Sanda (Chinese kickboxing)

Sanda (Chinese kickboxing)roughly translates as "actual combat". In the past, Chinese called it "technique fighting" or "striking". The simple concept of Sanda is two people fighting against each other without weapons. Sanda evolves from a combination of traditional Chinese martial arts fist forms with its own distinctive essence and practical style. It is one of the main Chinese Martial Arts, and has a unique and distinctive style. In the year of 1979, it became an event in the "National Technique Competition" in China. The four attacking methods are Kicking, Hitting, Wrestling, and Controlling.

These are some pictures of Sanda at school

Chinese kickboxing combines using skill in pose and technique. Sanda Pose is normally called a "ready" stance, where the fighter is prepared for combat. Training in Sanda can help you keep your body in powerful condition, and develops the quickest of reflexes. Making use of fast movements to attack or defend, the fighter leaves little exposure of their body, very effective in protecting the key parts of your body.

There are two poses in Sanda: Left and Right Pose. For the left pose, one of your feet stands out, the other, behind. The distance between the heel of the forward foot and the tiptoe of backward foot is the same width as the shoulders. The sole of your left foot completely touches the ground, while the heel of your right foot rises up a little. Your knees naturally bend a little. The center of gravity of your body moves to the right, the chest moves up and your stomach folds inwards. The left arm twists inside about 90 degrees, while the center of the left fist moves parallel to the tip of your nose. Your right arm twists inwards about 45 degrees, and your two fists come in front of your neck. The elbows keep naturally vertical or a little inwards, and your chin stays is a little lower. All the time, your eyes focus on the upper body of your adversary.

The skill of Sanda is in combining movements of Step, Fist, Leg, Knee, Wrestling, Defending and Constant attacking. The right and left poses remain the same, vice-versa.

Step: This dictates the direction of body movement (left, right, forward, backward and so on) in a fight. Agility and quick foot movements are not only the key to keep balance, but gives superiority in attacking and defending. There are 9 kinds of steps, which are forward step, backward step, transferring step, Ce kua step, Nei step, Gai step, Cha step, Dian step and Ji step.

Fist skill: There are 5 main kinds of Fist movements, which are Straight fist, Bai fist, Hooking fist, Chopping fist and Whipping fist. The skill of fists is in the interchange between fast speed, flexibility and variety. An effective fist can hit a target at the shortest distance and with the fastest speed. In Sanda, the use of fist movements combined with other skills makes for a very effective fighting style.

Leg movements: They are divided into three parts, which are Stretching movements, Straight and Swaying movements and Sweeping movements. Subtle movements of flexibility are very important in leg and kicking movements. Leg movements are used when the opponent is at more of a distance. Also this kind of attack can conceal targeting key parts of the opponent's body. When these movements are used, remember to be fast, powerful and exact.

Wrestling movements: Wrestling movements are used ultimately, to floor the opponent in Sanda. To do this, the fighter must use fast and subtle technique. When taking down an opponent, you must be quick and decisive, never leaving any chance of defense.

Knee movements: Knee kicks can be used to target the abdomen or chest of your opponent. This movement is very powerful and can easily injure. It is much easier to use when contesting at a close distance.

Defending movements: Defending movements can protect yourself, control and reduce the attacking strength of your enemy. In so doing, you can situate yourself in a more dominant position. The ultimate aim is to be able to effectively combine both defending and attacking. The purpose of exact and skillful defending is to help protect yourself, and create better positioning for the next assault.

Constant attack: requires a succession of coordinated movements at a fast pace. When employing these movements, a fighter will also make use of faking attacks to throw their opponent. With this, an adversary will suffer assaults from all directions and will have difficulty in defending. Every movement must flow from the other.

Sanda is a very practical sport, applicable to real combat. Practicing Sanda will cultivate a distinctive character; one of intelligence, strength, courage, strong-mindedness, flexibility and decisiveness.