British World Champion in Shuai Jiao  

Monday 1 June, 2004

World Shuai Jiao Union - World Championships - 28-30 May 2004, Rome, Italy

The World Shuai Jiao Union (WSCU) held the Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling) World Championships from 28 to 30 May, in Rome, Italy. There were sixteen countries in attendance from: the Americas (including USA and Brazil), Africa, Europe and Asia (including China). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also observed the event.

Luton connection with the British Team:

Four men from the Chinese Kuoshu Institute, the national training centre for Shuai Jiao and Northern Shaolin, based in Luton, were selected to compete and to represent Great Britain and the British Shuai Jiao Union. These were: Brett Bishop (29) of Ridgeway Road; Michael Clarke (30) of Timworth Close; Gavin Gooden (28) of Green Close; Rupesh Kapadia (29) of Birdsfoot, Luton. The team were instructed by the the Chief Instructor of the Chinese Kuoshu Institute and British Shuai Jiao Coach: Master Rob Simpson of Strathmore Avenue, Luton. As an International Referee (World Class A), Master Simpson also presided at the World Championships as the Referee General, supported by International Referees from China, USA, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Sweden and Chinese Taipei.

Results:

Michael Clarke – Gold Medal, World Champion (95Kg and Over – Infinite Weight Category)

Gavin Gooden – Silver Medal (Under 90Kg Weight Category)

Rupesh Kapadia – 4th Place (Under 65Kg Weight Category)

Brett Bishop – Did not place (could not continue due to injury) (Under 85Kg Weight Category)

The British Shuai Jiao Team currently train at the LA Fitness Gym, Wigmore, Road, Luton, under Master Rob Simpson. Their programme includes both traditional Chinese wrestling Bao Ding Shuai Jiao and Sport Shuai Jiao for tournament. Chinese Kuoshu Institute students also cross train with Tien Shan Pai.

Photographs and Interviews

The team members will be available at their training session on Saturday 5 June, 2004 from 12:30, at the LA Fitness Gym, Wigmore Lane, Luton, Bedfordshire. For further information or to arrange an interview or photo-shoot, please contact Rob Simpson on 07903 873 428.

Chinese Kuoshu Institute Contact Details:

For more information on Shuai Jiao or Tien Shan Pai (whose Grandmaster, Huang Chjen-Liang, was featured in the May edition of Inside Kung Fu) visit the Chinese Kuoshu Institute website: www.kuoshu.co.uk or contact the Chinese Kuoshu Institute on:

Telephone: 01582 876700  Facsimile: 01582 876701  E-mail: admin@kuoshu.co.uk

Shuai Jiao Background:

China boasts some 400 or so fist styles of martial arts. That roughly correlates to one style per dialect spoken in China. Yet for all the formidable styles and systems that were readily available for the different governments of China to choose from, both sides of the Taiwan Straits retained Chinese wrestling (also known as Shuai Jiao) as the essential combat training for its armed forces and the police. The most ancient of the Chinese martial arts, Shuai Jiao is a system of grappling and throwing techniques which evolved from Mongolian and Northern Chinese wrestling, and traces its history back some 4000 years. Shuai Jiao is often referred to as the Mother of the Throwing Arts, evolving over time and geography into its Japanese cognates of Sumo, Jujutsu, Judo, and Aikido.

Although the Shuai Jiao syllabus contains striking techniques that can be used effectively against the opponent, these are performed usually in the context of throwing. In comparison, fist fighters would hit their opponent with their hands and feet. A throw specialist, by unbalancing and throwing their opponent, would, in effect, strike his opponent with the ground.  The difference between the two strategies in terms of impact is obvious.

In addition, an opponent who is not well versed in break-falling stands little if any chance of walking away uninjured from the fall, and even a skilled opponent may not be able to save himself from severe injury if the throws are delivered such that a safe break-fall is impossible.  Because of this, most Shuai Jiao training was mostly reserved for the military and was rarely ever taught to the public until the modern day (1976).

Whilst masters such as Jiang Hao-Quan taught the armed forces in the People’s Republic of China, Grandmaster Chang Tung-Sheng was retained by the Taiwanese (ROC) government to train its special forces, and establish a training program for its police at the Central Police University in Taipei. Grandmaster Chang was also responsible for standardising the grading system, and created the modern coloured belt ranking system. It is Grandmaster Chang’s Bao Ding style of Shuai Jiao, often referred to as Kuai Shuai (fast wrestling), which is currently being taught in Luton by Master Rob Simpson. Master Simpson is the only Shuai Jiao Master, teaching in Great Britain, recognised by the international governing bodies for Shuai Jiao for both the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan (ROC).

The brand of Chinese wrestling taught is geared towards handling a hostile opponent who may be attacking with a variety of techniques. Unlike many other grappling styles which base their techniques on an opponent who is wrestling and is not striking, the basic Shuai Jiao throws are taught as possible answers to a punch, kick, grab or choke, thus giving the practitioner the ability to deal with the widest possible variety of attacks. And according to the situation, these rapid throws could be altered to merely subdue an opponent or to injure them in a more permanent way. The techniques of the Bao Ding style also steer clear of full dependence on a the opponents uniform for grabbing, and tend to use the bare limbs and anatomical ‘handles’ with which the human body is naturally endowed.

Versatility is a major factor in the appeal of Shuai Jiao. As the system can handle such a wide variety of attacks, it also employs some of those same attacks to set up throws or amplify the shock of a throw. Hands and legs are used in almost equal proportion to create the maximum leverage on an opponent’s weakest angle.  Normally, hand usage is relegated to safe techniques like grabbing, blocking, twisting, pushing or pulling, and the feet are used for sweeping and tripping. In a combat situation, however, those techniques come to include full-power kicking (mostly to the legs) and powerful upper body strikes, such as elbows and palm strikes, all of which can be used in conjunction with a throw to amplify its height, speed and raw power. This gives the practitioner the ability to alter his level of force based on the situation with which he’s faced.  Kicking, punching, joint locking (Chin Na), and throwing are all within his natural vocabulary of motion, and Shuai Jiao ability to work as a non-conflicting adjunct with other striking-oriented martial arts is a large reason for its growing popularity.  This is also the reason why ground grappling, although taught, is conspicuously absent encounters with opponents, as the combination of strikes and violent throws are designed such that an opponent will have minimal opportunity to issue a takedown or land safely if thrown.

Chinese wrestling is currently becoming more popular. The tournament version ‘Sport Shuai Jiao’ of the style can be seen several times a year in tournaments all over the United States, and annually in China, Taiwan (ROC), and Europe. The International Olympic Committee has also expressed an interest in the oldest of the Chinese martial arts, specifically with the Olympic Games in China in mind. With the tremendous success of Shuai Jiao stylists in San Shou and in Kuoshu Lei Tai (Chinese full contact platform), the style is gaining a significant stature in martial arts events. And judging by the reaction of the crowds that watch its competitors, the fast and furious throws of Chinese wrestling are here to stay!

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