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TERMINOLOGY AND BACKGROUND
In America, and more recently in other parts of the world, San Soo (散手) or San3 Shou3 in Mandarin (Chinese, Pinyin) is a phrase often loosely used to describe "Kung Fu San Soo", a popular name for the Chinese Martial Art brought to America from Taishan, China, by the late Chin Siu Dek (陳壽爵), also known as Jimmy H. Woo. Although San Soo is a phrase that stands alone in Chinese Martial History as an expression used to describe the fighting application of martial training techniques, especially as the combat implementation of forms, here it specifically refers to the training lineage of Kung Fu San Soo practitioners tracing their modern roots back to Chin Siu Dek.
San Soo is also known as San Sau, San Sao, Sarn Sau and San Shou, depending on dialect with the same Calligraphy used to designate all. It is also sometimes also known as San Da (散打, "Hitting from Everywhere"), and translates as "Loose Hands", "Unbound Hand" or Free Fighting Hand (San = 'loose' or 'unbound' + Shou = 'hand'). Most Chinese systems have a San Soo or San Shou aspect in their systems, but is usually not emphasized, with forms and drills receiving most of the emphasis. In contrast, Jimmy Woo's Kung Fu San Soo focuses mainly on the free fighting application of technique and represents its own style.
The exact history of Kung Fu San Soo is controversial, poorly documented, even among practitioners and historians, but as used here, San Soo is closely related to the combat style, or fighting application, of the Hung Sing branch of Tsai Li Fo. As with many Chinese Martial Styles, combat application is said to have been typically reserved for trusted individuals and family members, and Kung Fu San Soo practitioners believe it is made up of the complete Five Family Kung Fu (五家拳) system, roughly pronounced Choy or Tsoi-Li-Ho-Fut-Hung in Toisanese, or Cai4 li3 he2 fu2 xiong2 (蔡李何佛雄) in Pinyin.
Chinese martial history in general is extremely controversial, but many[who?] believe that San Soo fighting tactics begun in the Northern Shaolin Temple. Monks are said to have developed this form of martial arts to protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as they returned with supplies and donations from the nearby villages as well as to maintain their physical fitness. By 650 A.D. (during the T'ang Dynasty (618–906)) the Southern Shaolin Temple of Lin Quan Yuan was built in the southern city of Fukien, or Fujian. When the Southern Temple was razed by the Qing Dynasty, some sources suggest that it set in motion the early style of the Five Family system of the Southern Shaolin which became legendary as a technical fight training system. Later this style is thought to have become associated with Kwan-Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, especially among the descendant lineage of Chin Siu Dek.
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Jimmy Haw Woo
American San Soo, or Kung Fu San Soo, was brought to America by Chin Family practitoner, Chin Siu Dek, Chan Siu Duk, or Chen Shou Jue (陳壽爵, Chen2 Shou4 Jue2) , depending on the dialect. Entering the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act, and leaving China on the eve of the Japanese Occupation, Chin Siu Dek took the name, "Jimmy Haw Woo" as a lifetime pseudonym. Most believe he was born around 1905–10. He died in Southern California in February, 1991, and is credited with bringing the Five Family Style (五家拳) of Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung (蔡李何佛雄), or San Soo Kung Fu to America after learning primarily from his uncle, Chan Siu Hung, and Chan Koon Pak, at the Hung Sing Goon school in Taishan, China Guangdong Province. Kung Fu San Soo tradition holds that Chin Siu Dek lived and grew up just across the river from from this school in the village of Pan Tang (Pon Hong). Sadly, this school was later destroyed by the communists in the cultural revolution. Also, one of his classmates was Chan Siu Hung's own son, Chan Si Mo (Chen Shi Wu (Mand)). As Jimmy H. Woo, Chin Siu Dek opened his own studio in El Monte, California to teach his family art in about 1962.[1]
The art of Kung Fu San Soo
Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung San Soo was not created, nor taught as a tournament sport, a basic premise of San Soo is there are "no rules in a fight" and it incorporates techniques that attempt to remove a threat as quickly and effectively as possible, by means of correct body mechanics, throws, joint breaks, strikes, and pressure points. These movements do not have wasted motion and use an adversary's natural reactions against him to compound damage, one of the many aspects of the stylist's element of surprise.
As with martial arts employing serious technique, San Soo can be used effectively by smaller, or weaker persons, against large assailants, as it does not rely on brute force, but rather on maximizing efficiency and power through the use of proper body mechanics. The use of correct mechanics minimizes wasted body motion and compounds force through proper leverage and balance, and uses the assailant's own body weight against him. The swiftness of neutralizing an opponent is another aspect of this paradigm, with fights ending within a few seconds or less.
The basic beginning lessons of San Soo employ 5–10 movements or strikes, while advanced lessons as few as 3 moves. These techniques are mostly made up of Chin Na leverages, Throwing, Choking, Joint-locking, Strangling, Da, or strikes, and quick Takedowns. These are practiced and applied selectively by the practitioner in sparring sessions (freestyle workouts), in order to build an automatic response in the mind and body, in much the same way as one picks and chooses what words are appropriate to use in a free flowing conversation. There are a myriad of targets on the human body including the eyes, nose, throat, base of the skull, neck, liver, spleen, kidneys, groin, and knees, many of which are commonly banned from sports styles. Forms were traditionally 360 moves, but are broken down into 26 moves a month so the practitioner can assimilate them easier.
San Soo Kung Fu is also known as "Human Style" Kung Fu as opposed to one of the animal styles, and does not attempt to emulate the motions of animals.
Training, historic interpretations, and sometimes modifications, exist from school to school among the modern descendants of Chin Siu Dek's Kung Fu San Soo.
References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (May 2009) |
- Greg Jones Sudden Violence: The Art Of San Soo
- Chan Siu Hung's Hung Sing Lineage (Look in Table 2, Hero's Victory Lineage, under Chan Koon Pak)
- The Holy Land of Martial Arts — Benny Meng and Richard Loewenhagen
- The Riddle of the Southern Shaolin — Wen Yu Chen (Translated by Chris Toepker)
- History, Lineage, and San Soo sections of Sonora San Soo
- James Benckert's San Soo Dictionary
- Carter, Dave, "25 Years with San Soo’s Jimmy H. Woo", INSIDE KUNG FU MAGAZINE, January 1988 (volume 15, number 1).
External links
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