking and striking?”
Dismissing Sanda as ‘merely kickboxing’ and therefore not CMA is both ignorant and counterproductive. As New York Sanda Coach David Ross expounded:
"The basic offensive movements of Chinese martial arts are Ti [踢] and Da [打]; kicks, sweeps, knees, punches, palms, elbows and forearms. Too many minds have been clouded with myths and legends, and with superstition. These basics are in fact “kickboxing.” What else do we call kicking and striking? Attempting to say Chinese Martial Arts is not “just kickboxing” and using the term in the pejorative sense has blinded the basic student to the reality of combat and is one of the reasons why Chinese martial arts is no longer functional for so many."
What most CMA practitioners, including so-called ‘masters’, don't even realize is that almost every single technique in Sanda can be found in various CMA styles. Let’s have a look at some examples.
Punches
Jabs and crosses can be found in both Lian Bu Quan (连步拳) and Gong Li Quan (功力拳) (1:09:41, 1:10:02), as well as Eagle Claw (鹰爪派) (0:15, 0:27, 0:30).
Furthermore, throat punches, eye pokes, and countless other straight strikes to the head/neck can easily be adapted into jabs and crosses.
Many CMA techniques can be adapted for Sanda via the slightest of adjustments.
Hooks (including check hooks), overhands, uppercuts, spinning back fists, and superman punches are the bread and butter of Cai Li Fo (Choy Li Fut) (蔡李佛).
As permitted by Sanda rules, various parts of the fist are used as the striking surface. This is different from boxing, where only the knuckles may be used.
Tighter, close-range hooks can be found in Zhou Jia (Jow Ga) (周家) and Eagle Claw.
Tan Tui's (弹腿) hooks can also be used as casting punches.
The uppercut is also found in both Lian Bu Quan and Gong Li Quan (1:09:15, 1:10:36).
The last example above involves using the free hand to control the opponent's head. Further examples of dirty boxing can be found in Tan Tui, Yang Style Taiji (杨式太极), and Xingyi (形意).
Hong Jia (Hung Gar) (洪家) has shovel hooks to the ribs, while body hooks with a more horizontal trajectory can be easily adapted from Pi Gua's (劈掛) open hand strikes.
Kicks
Most professional Sanda competitions allow knee strikes.
Grappling
Amateur Sanda bouts are fought on a raised platform known as a Lei Tai, continuing a tradition that dates back to at least the Song Dynasty.
Defense
Covering up with the forearms is found in Da Tong Bei Quan (大通背拳) and Da Hong Quan (大洪拳), which also uses shoulder rolling. Meanwhile, the cross arm guard is found in Xiao Hong Quan (小洪拳).
Head movement isn't a concept alien to CMA either: this Hung Gar technique involves slipping a jab/cross and simultaneously counter-punching with a straight to the body. Xiao Hong Quan also has a similar technique. Bobbing and weaving is found in Da Hong Quan, while many northern styles use level changes that are usually used to set up takedowns but can obviously also be used to evade punches. Furthermore, pulling/swaying/fading is a hallmark of drunken styles.
Finally, Sanda’s signature kick catch throws are found in Northern Praying Mantis and Hung Gar.
Sanda’s kick catch throws (接腿摔) epitomize the style’s integration of striking and stand-up grappling.
Conclusion
I won't even bother with examples for straight punches to the body, parrying, checking, front kicks, sidekicks, oblique kicks, axe kicks, or foot sweeps.
In fact, the only Sanda technique I can think of that cannot be found in CMA is covering/shelling up using the gloves.
Found in countless CMA styles, the side kick (侧踹腿) is one of Sanda’s most characteristic techniques.
Sanda legend Liu Hailong (柳海龙) was known as ‘Axe Kick Liu’ (柳腿劈挂).
Of course, there is still room for improving Sanda’s ability to represent CMA, e.g. by allowing elbows and adopting open-fingered gloves, in addition to a cosmetic repackaging.
However, given that the discussion of educating CMA practitioners about ‘aliveness’ and scientific training methods has already been repeated countless times, perhaps more work also needs to be done to convince them that virtually all of the techniques already used in Sanda are in fact CMA techniques.
So… Sanda is 100% Chinese then?
It is Sanda’s adoption of modern, scientific training methods that sets it apart from Traditional CMA.
