Hi, has anyone experience of the Nam Yang Pugilistic Association or similar Sanda/San Shou training? Change in work makes it difficult to make my longstanding Muay Thai class, so I'm considered switching to this San Da class in Brighton: www.namyang.co.uk/martial-arts/sanda-kickboxing/san-da-chinese-kickboxing.php What do you think? I gather San Shou should be similar to Muay Thai, but with knee/elbow clinch work replaced by Chinese wrestling: www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=529
Not sure on their training methods but Nam Yang are one of the two most consistent groups in San Shou in the UK (which may be a factor of how many guys they have training with them) and have consistently put up solid guys, so don't worry on that account. I think you will find the problem may be cutting threw the crap (if thats what you want) and getting past the Kung Fu and into the San Shou. They will probably try to teach you some forms etc......but you have done Thai boxing so you should be able to recognise solid striking training when you see it. As for San Shou as a whole, there is a new promotion that Nam Yang I think entre which allows knees and elbows, but as a whole the I find that the Thai clinch gets you killed in San Shou....positioning to defend a knee just sets you up to be thrown, but you will pick that up real fast. I would be very interested in their grappling/clinch training. Theres a Nam Yang guy who posts here, I just forget his name.
Hey Sandy Don't know much about Nam Yang, but I've done both Muay Thai and San da and I definitely prefer San Da. You're right that the basic differences are the lack of knees and elbows in San da but it more than makes up for it with the throws. Go give it a try and see what you think.
Many thanks for such helpful replies! Encouraged by your posts, I plan to give it a try. Though I'll keep an eye out in case a Nam Yang person replies here too ...
San Shou/San Da is good stuff. Its a great way to get in good shape, develop your body and mind, and to gain an understanding of what needs to happen, when, and how quickly, that you can take with you into any other martial art training. If you can get good at throwing while wearing gloves, then you may find you are even better at it without them on
Yea, Snoop trained with them, he'll probably see this/ or you could try PM. They are certainly capable of knocking out a good standard of san shou fighter, and you'll find some decent training.
First impressions of San Shou / San Da Hi everyone, Well, I gave San Shou a try. Here are my first impressions compared to Muay Thai. That was my experience too. I enjoyed San Da at least as much as Muay Thai. In my (very limited!) experience so far, here are other things I found: My Muay Thai trainined developed more power than San Da. This comes down to focus. Thai training focussed on power, whereas San Da training has more to cover, giving less time for pad work. You get more points for a take down in San Da, so there's more focus on this area. (Sporting rules dictate training ... ) Take-downs completely change the game, compared to just striking. Despite BJJ cross-training, I hadn't realised just how enormously take-downs change the game. I reckon San Da makes a better stand-up foundation for MMA, because it deals with take-downs in a striking art. San Da isn't Chinese Muay Thai. There's a distinct Chinese flavour to it, e.g. drinking hot Chinese tea to rehydrate! E.g. sticky hands drills to develop attributes for take-downs. San Da has more focus on defence than Muay Thai. There is more time spent drilling defences in San Da, which my instructor explained as a Chinese religious influence. Nam Yang seem a reputable organisation too. They were all very friendly and welcomed my Thai background.
Sounds good.Except for the "Chinese religious influence" part.Never heard that one before! Happy training!
Hey Sandy Glad to hear you enjoyed it! You're right, power isn't such a focused issue with san da. In my experience at least, the power will come naturall with training. Rather than standing there slugging it out like some MT fights go along, san da looks to move around a bit more (probably to do with the grappling). Are you saying they supply hot chinese tea for you to drink during training? How does the sticky hands drill help with the take-downs?
Nam Yang , run one of the larger san shou teams in UK, alongside other such as the national kuoshu association and the prokuoshu league. Nam Yang have been around a long time and are regulars on the san shou circuit
Thanks for the review and the other replys has helped me make my mind up going to start in a couple weeks
