San Shou, Kung Fu, Wushu, and Guoshu
Defining the Fighting Arts of China

[散手 San Shou]: Free Hand

Chinese Kickboxing.+ Throws

San Shou is a modern Chinese Fight Sport that was made popular by mixed martial arts and san shou champion Cung Le. The sport is essentially mixed martial arts minus the ground fighting component.

Although both MMA (mixed martial arts) and San Shou were originally labels to identify combat sports, both have eventually become systemized fighting arts in and of themselves.

San Shou has been proven to be an effective grounds for developing self-defense martial arts skills for those who consider ground fighting to be a liability in the streets. The concept is to tenderize, drop the opponent, and stay on your feet to escape or prepare for incoming threats.

San Shou was originally known as Sanda, which means free fighting.

Sanda simply meant to fight without rules and was not indicative of a fighting style. In old China, injury and death waiver agreements were often signed before fighting on elevated platforms known as a Lei Tai. The idea is to stand your ground and fight. The match is won if you kill, maim, knockout, or drive your opponent off the platform.

Naturally, Sanda soon became illegal.

Sportive Sanda was re-introduced with protective gear, point systems, and rules. The concept was to test skill sets versus fully combative opponents while minimizing risk of death or maiming. The term San Shou replaced the term Sanda to minimize correlation with old violence and the old Nationalist era.

Although the protective equipment and safety rules protected the fighters, it also shifted the focus of San Shou.

First, modern use of boxing gloves inhibited the ability to cling on to the opponent using your hands and fingers. These tactics are a staple of Chinese Fighting Arts and are referred to as "trapping".

Second, the rules awarded more points for throws and kicks to the head and body rather than points awarded for punches. This created a shift in tactic as it became more realistic to win the round than it is to attempt to knock out a padded up opponent.

This set of rules was contrary to the tactical approach of traditional Chinese Fighting Arts that predominately throw low leg kicks while setting up the knockdowns with trapping and striking.

San Shou fighting eventually became predominant in the tactics that cater to the rules. Most Chinese Fighting Arts abandon traps and close quarter striking for kick-clinch-throw combinations. Other arts that compete and integrate with San Shou include Shuai Jiao, Judo, Wrestling, Tae Kwan Do, and Muay Thai.

Ultimately, San Shou is an excellent method of developing effective fighting skills with limited time in training, despite the shift in focus from protective gear. The gloves simulate the loss of sensation caused by combat stress, which will reinforce your basic effectiveness. The kicking, punching, and throwing techniques are relatively basic making them reliable and street effective.

San Shou is practiced all over the world with varying rules and protective gear requirements. San Shou today is loosely referred to as Chinese Kickboxing and can be considered a Mixed Martial Arts competition where ground fighting is omitted.

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[ 功夫 Kung Fu / Gong Fu ] : skill/labor/effort/

Skill achieved through diligent practice.

The term "Kung Fu", in Chinese culture, refers to any skill including calligraphy, cooking, and music. It is believed that skill reflects a person's work ethic. Hence, "good kung fu!" is often praised after a demonstration of an excellent technique.

During the late 70s, the U.S. mainstream experienced an influx of Chinese Martial Arts cinema. The genre, now known as "Kung Fu movies", is often composed of dramatic plots and over stylized versions of Chinese Martial Arts. The "Hong Kong Hollywood" version was the primary representation of the art thus misleading most westerners to equate "Hollywood" with reality.

The genre was labeled "Kung Fu" due to the common theme of a victim training relentlessly to develop enough skill to seek justice. Martial Arts training epitomized what it meant to "work hard and achieve skill". Thus, "Kung Fu" became synonymous with Chinese Martial Arts.

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[ 武術 Wushu ]: Martial Art

"Wushu" is the Chinese term for "Martial Arts". However, the term is predominantly used in the west by "Contemporary Wushu" players.

Contemporary Wushu is a Chinese martial-inspired sport created by the Chinese Government.

In 1951, Mao Zedong, in a patriotic attempt to stabilize China, mandated state control over the practice of Martial Arts. All Martial Arts schools including Buddhist and Taoist temples were considered “military organizations”, labeled feudalistic, and ordered closed. The State Physical Culture and Sports Commission was then created in 1952 with new regulations altering the practice of Martial Arts in order to benefit the government. The practice of technical application and sparring were made illegal. Sports disciplines, including this new form of martial arts, were now a mandatory part of China’s education system to inspire the collective work spirit necessary to unify the nation. Thus began the embryonic stage of what is now known as "Contemporary Wushu".

1966 Red Guard destroying the 4 Olds: Traditional Chinese culture, customs, habits, and ideas.

Ultimately, the term Wushu, is now mistakenly associated with the Martial-inspired art of Contemporary Wushu. The term is further complicated by the advancement of acrobatics, ultimately dividing Contemporary Wushu into "Traditional Contemporary Wushu" and "Compulsory Wushu". What most people in the West refer to as Traditional Wushu is actually Contemporary Wushu. Contemporary Wushu is the Martial-inspired Art that has displaced the conceptual premises of Martial Arts with an emphasis on visual display minus the acrobatics found in Compulsory/Modern Wushu.

In most of the world both Traditional (contemproary) Wushu and Compulsory (modern) Wushu are considered a performance sport, and not a Martial Art.

[ 國術 Guoshu ]: Chinese Martial Arts

Zhong Guo (Central Nation aka China) Wushu (Martial Arts)

In 1928, Martial Artists of various systems and the Nationalist Government, under Chiang Kai-Shek, established the Nanjing Centeral Guoshu Institute in an attempt to preserve and promote traditional Chinese Martial Ats and Culture.

The institute adopted the term "Zhongguo Wushu" to distinguish Chinese Martial Arts from those originating in other countries. The term was shortened to "Guoshu", and is now used to describe traditional Chinese Martial Arts or "traditional Kung Fu".

The term is used in Taiwan but is avoided in Mainland China as the term has undertones associated with the Guomintang, or KMT; the Chinese Nationalist Party that fled Mainland China when the Communist took power. Members of the KMT fled to the U.S.A., Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, U.K. Russia, Philippines, and Korea. Hence, authentic Chinese Fighting Arts are predominantly found OUTSIDE of China.

Most of the KMT was composed of martial artist who set out to preserve and restore Traditional Chinese culture, customs, habits and ideas.

Why do many Chinese Styles use the term "Boxing"?

Historians indicate the oldest term used to describe Martial Arts as "Wu Yi", or Martial Skills.

During the Spring and Autumn period of China, empty hand fighting systems were identified by the suffix of "Fist" (拳 Quan, pronounced chuen). The context referred to fighting without the use of weapons, which is an element of overall Martial Skills.

Examples of this distingushing label include Eagle Claw Fist, Praying Mantis Fist, Dragon Fist, and Tai Chi Fist.

Since boxing is what westerners associated with striking, the term became loosely translated as such.

A modern, more accurate translation would be "Fighting Art", which includes kicking, grappling, throwing, and joint manipulation.

Immortal Fitness Martial Arts is a Fighting Arts academy rooted in Chinese tradition. We use both traditional and the latest training methods to safely and effectively develop your skills in Sanda/San Shou, Shuai-chiao, Mantis Boxing, and Tai Chi.

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