Not quite. Sanda has also been significantly influenced by foreign martial arts: its modern training and instructional methods; competition format that allows for efficient pressure-testing; adoption of modern sports science and medicine; and use of protective gear and modern training equipment were all influenced by foreign sources such as Boxing and Muay Thai.
Despite his prior experience as a military combatives instructor and initial successes as a provincial Sanda coach, current Chinese National Team head coach Zhang Genxue still undertook five years of full-time study at the Xi’an Physical Education University in order to continue improving his knowledge and skills as a coach.
Stylistically, such influences also led to the convergent evolution of fighting methods, with the end result being something that more or less resembles a modern kickboxing-derivative. It is no surprise then that the early developers of Sanda partially referenced martial arts such as Boxing and Muay Thai for guidance in selecting certain techniques and directing the development of some of their own fighting methods and tactics.
However, coming from numerous CMA backgrounds themselves, these developers also knew that the vast majority of the techniques they ended up adopting already existed in various CMA styles (as illustrated previously), hence why they even utilized traditional CMA terminology in naming many of these techniques in their training manuals for a period of time.
For example, straights, hooks, and uppercuts were respectively named Chōngquán (冲拳), Guànquán (贯拳), and Chāoquán (抄拳) in line with Long Fist (长拳) terminology; meanwhile, in a 1989 training tape, head coach of the Liaoning Provincial Armed Police Corps and Ministry of Public Security (Armed Police headquarters) Sanda teams, Tong Qinghui (佟庆辉), explained how the round kick is known as Diǎn (点) in Chuojiao, but is also known by a variety of other names in other CMA styles; even Hǔwěitǔi (虎尾腿), i.e. 'Tiger Tail Kick', made its way into some manuals for naming the spinning back kick.
China's first Sanda superstar and current professor and head coach at Beijing Sports University, Chen Chao (陈超), continued to use traditional CMA terminology when commentating for the World of Sanda (散打天下) professional tournament.
Additionally, it is known that some teams directly took their kickboxing techniques from indigenous CMA disciplines, rather than foreign martial arts such as Boxing or Muay Thai.
For example, the Guangdong Sanda Team's style was based on Choy Li Fut: a style that contains many kickboxing techniques.
The Guangdong Sanda Team was founded by Choy Li Fut practitioner Zeng Qinghuang (曾庆煌).
Furthermore, even the very concept of referencing other martial arts is not a new concept in CMA: Boxing and Judo were already being introduced to the CMA community during the Republican era; and even before China was a unified nation-state, the Hans, Manchus, Mongols, and other ethnicities often exchanged martial arts ideas with each other.
Thus, to say Sanda is not CMA due to the guidance provided by foreign martial arts would be the equivalent of saying Muay Thai is not Thai and Savate is not French because they were both influenced by English boxing, or Sambo is not Russian and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not Brazilian because they were both influenced by Japanese Judo.
As a friend of mine lamented: “Sanda is truly a mere tool/pawn [of Traditional CMA]. When they have a use for it, they drag it back. At all other times, they kick it straight out.” (“散打真的是[传武的]工具人:用的时候被拉回来,不用的时候他们一脚踢出去。”)
Ultimately, the biggest obstacle preventing Sanda from solving CMA's problems is CMA practitioners themselves: if even we don't own it as CMA, why should anyone else?
- Mason Zhong of the Chinese Martial Arts Reformation Society on behalf of Dynasty MMA
Comments
Steve said:
I think the only comparison that makes sense is music. If you have a heavy metal player playing blues, is it still blues?
I really want to say that if it looks like MMA, it’s MMA. If TCMA people are doing kickboxing in the ring, then it’s kickboxing, not TCMA.
The only way this doesn’t make sense is if you look at music. A classical pianist, who only plays classical, walks to his piano and improvises a jazz piece. Is he still playing classical music?
No. He’s playing jazz. Maybe with some classical foundation, but it’s jazz.
Jonas Nielsen said:
Sanda was used to be called sanshou. Forms are the techniques kept in the book we use to remember what the system was built upon.
Forms are books of memories used for muscle memory and training the core.. often leg strength and flexibility as well as combinations and speed . No more no less.
Forms are not sparring. Here Sanshou is what is used. Now at days it is called Sanda.
In the late 90s we were taught forms and also taught to specialize in one or two forms. Then we were taught….
Sanda for sparring and… Shuai Jiao both for… throwing and also ground fighting. It was allowed to play around with techniques from the forms but kicking(in all ways), punching(in all ways), throwings(from shuai jiao) was the thing. The armbar on the ground were taught as well but hard to pull off with the big gloves on so not seen much in real sparring.
Armbars and locks as well as hits to the throat could not be easily done with gloves on. The open gloves were better for training that.
Sanda(SanShou) and WuShu(including Shuai Jiao) all belongs together as an important part of Chinese Martial Art history. And it was actually always practiced in the period from 1950s to present time, but that is another and much more complicated part of Chinese history.
Let us just say that courtyards and moonlighting became a regular thing so stuff were not lost ;O)
Shuai Jiao is a very beautiful part of Chinese Martial arts ( there is evidence of more than 6000 years of tradition here ) :O)
rob said:
Sorry, but TCMA kicks and punches look nothing like Sanda ones. These are the most common Tantui kicks and none of them are found in Sanda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmNzAdIz4VM
Johnny said:
Just because some of the punches and kicks look similar does not mean Sanda is a continuation of TCMA, by that logic all martial arts are the same. Now, it’s nonsense that it came from Muay Thai, because there are no evidence the PRC even had martial arts exchange with Thailand in the 1970s (early KF fighters in Thailand are from HK). However, we simply don’t learn things like jab hook low roundhouse combinations or front roundhouse, cross, low roundhouse again from Sanda in TCMA. Typical TCMA strikes push your structure forward, trap their wrists and then strike. Kicks generally take consideration of shoes and are mostly straight and low, with snap kicks and ‘oblique kicks’ being the most common, both of which are rarely ever used in Sanda.
Bob said:
Being CMA does not mean it is a direct offspring of TRADITIONAL CMA. TCMA has very different footwork and even the hooks and round kicks are very different and more importantly, the combinations are completely different. TCMA has lots of kicks and punches thrown at the same time, counter strikes and trappings are also very different. If you want to blur the line and say Sanda looks similar to TCMA, then you might as well say all striking MA is similar, but I’ve done kickboxing and Sanda, as well as Kung Fu, and the former two are much more similar than the later.
Eric Olson said:
Sanda should be to CMA what Sport BJJ is to BJJ and Judo is to Jiujitsu—-a combat sport that complements what you are doing with more traditional training. Sport gives you the element of competition without seriously getting injured. CMA has techniques that would never be allowed in competition but are useful for self-defense. However, if you don’t train under competitive pressure, you probably aren’t going to be able to pull them off. So call it Sanda, Sanshou or Chinese Kickboxing, CMA needs competition to stop from going off into the land of woo.
M said:
They didn’t just decide to modernize CMA. Sanda was needed because Thai fighters owned everyone’s life back in the 70s (they still kinda do). So China hired Thai trainers to teach in China, and the bastardized version of Sanda was created with the label of CMA. The reason it looks like Muay Thai is because it is the son of Muay Thai. Don’t drink the Kool Aid.
Kevin said:
One of the main issues of TCMA is the misinterpretation of the training process and how it translates to actual fighting. And the biggest culprit of such misinterpretation is no other than the practitioners or teachers themselves. I don’t fully fault them for it because the depth of knowledge in TCMA required a longer time to cultivate it’s true potential compared to other arts and over the past century, many incidents and modernization have caused the training process to wither down to emphasizing on conditioning and forms only.
The biggest mistake is to assume that the combat tactics and techniques should look like the forms but in fact, the translation to combat application should be adapted based on the fighting environment which is how all TCMA has been evolving throughout history – the sole purpose of being practical for combat.
When a Tai Chi practitioner fights in Sanda or MMA, the practitioner fights with the essence of tai chi adapted into the ring environment. This means it will not look like taichi forms but the concept of creating a void upon contact or sinking principles will still apply. Just like how Wong Fei Hung needs to modify Hung Kuen to long-range fighting when he drills the military, it is solely based on practical reasons but the essence of hung kuen is not compromised even it looked different from its predecessor.
The issue is that the internal aspect of TCMA is what dictates the style’s uniqueness and its identity. Only a trained person can identify it since it is non-visible externally. Which is why majority of spectators would only harp on how it looks like and can’t tell the difference when a Ba Ji practitioner KO its opponent in a Muay Tai ring using an elbow.
