San Shou

San Shou (Sanda) is a fighting system which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the integration of various traditional martial methods.

Nam Pai Chuan San Shou is practiced as a free sparring activity, participation is conducted with safety equipment and competitions are conducted under rules allowing certain tactics and techniques designed for the safety of the participants.

Nam Pai Chuan San Shou utilizes striking, kicking, leg kicks, kick catches, sweeps, takedowns and throws.

Nam Pai Chuan students have entered San Shou tournaments in New Zealand and overseas and this has resulted in a number of national titles being held. That said the reason we participate in San Shou training is we believe it to be the most appropriate points scoring fighting system for a Chinese martial art.

Sifu Lai used to say:

"Practicing martial arts without full contact free sparring is like learning to play tennis and never having a match."

Nam Pai Chuan is a very broad Shaolin Kung Fu system involving the use of:

• "Da" (Striking) use of fist, open hand, elbow, fingers, head
• "Ti" (Kicking) kicking, sweeping, kneeing, stomping
• "Shuai" (Throw) wrestling, throwing, takedowns
• "Na" (Seizing) joint locks and chokes, i.e. submissions

San Shou allows much of the above to be practiced against an opponent in a competitive manner. We offer dedicated classes for the development of San Shou expertise. We also hold a bi-annual national Nam Pai Chuan tournament where participants can compete in San Shou.

National Nam Pai Chuan Tournament Video

Before you start worrying about what you might be letting yourself in for, the competitors in the video all have at least 6 years experience in Nam Pai Chuan. Your safety is always our first concern and you develop at your own pace.