San Da (散打, literally free fighting) can be viewed as a synthesis between traditional Chinese fighting techniques and recent advancements in sports training and methodology.

Originally, San Da described barehanded fights in which no rules existed. However, San Da as a modern sport developed in the military, where bouts were commonly held between the soldiers to test and practice barehanded martial skills, abilities, and techniques. Rules were developed and the use of protective equipment was adopted to limit injuries while still allowing for hard contact.

Curriculum

Our San Da class curriculum focuses primarily on these competition and training formats:

Kickboxing

Chinese kickboxing, or San Shou, is a full-contact fighting sport. San Shou teaches striking (punches, slaps, elbows, etc.), kicking, kick catches, sweeps, takedowns and throws derived from the traditional application of Chinese martial arts. Protective gear such as boxing gloves and shin guards are worn to help prevent serious injuries.

Submission Wrestling

Submission wrestling refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking. It is an important part of both ground fighting and standing clinch fighting.

Using techniques from styles such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and freestyle wrestling, we train positional dominance, sweeps, escapes, reversals, and submissions such as arm locks, leg locks, body locks, and chokes.

Mixed Martial Arts

Made popular by such professional venues as the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and Pride Fighting Championships, mixed martial arts (MMA) is a competition format that allows a wide variety of striking, clinching, throwing, wrestling, and submission techniques.

MMA fighters will inevitably encounter all kinds of situations; a stand-up fighting specialist will probably get taken down at some point and a submission artist might need to fight standing-up for a while before he can complete a takedown. Therefore, the MMA format helps develop well-rounded fighting skills that can be useful both inside and outside the ring.