No doubt Sanda and Wushu Taulu is a simplified way of spreading Chinese art since it is easier to quantify external qualities, it allows practitioners to take the faster route to athletic glory and it is simpler for business. So for those who condemn Sanda not being Chinese art, I always felt that they missed the point of understanding the true depth of TCMA, one of them is adapting to the environment externally without compromising the core combat principle. Whatever happens to “be like water”.
The principles of and TCMA can be trained to fight in the ring by adapting to it’s limitations unless you are saying that the art so happens is designed in such a way that all external techniques are forbidden in the ring. I am wishing for that day where Sanda can just adopt MMA type of rules reducing its limitations in grappling and ground. Of course when it happens, to the laymen, it is just MMA and no longer Sanda because they look the same. So the business side of things might get affected.
Adam said:
This was an interesting article to read I have done boxing and muay Thai and kungfu. The bit I found most interesting was the mention of covering in kungfu. When I was attacked by two thugs once I was doing both kungfu and mixed martial arts and although kungfu had gotten me out of trouble on many previous occasions I was thankful that I had been leaning muay Thai because all the covering I’d learned in between strikes was what ultimate ly saved my face was getting smashed right in. Oh and it helped me then smash their face in afterwards. It didn’t go well for either of them.
Rapahel Chen said:
The story of Japanese Karate and kickboxing is just the path that the Chinese martial arts is now trekking on. Back to then, when most of Karate were just like today’s traditional martial arts, only practicing the forms and in query of artistic performance, in lack of the ability to combat.
However, soon the conflict with Muay Thai had motivated some of the styles of Karate to reform, such as Kyokushin Kaikan, to take back the real-fight ability that they once had. Therefore, the Karate fighters started to do more sparring drills, learning experiences from Muay Thai and Boxing, even absorbing some advantages from them as well. It’s also how the Japanese kickboxing was formed.
During this stage, lots of conservatists were still resisting this reformation and rediculed the reformers as breaking the tradition, but it didn’t obstruct those real-fight advocates from keep improving. Finally, the Kyokushin Karate as well as kickboxing successfully stood on the ring, beat muay thai and inspired more styles and schools to follow the reformation. Until today, the story of Karate and kickboxing became a symbol of how traditional martial arts are able to catch up with modern fighting and even distinguish themselves.
Similarly, the Chinese martial arts are on the path, but fianlly it will end up with the successful transformation just like the Japanese martial arts. Both have experienced series of impediment during the path but gradually prove themselves by insisting in the real-fight value and practice.
John Kang said:
Thank you for the informative article. My memory is probably failing me, but what I recall about Sanshou/Sanda’s growth in the US in the 1990s was NOT that it was non-Chinese martial techniques; but that the point system favored throws (especially off the leitai) and takedowns over punches and kicks.
It was definitely fun to watch Cung Le and Jason Yee fight… and later, Max and Tiffany Chen… the latter two, I could definitely see Taiji when they fought with sanda rules.
Mason Zhong said:
In hindsight, the omission of certain content (that I’ve left for future articles) has perhaps distorted my message, which I would articulate as: yes, sanda has been partially influenced by foreign disciplines such as boxing and Muay Thai, but that’s no reason for the CMA community to reject it as an acceptable evolution of CMA because:
1. Virtually every technique can still be found in CMA.
2. There are still plenty of distinctly Chinese influences, e.g. side kick, kick catches, sweeps, Shuai Jiao, lei tai, etc.
3. Most people have a blatant misconception of what CMA fighting should look like, due to misinterpretation of techniques, influence of kung fu films and wushu forms etc.
4. Martial arts (should) evolve and adapt, and CMA is no exception.
5. Martial arts have always influenced each other, and again CMA is no exception (e.g. even Shaolin arts partially had Indian origins)
6. The evolution of TCMA into sanda predates the 1979 sports convention.
Hopefully this message will come out more clearly when my other articles get published.
Admittedly my reference to Zhang Weili’s taiji and shuai jiao practice might not have been the most elegant way of attempting to start the article with a tone that was slightly more… diplomatic towards traditionalists/purists before tearing them apart in the rest of the article (which again would have been more effective had I not left out certain content for future articles).
