Ninh explains the Rules of Wushu 武術 The object of the game is to score
more points than your opponents. Wushu is an collective term for
various styles of Chinese Kung Fu, and is the most popular martial art in China.
It’s now contested internationally and is incredibly popular worldwide.
Rather confusingly, Wushu has many different disciplines and competitions. The scoring
criteria is different for each one, but I’ll try and explain it as generically as I can.
The sport of Wushu has two distinctly different disciplines.
Taolu 套路 – which is pre-choreographed forms performed in front of judges and
Sanda 散打 – which is fighting an opponent, similar to many other combat martial arts.
It’s important to understand the rules of both in order to appreciate the diverse sport of Wushu.
Taolu 套路
Taolu consists of pre-choreographed forms, usually performed to music that exhibits a
competitor’s skill, power, flexibility and speed in demonstrating a required list of techniques.
It can be split into 5 generic areas of competition, which include.
Barehanded. A contest where the competitor has no weapons at all and all techniques are
performed with an empty fist. Some of the most popular bare-handed events include:
Zhángquán 長拳 the Long Fist – this is a style famous for its high-flying acrobatics,
flexibility and difficult moves such as spinning punches and kicks. This is notoriously difficult
and even harder to perform correctly without fault.
Nanquan 南拳 the Southern Fist – whilst not as acrobatic as Zhángquán,
it’s characterised by powerful movements and lightning fast hand strikes.
Taijiquan 太極拳 – mistakenly called Tai Chi by the western world and is often depicted
as a slow-moving martial art done by old people. But when done properly, it looks like this! When
movements are sped up, this is actually a deadly form of self-defence.
Short Weapons. A short weapon is designated as any weapon that is typically below head height
and some of the most popular short weapon events include:
Dao 刀 the broadsword, a curved one-sided sword, that is flexible and can be used
to attack an opponent with style. This is the sword equivalent of Zhángquán, the long fist.
Nandao 南刀 the Southern Broadsword, a straighter one sided sword that is useful for simultaneous
attack and defense, and is the short weapons equivalent of Nanquan, the southern fist.
Jian 劍 the straight sword, a two sided sword, using Zhángquán or Long Fist style movements
Taijijian 太極劍 – the tai chi sword, used to accompany Taijiquan routines.
Long Weapons. A long weapon refers to any weapon that is typically above head height.
Some of the more popular events include. Gùn 棍 – the cudgel, a long staff featuring
immensely acrobatic moves, and is the long weapons equivalent to Zhángquán.
Nangùn 南棍 – the southern staff, is shorter than a gun and is the long weapons equivalent of Nanquan.
Qiang 槍 – the spear, characterised by bullet fast strikes and thrusts
with an emphasis on relentless attack.
Dual Events or Duìliàn 对练 feature teams of competitors
choreographing fights against each other. They can be in pairs,
or trios or team and the idea is to demonstrate techniques creatively in a simulated fight scene.
Some of these routines are incredibly creative and they’re great to watch.
Group events or Jiti 集體 is contested between teams of people
and is usually choreographed forms, very similar to synchronised swimming or cheerleading – but
with martial arts moves. Group events can be contested in the style of most events.
Other more unorthodox events include: Jiǔ jié biān 九節鞭 – the nine section whip.
Sanjie gùn 三節棍 – the three sectional staff.
Houquán 猴拳 and Hougùn 猴棍 – the monkey fist and the monkey staff
and Zuiquán 醉拳 – Drunken Boxing, as popularised by Jackie Chan in the iconic hit movie,
the Drunken Master. There are many more events,
but there’s way too many to list in this video.
That’s great and all Ninh, but how do you actually win?
It’s complicated, but as a competitor – you must perform a routine with a certain number
of required moves, acrobatics, strikes and poses that you will be judged on,
very similar to the scoring in gymnastics and figure skating.
5 sets of judges will be watching your every move and they’ll assess you on the following criteria:
Quality of Movements – these judges start you with 5 points and deduct points based
upon your basic techniques like punches and kicks. Should you not perform moves correctly,
they will start deducting points. This is an objective score, and it’s pretty obvious
if you performed it correctly or you didn’t. Quality of Overall Performance – these judges
start you with 3 or 5 points and will deduct points based upon your overall performance,
i.e. your artistry, your interpretation, your ability to link moves together etc. This is
more of a subjective score and your score can be influenced by other factors such as
other competitors performances and the individual opinions of the judges.
Degree of Difficulty – These judges will add up to two points to your score,
depending on the degree of difficulty of your moves. They refer to a list and each move when
performed correctly has a predetermined value, which they can add to your score.
Forms examiner – this judge will deduct for choreography errors, i.e. if a competitor
has not done a required technique as required by that particular competition.
And finally, a head judge – who deducts points if a competitor has not met the time requirements,
i.e. if a routine is too long or too short. All the points are added up and subtracted
and that is the competitor’s score. The person with the most points after
all competitors in a specific event has performed, wins.
Sanda 散打 Sanda, or Sanshou
is the other main discipline of Wushu. It’s a combat sport that’s a mixture of Western Boxing,
Modern Kickboxing, Wrestling and Grappling. On the surface, it looks like Muay Thai or Thai Boxing,
and you’d be correct for assuming that. But the rules are slightly different,
because in this game – you must win two out of three rounds to win the contest.
Sanda is contested by two individuals on a raised platform that measures 8m
by 8m and is 80cm above the ground. Once the referee tells you to begin,
you start fighting. You are allowed to punch your opponent,
kick your opponent, knee your opponent, throw, grapple and trip your opponent and in professional
competitions, elbow and choke your opponent also. The idea is to inflict as much damage to your
opponent as possible, because 5 judges will be watching your every move.
They’ll award points based on successful punches, kicks and throws performed onto your opponent
and they’ll do the same for them. After two minutes are up, this is
the end of the round and the scores are tallied for each fighter. The person with the most amount
of points at the end of the round, wins that round and, winning 2 out of 3 rounds wins you the fight.
It’s that easy? Pretty much, but there’s a few
other things that you need to know about Sanda. Clinching is used in Sanda as a way to grapple or
knee your opponent and is perfectly legal, but if nothing happens after two seconds,
the referee will stop the fight to separate you and your opponent in order to restart fighting.
If you fall off the platform or are pushed off, the referee
will indicate a warning. If you fall off or are pushed off the platform twice in a round,
you automatically lose that round. This plays into the strategy of Sanda.
If a competitor is not making any effort to fight, the referee will indicate to that
fighter to attack. Failure to do this results in either an admonishment, or a more severe warning
and multiple infractions will result in disqualification.
If a competitor is knocked down, they’ll have 10 seconds to get back up. Failure to do this
results in that fighter losing the round. If they cannot carry on fighting at all,
this is a knock out and the opponent wins automatically, just like in western boxing.
This was a generic guide and introduction to the sometimes complicated sport of Wushu and
if you want to know the specific detailed marking criteria for either Taolu or Sanda,
you can download the exact judging criteria from the International Wushu Federation website,
the governing body for Wushu worldwide. But if you have enjoyed this video,
please be sure to like, share and subscribe. It takes me ages to make one of these things and
good karma is very much appreciated. Follow me on Twitter also and share this video on Reddit,
but in the meantime, enjoy Wushu! Ninh Ly – www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyUK