San Soo is really just a "get down to business" effective fighting system incorporating punches, kicks, throws, leverages, gouges, biting, hair pulling etc. It's used for fighting offensively not defensively. Not that we run around starting fights but once it's established that there is no way around it, we fight offensively to end the confrontation as quickly as possible.Can someone tell me a bit about San Soo? Why isn't it as well known as many of the other styles? Is it a good art when it comes to real world application, or is it more like modern Shaolin? Thanks !
I do have a few questions, I have a Japanese martial art background, there looks to be a lot of Karate, Jujitsu, and Taijutsu in here and they were a Karate uniform.......is this a traditional Chinese art? I did some research and I've found that most people place San Soo anywhere form 650ad to 900ad, where do the Karate uniforms come in ?San Soo is really just a "get down to business" effective fighting system incorporating punches, kicks, throws, leverages, gouges, biting, hair pulling etc. It's used for fighting offensively not defensively. Not that we run around starting fights but once it's established that there is no way around it, we fight offensively to end the confrontation as quickly as possible.
We have weapons training and forms but emty hand fighting is the bottom line.
Although San Soo is a Chinese art we use a belt ranking system as opposed to sash. There is a degree of controversy regarding this among traditional CMA fighters.
Why is San Soo not as well known as other styles? Your guess is as good as mine. Possibly because it's not very flashy or we don't have a school on every corner. I don't know. But I kind of like it being this way.
There are San Soo videos posted here on MT. I posted some a while back. Check em out and let me know if you have any questions.
Kung Fu San Soo (actual name of the art is Tsoi LI Ho Fut Hung) was brought to the US from China sometime around 1935 by my original instructor Chin Siu Dek (he changed his name to Jimmy Woo when he arrived in the US). I really don't know how far back the art dates in history. I've heard various dates but never been interested enough to find out the truthI do have a few questions, I have a Japanese martial art background, there looks to be a lot of Karate, Jujitsu, and Taijutsu in here and they were a Karate uniform.......is this a traditional Chinese art? I did some research and I've found that most people place San Soo anywhere form 650ad to 900ad, where do the Karate uniforms come in ?
Ronnin
You already got one of the best people to answer your questions about San soo posting
I know little about San Soo but maybe this will give you a little of the historical background
http://www.answers.com/San Soo
That just goes back to QUI-GON's point, that it's not a widely known art. More about effectiveness than creating wide appeal.Don't want to start anything. Probably has been noted many times before.
I just found it a bit disconcerting that all the "cited references" were from San Soo literature and nowhere else.
As a side note: answers.com lifts most of its material from Wikipedia so there's no accuracy to be gained from it...
Don't want to start anything. Probably has been noted many times before.
I just found it a bit disconcerting that all the "cited references" were from San Soo literature and nowhere else.
As a side note: answers.com lifts most of its material from Wikipedia so there's no accuracy to be gained from it...
Just saw your Ranger patches. :asian:Can someone tell me a bit about San Soo? Why isn't it as well known as many of the other styles? Is it a good art when it comes to real world application, or is it more like modern Shaolin? Thanks !
I remember the piece, and thought it very good.I wrote a brief article on the lineage of Kung-Fu San Soo a couple of years ago, right here on Martial Talk. You can find it here:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48695
Please keep in mind that a lot of the Chinese names used refer to the same person, but in different dialects. So, each person may appear to have three different names, but in reality it is the same person. I would have included the actual Chinese characters for each person's name, to avoid confusion; had I known at the time how to include universal code for Chinese characters. (Hopefully, what I wrote is clearer than mud.)