Sanshou
Sanshou "free hand" or Sanda "free fighting” is a Chinese hand-to-hand self-defense system and combat sport. 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 cirriculum that the term "Sanshou" is usually applied.This curriculum was developed by experimenting with the Chinese military experiences in close range and hand to hand combat 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.
As an unarmed self-defense, close combat system, Sanshou includes ti (kicks), da (punches), shuai (Shuai Jiao), and na (Chin Na). Sanshou as a sport has a very great emphasis on throws. One of its most distinguished techniques is the "kick catch". This is when one person kicks and the person performing the throw catches the kick and then trips the person kicking when he's on one leg.
As a sport, sanshou 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.
Some well-known Chinese Sanshou fighters include Yuan Yubao, Bao Li Gao, and Liu Hailong who is known as "The Conqueror of Muay Thai" as he has beaten many of the top Muay Thai fighters.