San Shou in the UFC?

[Sim Koning]

Right now Muay Thai seems to be the stand up art of choice in the MMA. After training in San Shou and watching fights, I'm starting to wonder if San Shou would be the better choice for the MMAs arsenal. Most of the take downs would flow nicely into ground techniques and leg catches could lead into techniques such as ankle locks. The san shou side kick is harder to catch than the round kick and would reduce the risk of being taken down. Do you think we will see San Shou being used in the UFC as often as Muay Thai eventually? If you don't think so, please give your thought on why.

[Ford Prefect]

I always thought the same thing. There aren't enough quality gyms around for it to really make a dent though, IMO. Only fighters from major cities could take advantage of it.

[Reggie1]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
I always thought the same thing. There aren't enough quality gyms around for it to really make a dent though, IMO. Only fighters from major cities could take advantage of it.

I also think that SanShou is a relatively recent thing here in Western world. I'm sure once more Western fighters get a lot of SanShou under their belts, the UFC will come calling.

[norther practitioner]

not many venues to fight san shou or san da locally yet either.

[ShaolinTiger00]

Coming to you very soon..

Sanshou & MMA in the Pittsburgh area. :D

[Pork Chop]

u movin bull?
hope not; but if so we gotta go hang out one more time before u go.

[PangQuan]

Like most aspects of good gong fu, patients, in time the answer will be present. But in my modern American opinion, as soon as people begin to see what is offered by CMA.

[brothernumber9]

Felix Mitchell fought in the UFC, one of the earlier ones. Prior he fought san shou at NACMAF and perhaps WKF.

[ShaolinTiger00]

Originally posted by BMore Banga
u movin bull?
hope not; but if so we gotta go hang out one more time before u go.

Yep, I'll be moving Easter weekend.

[Pork Chop]

GALDANGIT...
I ain't even been to you and jeff's new place yet...
sweet geebus...

I'm busy on the weekend of the 19th... but sometime soon i'ma head down there.... if not, then we need to rent a huge bus and have a party van for the trip to the Arnold's...

The Cool Hearts gym that turned Matee's is up that way too ain't it?
I hear Matee's an awesome guy to train with (tho I know he's outta Detroit).


BTW- I'm assuming your san shou in mma lab eperiments is what turned up that info on the sidekick; and that san shou's transitions, balance when throwing, & clinch work are the aspects that have the largest carry over?

[ShaolinTiger00]

as of last week, I'm no longer training with Jeff in Arlington. (or Lloyd)

I've got to see many different types of looks from muay thai guys, wrestlers, etc.. and I've formulated my own opinions on which parts of sanshou work and don't work in the MMA format.

the more I do MMA, the less interested I am in "pure" sanshou - format where the ref gives you a very limited time to clinch and the fight stop after ground contact, but I will plan on teaching it and entering sanshou/ sanda fights.

I'm looking forward to starting something new.

[Pork Chop]

Originally posted by ShaolinTiger00
as of last week, I'm no longer training with Jeff in Arlington. (or Lloyd)


Errr... well I still think the MD/DC/VA crowd should do something.
I'll be in Herndon on Sundays; dunno if anybody wants to hit that up.
On saturdays I'm gonna start training with Binky Jones' manager for a couple hours in the morning to pick up the very basics of wrestling.
But outside of that i'm pretty open.
I'll start thinking about setting something up with everyone.
The fact that we haven't done anything big since the first is real sad.
Heck, I haven't heard from Ap in like almost a year.

[ShaolinTiger00]

email me, we'll get together.

[Knifefighter]

ST-
What's your opinion on using the side kick in MMA?

[ShaolinTiger00]

A good side kick is very powerful and very hard to catch. However in an mma situation it can have it's drawbacks. While it can hurt like hell to get kicked in the hip, leg, gut etc.. unless you're kicking the head, it isn't usually a KO kick. which means I may get hit with it, but you can guarantee that it's not going to stop me from moving in. and now you hips won't be squared up to defend the takedown.

lateral movement to clinch is the enemy of the side kick.

[Stranger]

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but maybe looking into footage of Shidokan tournaments will provide examples of the sidekick used in conjunction with MMA grappling. The fight format is 2 rounds of bare-knuckle full contact karate, 2 rounds of Muay Thai, and 2 rounds of MMA. Those last two rounds would be the critical ones to watch the interplay of sidekicks and grappling, if any.