Chinese Fast Wrestling for Fighting: The Art of San Shou Kuai Jiao Throws, Takedowns, & Ground-Fighting

I've been practicing this art for months according to the photos and explanations and it's worked! I love the moves that involve hooking the legs and holding the legs. I've practiced with friends and it works pretty well. There is a groundfighting section in the last chapter of the book, but I would research that elsewhere. It's basic and is more of a preparation stage. But this is one element of Kung Fu I'm glad I found, particularly because Shoalin forms were not enough for me. Now I have one of the neglected elements of Kung Fu I need for serious fighting! To all Shoalin Fighters: GET THIS BOOK!

I teach Yoshinkan Aikido and also have dan ranks in Judo and Jujutsu. When I look at other arts I usually look for things that will blend well with these arts and offer ideas that may help take them to another level. That is what first interested me in the Chinese forms of the throwing, grappling and joint locking arts. After reading books and watching videos on Chinna, I turned to this book for further knowledge and understanding. I found what I was looking for.

The book starts off by giving some historical background, which brings an important understanding of the origins and intent of the art. It then briefly discusses other styles of wrestling so that the reader can understand how this method differs from others. This is followed by a section on the general principles of San Shou Kuai Jiao. These are "the things that make it work" and what make the art what it is.

Many books are just pictures of techniques and are quite impossible to learn anything from. You can look at the pictures and see positions, but you can not see the science behind the art. This book gives the reader an introduction to the science, mentality and strategy that need to be learned and applied in order to make the techniques functional.

There is a section on "basic training" that shows warm up exercises and conditioning drills to help develop the physical skills that will also be needed to perform the techniques.

The last 5 chapters are the techniques. Each chapter addresses a different category of techniques and shows. The explanations are clear and there are "key points" covered after each description. The photos are sufficient to illustrate the techniques. There is also a chapter on "ground fighting" which is vitally important in today's martial art's world.

I generally advise trying to learn martial arts strictly from books and videos. There is only so much that can be accomplished through these media. But I think that this book accomplishes more than the typical "how to" martial arts book. From reading this book, I have a good understanding of the basics of this art and it's differences and similarities to mine. I am comfortable with trying to incorporate some of this material into my martial arts training and will keep this book handy to use as a reference over time.

contains some backround on san shou and workout/strengthening techniques. some really good throws in here with excellent step-by-step pictures and explanations. the ground technique is a joke if you are looking into that aspect of fighting, but then again, san shou isn't known for it's ground fighting technique.

Having studied judo, I was really attracted to this art and bought the book to learn. I find a lot of excellent information, very good photography but not very good explanations/layout. An accompanying DVD would be very helpful, in order to master the solo exercises (judo has limited katas, Chuai Shiao has excellent solo work) and throws. Described by some as ' bad judo', this system shows a unique way of shearing the opponents as opposed to only unbalancing as in judo. Unfortunately there are not enough qualified teachers of this system, a real shame as it is an ancient art but very applicable to self defense and combat. This book has excellent information which one can make one's own.

I am a Western Martial Artist studying the art of Fiore. Our community is relatively young, and we cross train and look for good martial arts to observe and learn from. This is a fantastic book which made me think about my own art in a different way. I highly enjoyed the training with apparatus examples, and although the individual pictured is not some early 20s killer with 200 pounds of chiseled muscle and adrenaline, it looks like he has put in some serious time training, and knows his stuff.