That being said, however, I do think her shuai jiao practice is legit, even if it’s only a minor part of her game, as it’s been shown plenty of times now, UFC photo op or not.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7UJWmLpTlx/?igshid=1vgq9lo24w6cs
https://youtu.be/KqqoUweS9dE
https://youtu.be/VWd7BSVvq7c
https://youtu.be/4IJoR9twnH8?t=1m56s
https://youtu.be/4e74f1aKwVU?t=2m14s
This includes jacketless shuai jiao practice (yes that’s a thing)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B39X5hzhW0D/?igshid=1q7g46vxvp1gn
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvX8iFfgu5E/?igshid=1myi64byuzwk6
Furthermore Beijing’s Shuai Jiao community and in particular Li Baoru’s lineage is known to be closely connected with the MMA community in Beijing. Zhang’s Shuai Jiao teacher Wang Yanlong is Yao Honggang’s (inaugural Legend FC Bantamweight Champion and former China Top Team member) senior. Li and Yao have also appeared on Xu Xiaodong’s show (where they both join Xu in criticising traditionalists): https://youtu.be/SXoQPSZTmIw
Liu Wenbo has also trained with Yao Honggang: https://m.iqiyi.com/w_19rtdxmnap.html
Zhang’s teammate/coach Wu Haotian (who also spent time at China Top Team) also comes from a Shuai Jiao background.
There are also screenshots of wechat conversations that further suggest Zhang trains with Wang Yanlong on an ongoing basis. The author of the post even straight up says they only train together once a week: https://www.zhihu.com/question/377705235/answer/1064421049
More photos of Zhang with Wang:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu1fW-LAHAW/?igshid=17tzlq1ko2e2w
https://m.facebook.com/CMARSofficial/photos/a.208831003861118/208822980528587/?type=3&source=54&ref=bookmarks
http://imgur.com/a/HzqmgM2
Of course, the same cannot be said for her taiji practice.
Matt said:
My understanding is that Sanda is a simplified free-fight form of Kung Fu.
When the communists took over, they killed off most of the real traditional Chinese martial artists. They were afraid of kung fu going to the masses, as it has been the traditional downfall of many dynasties.
Instead, they created Wushu—a dumbed down version of kung fu with lots of forms, and no usefulness.
For the military, they created Sanda—a dumbed down full-contact version of a mish mash of beginner kung fu moves…(note: beginner does not mean ineffective.)
Most of the good martial artists escaped China for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Macau…later moving to Canada, USA, and Europe.
Full contact fighting is nothing new in traditional kung fu. Whether friendly sparring or dojo crushing, it’s been going on for as long as kung fu exists.
Lastly, there’s only so many ways the body can move effectively. At higher levels, kung fu and other martial arts (boxing, sambo, systema, kali, wresting) start looking extremely similar.
-ps. The “savate oblique kick” to the knees is originally Chinese. It’s in praying mantis and Tai chi…probably in most of the long fist systems.
Alex Xian Zhao said:
The last two photo’s contain my Sigong, my father and my kungfu uncles. My father, shifu Zhao Qiurong, went to Holland to prove Chinese Kungfu’s effectiveness to the world in the country of Kickboxing. I’m open to talk more about this if you want.
PL said:
I think you can both acknowledge that
1. The techniques found in modern Sanda are also found in the array/diaspora of CMA
2. Overwhelmingly, most current practice of modern Sanda is based off of modern international kickboxing and wrestling methodology vs training in those individual styles.
I think we should celebrate the success of modern Sanda in China as well as foreigners like Cung who were able to both influence (through amateur wrestling, TKD, cross training) and be influenced by the Chinese scene.
Here in the US, the people that stunted Sanda are moreso the ones that wanted to care about derivation/association of it through forms and ‘tradition’. As a result, there are like…3 notable Sanda schools in the whole country.
I don’t know if ‘most’ people outside the CCP’s cultural influence think Sanda is ‘stolen’/foreign, or if it’s a sore subject.
Weili and lots of Chinese talent train in Thailand or in the US for MMA or MT. In terms of the basic high percentage techniques used in a fight, not a lot of Sanda-specific stuff is going to be shown and the Sanda way of jabbing, basic kicks, etc is probably not going to be significantly more or as successful as arts that have a higher level of competition. It’s fine.
She’s been in photo ops training Tai Chi or Shuai Jiao but do we seriously think that’s a big component of her game?
If a coach’s Sanda program is based off a bunch of foreign arts and they’re successful, it neither diminishes the origins of historical Sanda in much of the mainland nor the origins of the coach’s program.