Wushu, the Chinese Kung Fu

The object of the game is to score more points than your opponents. Wushu is a collective term for various styles of Chinese Kung Fu, and is the most popular martial art in China. It’s now contested internationally and is incredibly popular worldwide. Rather confusingly, Wushu has many different disciplines and competitions. The scoring criteria is different for each one. The sport of Wushu has two distinctly different disciplines. Taolu – which is pre-choreographed forms performed in front of judges and Sanda – which is fighting an opponent, similar to many other combat martial arts. It’s important to understand the rules of both in order to appreciate the diverse sport of Wushu.

Taolu; Taolu consists of pre-choreographed forms, usually performed to music that exhibits a competitor’s skill, power, flexibility and speed in demonstrating a required list of techniques. It can be split into 5 generic areas of competition, which include Barehanded. A contest where the competitor has no weapons at all and all techniques are performed with an empty fist. Some of the most popular bare-handed events include: Zhángquán the Long Fist – this is a style famous for its high-flying acrobatics, flexibility and difficult moves such as spinning punches and kicks.

This is notoriously difficult and even harder to perform correctly without fault. Nanquan the Southern Fist – whilst not as acrobatic as Zhángquán, it’s characterized by powerful movements and lightning-fast hand strikes. Taijiquan– mistakenly called Tai Chi by the western world and is often depicted as a slow-moving martial art done by old people. But when done properly, it looks like this! When movements are sped up, this is actually a deadly form of self-defense. Short Weapons.

A short weapon is designated as any weapon that is typically below head height and some of the most popular short weapon events include: Dao 刀 the broadsword, a curved one-sided sword, that is flexible and can be used to attack an opponent with style. This is the sword equivalent of Zhángquán, the long fist. Nandao, the Southern Broadsword, a straighter one-sided sword that is useful for simultaneous attack and defense, and is the short weapons equivalent of Nanquan, the southern fist. Jian, the straight sword, a two-sided sword, using Zhángquán or Long Fist style movements Taijijian– the tai chi sword, used to accompany Taijiquan routines. Long Weapons. A long weapon refers to any weapon that is typically above head height. Some of the more popular events include.

Gùn– the cudgel, a long staff featuring immensely acrobatic moves, and is the long weapons equivalent to Zhángquán. Nangùn– the southern staff, is shorter than a gun and is the long weapons equivalent of Nanquan. Qiang– the spear, characterized by bullet fast strikes and thrusts with an emphasis on relentless attack. Dual Events or Duìliàn feature teams of competitors choreographing fights against each other. They can be in pairs, or trios or team and the idea is to demonstrate techniques creatively in a simulated fight scene. Some of these routines are incredibly creative and they’re great to watch. Group events or Jiti is contested between teams of people and is usually choreographed forms, very similar to synchronized swimming or cheerleading – but with martial arts moves.

Group events can be contested in the style of most events. Other more unorthodox events include: Jiǔ jié biān– the nine-section whip. Sanjie gùn – the three sectional staff. Houquán and Hougùn– the monkey fist and the monkey staff and Zuiquán– Drunken Boxing, as popularized by Jackie Chan, the Drunken Master. That’s great, but how do they actually win? It’s complicated, but as a competitor – you must perform a routine with a certain number of required moves, acrobatics, strikes and poses that you will be judged on, very similar to the scoring in gymnastics and figure skating.

5 sets of judges will be watching your every move and they’ll assess you on the following criteria: Quality of Movements – these judges start you with 5 points and deduct points based upon your basic techniques like punches and kicks. Should you not perform moves correctly, they will start deducting points. This is an objective score, and it’s pretty obvious if you performed it correctly or you didn’t. Quality of Overall Performance – these judges start you with 3 or 5 points and will deduct points based upon your overall performance, i.e., your artistry, your interpretation, your ability to link moves together etc.

This is more of a subjective score and your score can be influenced by other factors such as other competitors’ performances and the individual opinions of the judges. Degree of Difficulty – These judges will add up to two points to your score, depending on the degree of difficulty of your moves. They refer to a list and each move when performed correctly has a predetermined value, which they can add to your score. Forms examiner – this judge will deduct for choreography errors, i.e., if a competitor has not done a required technique as required by that particular competition. And finally, a head judge – who deducts points if a competitor has not met the time requirements, i.e., if a routine is too long or too short. All the points are added up and subtracted and that is the competitor’s score. The person with the most points after all competitors in a specific event has performed, wins.

Sanda; Sanda, or Sanshou is the other main discipline of Wushu. It’s a combat sport that’s a mixture of Western Boxing, Modern Kickboxing, Wrestling and Grappling. On the surface, it looks like Muay Thai or Thai Boxing, and you’d be correct for assuming that. But the rules are slightly different, because in this game – you must win two out of three rounds to win the contest. Sanda is contested by two individuals on a raised platform that measures 8m by 8m and is 80cm above the ground. Once the referee tells you to begin, you start fighting. You are allowed to punch your opponent, kick your opponent, knee your opponent, throw, grapple and trip your opponent and in professional competitions, elbow and choke your opponent also. The idea is to inflict as much damage to your opponent as possible, because 5 judges will be watching your every move.

They’ll award points based on successful punches, kicks and throws performed onto your opponent and they’ll do the same for them. After two minutes are up, this is the end of the round and the scores are tallied for each fighter. The person with the greatest number of points at the end of the round, wins that round and, winning 2 out of 3 rounds wins you the fight. It’s that easy? Pretty much, but there’s a few other things that you need to know about Sanda. Clinching is used in Sanda as a way to grapple or knee your opponent and is perfectly legal, but if nothing happens after two seconds, the referee will stop the fight to separate you and your opponent in order to restart fighting. If you fall off the platform or are pushed off, the referee will indicate a warning. If you fall off or are pushed off the platform twice in a round, you automatically lose that round. This plays into the strategy of Sanda.

If a competitor is not making any effort to fight, the referee will indicate to that fighter to attack. Failure to do this results in either an admonishment, or a more severe warning and multiple infractions will result in disqualification. If a competitor is knocked down, they’ll have 10 seconds to get back up. Failure to do this results in that fighter losing the round. If they cannot carry on fighting at all, this is a knock out and the opponent wins automatically, just like in western boxing.