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"Definitions of The Five Families "

  Tsoi Ga;  is the art of striking. This includes punches, chops, pokes, elbows, forearms, head bunts and all forms of   kicking

 Li Ga;  is the balance family. They dealt with leverage, throwing and takedowns. To do these types of things you have to control the balance of your opponent. These members of the family were important to fighting, especially, when dealing with a larger and stronger opponent. This is also most important in close-in fighting.

 Hoi Ga;  is the study and application of pressure points, pass and crippling points. By learning the vital points of the body and certain pressure points, one can direct the striking and balance moves of the Tsoi and Li families to more vulnerable areas where it does not take a lot of force to incapacitate or kill an opponent.

Fut Ga;  is the psychology of fighting. The attitudes, internal power, self-confidence, proper breathing and strategy for sudden attack. The proper use of mind and body coordination. Mind over body.

 Hung Ga;  deals with the physical conditioning of the body in order for it to perform up to its maximum potential. It includes dynamic tension exercises along with exercise and show forms. The use of geometry, trigonometry and physics help deliver maximum power and also compose part of this system.

     When we combine all these families together, we have the art of Kung Fu San Soo. This we believe, makes it one of the most powerful arts in existence today.  To have an understanding of Kung Fu San Soo it must first be stated it is not a sport. It is a combat art tested throughout history for the express purpose of defending one's life by whatever means necessary. The art is loosely defined as the complete use of a man's hands in combat. 

Sanshou

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sanshou (Chinese; pinyin: sǎnshǒu; literally "free hand") or Sanda (Chinese; pinyin: sǎndǎ; literally "free fighting") or an "unsanctioned fight" is a Chinese hand-to-hand self-defense system and combat.  Sanshou is a martial art which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the intense study and practices of traditional Kung Fu and modern combat fighting techniques; it combines full-contact kickboxing, which include punches and kicks, wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps, kick catches, and in some competitions, even elbow and knee strikes.

Not seen as a style itself, rather it is considered as just one of the two components of Chinese martial arts training and is often taught alongside with taolu (forms) training. However, as part of the development of sport wushu by the Chinese government, a standard curriculum for sanshou was developed. It is to this standard curriculum that the term "Sanshou" is usually applied.

This curriculum was developed with reference to traditional Chinese martial arts. This general Sanshou curriculum varies in its different forms, as the Chinese government developed a version for civilians for self-defense and as a sport.

Curriculum

The lei tai of the 2004 China National Sanda Championships

The generalized modern curriculum practiced in modern wushu schools is composed of different traditional martial arts fighting styles from China , but mainly based on scientific efficiency. Sanshou is composed of Chinese martial arts applications including most aspects of combat including striking and grappling, however when Sanshou was developed as a sport, restrictions were made for safety reasons as well as to promote it as a non-violent sport. Examples of such restrictions included no blows delivered to the back of the head, spine or groin and the discontinuation of the combat when any of the fighters fall to the ground. However many schools, whether traditional or modern, practice it as an all round martial arts system with no restrictions, only adapting their training in relation to competition rules prior to the event. Sanshou tournaments are one of the two disciplines recognized by the International Wushu Federation.^[2]

Sanshou's competitive history involved barehanded or lei tai fights in which no rules existed. However, even sanshou as a competitive event developed in the military as these bouts were commonly held between the soldiers to test and practice barehanded martial skills, ability and techniques. Rules were developed and the use of protective gloves etc. was adopted. It was originally used by the Kuomintang at the first modern military academy in Whampoa in the 1920s.^[3] Later it was also adopted as a method by the People's Liberation Army of China .

