Sanda – Martial Arts

Sanda -Chinese Boxing- is the combat modality of modern Kung Fu (Wushu). It has been growing on all continents.

The word “Sanda” means “hands free” or “isolated application”. Used to refer to fights where the rules seek to translate real combat.

The fights take place on a suspended platform called “Lei Tai”. Lei Tai – fights without rules, a reference to fights held without rules in the past.

In the 60s, it developed in parallel with Modern Kung Fu (Wushu), supported by the Chinese government, which was looking for a fighting standard for Kung Fu.

It has two aspects:

1. Amateur: allows broad contact, including kicks, punches, takedowns and throws, derived from the traditional application of Chinese Martial Art. Submissions (choke, leg locks, arm locks, etc.) were excluded from competitions, aiming to give the fight a more dynamic character. The fighter can win by knockout or by points, attributed to the techniques applied according to their effectiveness. Knocking the opponent onto the platform is the most used technique in competitions.

2. Professional: characterized as full contact, with very few rules. The main event is called 'The King of Sanda', held in China. As it is a complete modality (punches, kicks, locks, takedowns and ground fighting) it has many competitors, who compete in events called MMA (Mix Martial Art).

The categories are divided by gender (female and male), weight and age.

Some rules:

1. In many championships, 2 rounds of two minutes are used for adults and for youth, 2 rounds of two minutes are used, with a rest period of 1:00 minutes between rounds.

2. Strikes to the genitals are not invalid, and can lead to disqualification with three fight irregularities.

3. For the blows to be worth points, he must make the opponent move, there is no point in just giving weak touches.

4. Kicking, punching, knocking the opponent down and throwing him out of the ring is valid.

5. Scoring: 1 point punch, 2 points kicks (to the head, and torso, if it's on the thigh it's 2 points) and 2 (If you continue standing, 2 points. If you fall together, it's 1 point). When taking the opponent out of the ring , he will have an irregularity for being out of the fight, after 2 irregularities he is disqualified.

6. The ring is a quadrilateral, rubberized platform measuring 8 x 8 meters and elevated. The outer surroundings of the ring are covered with sheets of rubber tatami.

7. Some competitions allow the use of knees, but the use of elbows is not valid.