Sanda (), formerly Sanshou (), is the official full-contact kickboxing combat sport of China. In Chinese, "Sanda" originally referred to independent and separate training and combat techniques in contrast to "Taolu" (pre-arranged forms or routines).
Sanda is a fighting system which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the study and practices of traditional Chinese martial arts and modern combat fighting techniques; it combines boxing and full-contact kickboxing, which includes close range and rapid successive punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps, kick catches, and in some competitions, even elbow and knee strikes.
As part of the development of sport wushu by the Chinese government, a standard curriculum for Sanda was developed. It is to this standard curriculum that the term Wushu Sanda is usually applied. Sanda may also involve techniques from any other fighting style depending on the teacher's mode of instruction.
History
Sanda's competitive history is rooted in barehanded elevated arena or Lei Tai fights in which no rules were observed. However, Sanda 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. In 1928, the Central Kuoshu Academy was formed, and they sponsored a full-contact tournament. When the Kuomintang government moved to Taiwan, they began holding a full-contact tournament in the 1950s, calling it lei tai. The sport was also adopted as a method by the People's Liberation Army of China, and subsequently civilian competitions developed. Sanda's curriculum as a competitive sport was developed with reference to traditional Chinese martial arts, but since the goal in sports is "winning the match", techniques were adapted to make the activity scoring-oriented. This general Wushu Sanda curriculum varies in its different forms, as the Chinese government developed a version for civilians for self-defense and as a sport.
Curriculum The generalized modern curriculum practiced in modern wushu schools is composed of different traditional martial arts fighting styles from China and Western Boxing, but mainly based on scientific efficiency. Wushu Sanda is composed of Chinese martial arts applications including most aspects of combat including striking and grappling, however when Wushu Sanda 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, throat, 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. Sanda tournaments are one of the two disciplines recognized by the International Wushu Federation.
Hand Strikes Jab Cross Hook Overhand Uppercut Back-fist
Elbows and Knees Horizontal Vertical Diagonal
Kicks Front Kick Side Kick Sweep Kicks Spinning Back Kick Roundhouse Kick Axe kick
Throws Hip Throw Shoulder Throw Sweep Double leg takedowns Single leg takedowns Body lock takedowns Kick catch throws Trips Scissor takedown
One can see Sanda as a synthesis of traditional Chinese fighting techniques into a more amorphous system. It is commonly taught alongside traditional Chinese styles, from which Wushu Sanda techniques, theory and training methods are derived. The emphasis of Sanda is on a more amorphous fighting ability.
Sport variation Yundong Sanda () or Jinzheng Sanda (): A modern fighting method, sport, and applicable component of Wushu / Kung Fu influenced by traditional Chinese Boxing, in which takedowns & throws are legal in competition.
Sanda appears much like kickboxing but includes many more grappling techniques. Sanda fighting competitions are often held alongside taolu or form competitions. 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 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. 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 (not to the head), 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 "Professional Sanda" allows 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 a degree of success, especially in Shoot boxing competitions, which is more similar to 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 competitions, Art of War Fighting Championship and Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation are dominantly of wushu Sanda background. Sanda coach, Zhao Xuejun played a significant role in helping transition Sanda fighters to MMA. Although it is less common, some Sanda practitioners have also fought in American Mixed Martial Arts competitions such as the UFC and Strikeforce. Sanda has been featured in many style-versus-style competitions. Muay Thai is frequently pitted against Sanda as is Karate, kickboxing, and Taekwondo.
Military variation Junshi Sanda (): A system of unarmed combat that was designed by Chinese Elite Forces based upon their intense study of traditional martial arts such as traditional 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. Junshi 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, and Chin-Na – Seizing – which includes jointlocks, strangulation and other submissions
Competitions The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) promotes wushu and is the governing body for wushu in all its forms worldwide. Sanda and taolu (forms) are the two categories of competitive sport wushu. The IWUF is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
World Wushu Championships
Number Year Host city, Country1 1991 Beijing, China2 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3 1995 Baltimore, United States4 1997 Rome, Italy5 1999 Hung Hom Bay, Hong Kong 6 2001 Yerevan, Armenia 7 2003 Freguesia da Sé, Macau 8 2005 Hanoi, Vietnam9 2007 Beijing, China10 2009 Toronto, Canada11 2011 Ankara, Turkey12 2013 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 13 2015 Jakarta, Indonesia 14 2017 Kazan, Russia 15 2019 Shanghai, China16 2023 Fort Worth, United States17 2025 Brasília, Brazil
Sanda World Cup
No. Year Host city, Country 1 2002 Shanghai, China 2 2004 Guangzhou, China 3 2006 Xi'an, China 4 2008 Harbin, China 5 2010 Chongqing, China 6 2012 Wuyishan, China 7 2014 Jakarta, Indonesia 8 2016 Xi'an, China 9 2018 Hangzhou, China 10 2025 Jiangyin, China Some other competions
World Junior wushu champoinchips
European wushu champoinchips (only for european countries)
Asian wushu Champoinchips (only for asian countries)
Notable practitioners
Sanda
Liu Hailong Kong Hongxing Bao Ligao Zhang Kaiyin Hossein Ojaghi Hamid Reza Gholipour Mohsen Mohammadseifi Erfan Ahangarian Khadijeh Azadpour Elaheh Mansourian Hüseyin Dündar Gülşah Kıyak Mohammed Al-Ashwal Shahrbanoo Mansourian
Kickboxing
Fang Bian Wei Rui Daniel Ghiță Cătălin Zmărăndescu Andrei Stoica Bogdan Stoica Dong Wenfei Jia Aoqi Yang Zhuo Bai Jinbin Zhu Shuai Xu Yan Xie Lei Jin Ying Qiu Jianliang Wang Cong Zheng Junfeng E Meidie Wang Kehan Liu Ce Ouyang Feng Kiew Parunchai
Mixed martial arts
Zhang Weili Cung Le Eduard Folayang Joshua Pacio Tom Woods Kevin Belingon Muslim Salikhov Zabit Magomedsharipov Khasan Magomedsharipov Shamil Musaev Bozigit Ataev Karimula Barkalaev Karl Albrektsson Shamil Abdurakhimov Norma Dumont Song Yadong Pat Barry K.J. Noons Alessio Sakara Mark Eddiva Song Kenan Li Jingliang Yan Xiaonan Su Mudaerji Zhang Mingyang Tofiq Musayev Arkadiusz Wrzosek Timur Khizriev
Lethwei Dave Leduc
Professional boxing Alessandro Riguccini
See also Kickboxing Folk wrestling Kumite Shoot boxing Sambo Muay Thai Lethwei Pradal
References
External links
International Wushu Federation official Website ICMAC - Official ISKA Sanctioned Sanda & Kung Fu Tournaments Worldwide International Kickboxing Federation - IKF - official website - Sanshou Competition Rules