San Shou

We all know about MMA, karate, and some of the other dominant fighting styles in the UFC. American stand up game is usually composed of boxing or muay thai. Some fighters like Lyoto Machida and GSP George “Rush” St. Pierre are more precise with their style of martial arts which is karate… but how many of you have heard of San Shou?

San shou also known as “san da” is a modern form of Chinese Kick Boxing. “San” means to evade while “da” means to hit or attack. Tournament rules vary, but usually for San shou full contact elbows, punches, kicks, and takedowns are allowed.

Below is a sampler compilation video of San Shou at the 2003 World Wushu Championships which hosts both wushu fighting and forms competition. Cung Le, a rising martial arts action star and former Strikforce champion, is one of the poster boys for San Shou in the MMA world. He also went to a few World Wushu Championships as both an athlete and team leader.

I hope after watching the video that at least people can be aware of one more style of striking out there besides boxing and muay thai. This introduction to san shou is not saying that one martial arts style is better, but just that there are techniques to be learned in all these styles.

Anderson Silva Taps out from a flying scissor heel hook.

Maybe Cung Le could also pull this off on him.

Anyways, I have huge respect for Anderson Silva who is a great martial artist, which is why it’s impressive to see footage of him tapping out.

While we are at it. Here is a good clip of Wushu Sanshou pride of San Jose, Ca Cung Le displaying some impressive scissor kicks.