San soo
Encyclopedia
Kung Fu San Soo is a martial art based on techniques from all over China, both Northern and Southern Chinese martial arts systems, acoording to Grandmaster Woo in a 1970's interview. The 5 Family Fist (五家拳), practiced in the Taishan
region of the Guangdong province. Kung Fu San Soo has many traditional forms and isometric exercises in its training regimen. Typically, the 5 Family Fist style is taught along with a set of animal styles. Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy H. Woo), the man responsible for bringing Kung Fu San Soo to America, did not believe in the animal styles and hence taught only the 5 family styles (蔡李何佛雄). His words were, "We fight like men, not animals." The name "Kung Fu San Soo" itself was chosen by Woo to simplify the pronunciation and meaning for American students, rather than using the complete names of the 5 families. In many other styles, there are sparring components which are referred to as San Soo or San Shou
(散手). They are the same words in Chinese, but their context is different, meaning only sparring, and are not representative of an entire style as in Kung Fu San Soo. Kung Fu San Soo was designed for military combat. The techniques are designed for the immediate disabling of an attacker. Consequently, there are no competitions or tournaments for San Soo Kung Fu.
, 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 Great-Uncle, Chan Siu Hung, 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 this school in the village of Sanba. 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 Sai 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 1959.
sport. The basic premise of San Soo is there are no rules in a fight, so the style incorporates techniques to remove a threat as quickly as possible through the seizing the initiative and using a free-flowing variety of throws, joint breaks, strikes, and pressure points to exploit an adversary's natural reactions. Like many martial arts, San Soo claims it can be used by smaller or weaker persons against larger or stronger assailants as it does not rely on brute force.
Kung Fu San Soo does not attempt to emulate the motions of animals. Techniques are made up of Chin Na
leverages, Throwing
, Choking
, Joint-locking, Strangling
, Da, or strikes, and quick Takedowns. Targets include the eyes, nose, throat, base of the skull, neck, liver, spleen, kidneys, groin, and knees, and for this reason, most San Soo practitioners do not spar or engage in full contact fighting, preferring to practice the techniques in unrehearsed 'freestyle workout' sessions with carefully controlled contact. San Soo practitoners claim this method of training builds an automatic and flexible response in much the same way we learn language a few words at a time until we have full and versatile vocabularies. Training methods, historic interpretations, and modifications exist from school to school among the modern descendants of Chin Siu Dek's Kung Fu San Soo.
Kung Fu San Soo also incorporates training with the use of many traditional Chinese weapons. These include the staff (5', 7' and 9'), broadsword, hooking or ripping swords, butterfly swords, three-section staff, tai-chi sword, knife, spear, kwon do, chas and chain. The baton, not a traditional Chinese weapon, was a weapon that Jimmy Woo specialized in and incorporated into the art.
Taishan
Taishan is a coastal county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is part of the Greater Taishan Region....
region of the Guangdong province. Kung Fu San Soo has many traditional forms and isometric exercises in its training regimen. Typically, the 5 Family Fist style is taught along with a set of animal styles. Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy H. Woo), the man responsible for bringing Kung Fu San Soo to America, did not believe in the animal styles and hence taught only the 5 family styles (蔡李何佛雄). His words were, "We fight like men, not animals." The name "Kung Fu San Soo" itself was chosen by Woo to simplify the pronunciation and meaning for American students, rather than using the complete names of the 5 families. In many other styles, there are sparring components which are referred to as San Soo or San Shou
San shou
Sanshou or Sanda or an "unsanctioned fight" is a Chinese hand-to-hand self-defense system and combat sport. Sanshou is a martial art which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the intense study and practices of traditional Kung Fu and modern combat fighting techniques; it...
(散手). They are the same words in Chinese, but their context is different, meaning only sparring, and are not representative of an entire style as in Kung Fu San Soo. Kung Fu San Soo was designed for military combat. The techniques are designed for the immediate disabling of an attacker. Consequently, there are no competitions or tournaments for San Soo Kung Fu.
Jimmy Haw Woo
Kung Fu San Soo was brought to America by a 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 OccupationSecond Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, 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 Great-Uncle, Chan Siu Hung, at the Hung Sing Goon school in Taishan, China Guangdong Province
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
. Kung Fu San Soo tradition holds that Chin Siu Dek lived and grew up just across the river from this school in the village of Sanba. 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 Sai Mo (Chen Shi Wu [Mand]). As Jimmy H. Woo, Chin Siu Dek opened his own studio in El Monte, California
El Monte, California
El Monte is a residential, industrial, and commercial city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte," and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475,...
to teach his family art in about 1959.
The art of Kung Fu San Soo
Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung San Soo was not created or taught as a tournamentTournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
sport. The basic premise of San Soo is there are no rules in a fight, so the style incorporates techniques to remove a threat as quickly as possible through the seizing the initiative and using a free-flowing variety of throws, joint breaks, strikes, and pressure points to exploit an adversary's natural reactions. Like many martial arts, San Soo claims it can be used by smaller or weaker persons against larger or stronger assailants as it does not rely on brute force.
Kung Fu San Soo does not attempt to emulate the motions of animals. Techniques are made up of Chin Na
Chin Na
Chin Na or Qinna is a Chinese term describing techniques used in the Chinese martial arts that control or lock an opponent's joints or muscles/tendons so he cannot move, thus neutralizing the opponent's fighting ability...
leverages, Throwing
Throw (grappling)
A throw is a martial arts term for a grappling technique that involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, and tossing them to the ground in Japanese martial arts referred to as nage-waza, 投げ技, "throwing technique"...
, Choking
Chokehold
A chokehold or choke is a general term for grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air or blood from passing through the neck of an opponent. The restriction may be of one or both and depends on the hold used and the reaction of the victim...
, Joint-locking, Strangling
Strangling
Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
, Da, or strikes, and quick Takedowns. Targets include the eyes, nose, throat, base of the skull, neck, liver, spleen, kidneys, groin, and knees, and for this reason, most San Soo practitioners do not spar or engage in full contact fighting, preferring to practice the techniques in unrehearsed 'freestyle workout' sessions with carefully controlled contact. San Soo practitoners claim this method of training builds an automatic and flexible response in much the same way we learn language a few words at a time until we have full and versatile vocabularies. Training methods, historic interpretations, and modifications exist from school to school among the modern descendants of Chin Siu Dek's Kung Fu San Soo.
Kung Fu San Soo also incorporates training with the use of many traditional Chinese weapons. These include the staff (5', 7' and 9'), broadsword, hooking or ripping swords, butterfly swords, three-section staff, tai-chi sword, knife, spear, kwon do, chas and chain. The baton, not a traditional Chinese weapon, was a weapon that Jimmy Woo specialized in and incorporated into the art.
External links
- Kung Fu San Soo Academy Germany - Master Frank Scheler
- Sudden Violence: The Art Of San Soo Greg Jones
- 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).
- San Soo Advanced Fighting Concepts - Master Dale A. Garrison
- San Soo Demo Videos
- San Soo Directory
- San Soo Kung Fu, History, Kung Fu San Soo instruction by 1st Generation Master Jack Sera
- kungfustudio.net
- Kung Fu San Soo, The Grand Master Jimmy H. Woo Kung-Fu San Soo Associates
- San Soo, Kung Fu San Soo instruction by 1st Generation Master Bill Hulsey
- The Rockwell's - Spring Winds Kung Fu San Soo - Hand Forms, Weapon Forms and Fighting Specialist
- Dap Ga Kung Fu, Kung Fu San Soo as taught by First Generation Master, Juan M. Meza