One can see Sanshou as a synthesis of traditional Chinese fighting techniques into a more amorphous system and is commonly taught alongside traditional Chinese styles which Sanshou techniques, theory and training methods are derived from. The emphasis of Sanshou is on realistic fighting ability.^[4]

Unarmed Self-Defense

Pingmin Sanda (Mandarin Chinese, Civilian Free Fighting - Street Defense-Oriented): A freer form of Chinese martial arts and a pure street fighting system with no rules and/or formal competitions that is used to sharpen one’s skills on the street. It is similar to Muay Thai (punching, kicking, elbow strikes, and knee strikes) and it involves grappling (joint-manipulations/joint locking, grabs, leg catches, sweeps, takedowns, throws, wrestling, and chokes.) Also it uses head butts, stomping, blocking, parrying, leg kicks, palm strikes, finger jabs, weapon defenses with vicious clawing, eye-gouging, & etc. On the one hand, this comprises a watered-down version of the Jùnshì Sanda techniques since it was developed as a system to give the average civilian effective techniques to defend themselves. There were many changes to the curriculum. For example, a civilian typically has no need for sentry removal techniques. On the other hand, it contains the fighting techniques of all the Chinese martial arts from Wing Chun to all the other hundreds of Chinese styles. Pingmin Sanda contains an amazing amount of different flavors of combat material present.

Sport

Yùndòng Sanda (Mandarin Chinese, Sport Free Fighting): A modern fighting method, sport, and applicable component of Wushu / Kung Fu influenced by traditional Chinese Boxing, of which takedowns & throws are legal in competition, as well as all other sorts of striking (use of arms & legs). Chinese wrestling methods called Shuai Jiao and other Chinese grappling techniques such as Chin Na. It has all the combat aspects of wushu. Yùndòng Sanda appears much like Kickboxing or Muay Thai, but includes many more grappling techniques. Yùndòng Sanda fighting competitions are often held alongside taolu or form competitions. Yùndòng Sanda represents the modern development of Lei Tai contests, but with rules in place to reduce the chance of serious injury. Many Chinese martial art schools teach or work within the rule sets of Yùndòng Sanda, working to incorporate the movements, characteristics, and theory of their style. Chinese martial artists also compete in non-Chinese or mixed combat sports, including Boxing, Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts. Yùndòng Sanda is practiced in tournaments and is normally held alongside taolu events in wushu competition. For safety reasons, some techniques from the self-defense form such as elbow strikes, chokes, and joint locks, are not allowed during tournaments. Competitors can win by knockout or points which are earned by landing strikes to the body or head, throwing an opponent, or when competition is held on a raised lei tai platform, pushing them off the platform. Fighters are only allowed to clinch for a 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. In the U.S. , competitions are held either in boxing rings or on the raised lei tai platform. Amateur fighters wear protective gear. "Amateur Sanda" allows kicks, punches, knees, and throws. A competition held in China , called the "King of Sanda", is held in a ring similar to a boxing ring in design but larger in dimension. As professionals, they wear no protective gear except for gloves, cup, and mouthpiece, and are allowed to use knee strikes (including to the head) as well as kicking, punching and throwing. Some Sanda fighters have participated in fighting tournaments such as K-1 and Shoot Boxing. They have had some degree of success, especially in Shoot boxing competitions, which is more similar to Yùndòng Sanda. Due to the rules of Kickboxing competition, Sanda fighters are subjected to more limitations than usual. Also notable competitors in China 's mainstream Mixed Martial Arts competition, Art of War Fighting Championship are dominantly of wushu background. Yùndòng Sanda has been featured in many style-versus-style competitions. Muay Thai is frequently pitted against Yùndòng Sanda as is Karate, Kickboxing, & Tae Kwon Do. Although it is less common, some Sanda practitioners have also fought in the publicly viewed American Mixed Martial Arts competitions.

Military Use

Jùnshì Sanda (Mandarin Chinese, Military Free Fighting): A system of unarmed combat that was designed by Chinese Elite Forces based upon their intense study of traditional martial arts such as Kung Fu, Shuai Jiao, Chin Na and modern hand-to-hand fighting and combat philosophy to develop a realistic system of unarmed fighting for the Chinese military. Jùnshì Sanda employs all parts of the body as anatomical weapons to attack and counter with, by using what the Chinese consider to be the four basic martial arts techniques: Da (Upper-Body Striking); Using fists, open hands, fingers, elbows, shoulders, forearms and the head. Ti (Lower-Body Striking); including kicks, knees and stomping. Shuai (Throws), using wrestling and Judo-like takedowns and sweeps. & Na (Seizing), which includes joint locks, strangulation and other submissions.