Shuai jiao is a Chinese martial art which is also known as Chinese or Mongolian Wrestling. It was originally only a style of sport wrestling, but later striking and blocking were added to make it the first Chinese martial art. Shuai-Jiao’s history spans thousands of years in China, and was used extensively by Genghis Khan’s armies. It has been a major influence for Japanese Sumo Wrestling & Jujitsu, Korean Ssireum, and many Chinese Kungfu styles.

Chinese Wrestling combines grappling and striking, and specializes in standing throws, take downs, joint locks, and grip fighting. Shuai Jiao is less dependent upon grabbing an opponent’s clothes to execute throws, and places a heavy emphasis upon conditioning, utilizing belts, weighted sticks, stone weights, and sandbags to develop explosive power, speed, and endurance.

The Wikipedia entry can be found here.

The ShuaijiaoNation.com entry can be found here.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Shuai Jiao safe?

Yes! Many of the dangerous techniques have been removed, leaving Shuai Jiao a safe sport for people of all ages. The few injuries that do occur are a result of students neglecting the warmup exercises. While most of our students are not taught banned techniques, they all are trained to identify such techniques in order to protect themselves. Furthermore, judges are experts at catching wayward competitors that attempt to use such techniques. Gone are the old days of Shuai Jiao tournaments with ambulances waiting outside to carry away competitors.

Does Shuai Jiao have any forms?

No. Shuai Jiao does not have any forms. In its place is a tremendous amount of conditioning and brief empty hand movements. These empty hand movements are designed to teach the practitioner the most important aspects of a throw before they practice on a resisting partner. The combination of conditioning and empty hand movements are designed to maximize the explosiveness and crispness of a throw.

Why is it so difficult to find Shuai Jiao teachers in the States?

Shuai Jiao is a northern style of gongfu that remained popular mostly in the north. Historically, most of the immigration occurred in the south. Thus, southern gongfu culture would have a longer period to spread out and disseminate across the world. In fact, some of the most popular gongfu styles today come from the south, such as Choy Lay Fut and Wing Chun.  Now, with the rise of a modern China, Shuai Jiao and northern Chinese culture now have an opportunity to spread across the world.

What are the differences between Shuai Jiao and Judo?

While the two arts are cousins of one another, the differences are still too numerous to briefly describe in words. Some throws are exactly the same, such as the ubiquitous hip throw. Other throws look cosmetically similar, but are actually performed quite differently. In the end, if  you’re an outsider looking at videos of Shuai Jiao, then you will find it very difficult to appreciate the differences between the arts.

What truly sets them apart are the hand techniques that progress into the throw. Having an advantageous hand position is critical for Chinese Wrestling. In fact, when training, it is considered better to fail at throwing somebody so long as the proper hand position was achieved. This is because a poor hand position would lead to either a sloppy or “muscled” throw, or simply leave you open to being attacked.

Another difference is that Judo is “softer” in that it focuses on momentum a bit more, while Shuai Jiao focuses more upon explosiveness to “blow” an opponent off his feet. This last aspect is more of a gradation than an absolute, as a good practitioner of any art will always have a diverse set of tools at his disposal.

Shuai Jiao also has sacrifice throws. The primary difference however, is that they are all designed for the thrower to smash himself right on top of his opponent.

There is no ne-waza in Chinese Wrestling. Chinese battles were all about fast cavalry and massed combat, not duels between two warriors. It was a distinct samurai characteristic to ride out to the front of the opponent’s army, announce his name, ancestry, and accomplishments, and challenge a worthy opponent to a duel. The one who accepted such a challenge would respond in kind, also announcing his name, ancestry, and accomplishments. Due to the cultural differences in the idea of warfare, if such a tactic was employed in China, the army would simply march right over the challenger or shoot him. This is precisely what happened during the first Mongolian invasion of Japan during 1274.