San shou

From OTMWiki

San shou (Chinese: 散手, free hand) or Sanda (散打, free fighting) is a modern Hand to hand combat , self-defense system, combat sport (sanda) . It is composed of various aspects of traditional fighting styles in China. San shou is composed of quan fa (Kung Fu), qin na, boxing, kickboxing and shuai jiao (chinese form of wrestling). Sanda tournaments are one of the two sport wushu disciplines recognized by the International Wushu Federation^[1].

San shou was developed by the People's Liberation Army of China in the 1960s, which was a decision of the Chinese government. Various traditional styles as well as old-style lei tai fighting competitions were studied, and choices made from these were combined with modern insights to create san shou. One can see san shou as a synthesis of traditional Chinese kungfu fighting techniques into a more amorphous system. The emphasis of san shou is on realistic fighting ability, and not the ability to perform elaborate forms.

As an unarmed self-defense system, san shou includes throws, locks, chokes, kicks, punches. As a sport, sanda is practiced in tournaments. Various techniques from the self-defense form of san shou are not allowed during these sanda tournaments, like elbow hits, chokes and arm locks. Furthermore, it is possible to defeat the opponent by moving him outside the ring. Fighters are only allowed to clinch for a short few seconds. If the clinch is not broken by the fighters and if neither succeeds in throwing his opponent within the time limit, the referee will break the clinch.

Most San Shou competitions held in the US are on a raised platform with the fighters with protective gear. They are allowed to punch, kick and throw. This can sometimes be called Amateur San Shou. A competition in China called the "King of Sanda" is held in a ring similar to a boxing ring but larger. They have no protective gear except for gloves and they are allowed to use knee strikes as well as kicking, punching and throwing. Some San Shou fighters have participated in fighting tournaments such as K-1 and Shoot boxing. They usually have not participated in the "King of Sanda" tournaments but have had some degree of success, especially in Shoot boxing competition which is more similar to San Shou. Due to the rules of kickboxing competition, San shou fighters are subjected to more limitations than usual.

San Shou has been featured in many style-versus-style competitions. Muay Thai is frequently pitted against San Shou as is Karate, Kickboxing and Taekwondo. These matches tend to advertise San Shou, hoping for it to gain popularity.^[2]

Some Sanda (San shou) fighters who are well-known in the U.S.A. include the IKF champion Cung Le, Rudi Ott, and Marvin Perry. Some well-known Sanda fighters within China itself include Yuan Yubao and Liu Hailong who was once called "the conqueror of Muay Thai".

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