During this Republic period between 1912 to 1949 Chinese martial arts became more accessible to the general public as many practitioners of martial arts were encouraged to openly teach to the public. At that time, some considered martial arts as a means to promote national pride and build a strong nation. As a result, many Schools and academies were created and training manuels were published.
It was during this Republic period that modern day Sanshou developed through the Chinese military. It was based upon intense study of techniques and applications from various traditional martial art fighting systems such as
Bagua,
Drunken Boxing,
Eagle Claw,
Five Animals,
Hsing I,
Hung Gar,
Lau Gar,
Monkey,
Bak Mei Pai,
Praying Mantis,
Fujian White Crane,
Wing Chun and
Tai Chi Chuan. All of which developed over centuries after having incorporated forms that came into existence later.
The Chinese military primarily looked at methods focusing on unarmed combat but also looked into the practice of training with weapons. Their aim was to develop a complete martial art system including defence against bladed weapons and firearms.
In 1924, the Guomindang (Chinese National Party) established the Whampoa Military Academy in Canton province, Southern China in order to train the Party’s leaders and create a modern military force. In January 1923 they had formed a strategic alliance with the Soviet Union. The Academy utilised Soviet methods to establish party discipline, political instruction and training of military personnel.
Between 1904 and 1905 during the war between Russia and Japan, Russian forces experienced heavy losses with the Japanese in close quarter combat. They felt something had to be done and steps were taken to develop better methods of training soldiers for close quarter combat. The project was made official under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1917. The result of this project is what is today known as Sambo.
The Soviet military and the creators of Sambo felt a sport form was needed which could be safely practiced on a regular basis. This would also incorporate modern advancements in sports medicine and training methodology. All of which taught to them under the guidance of a skilled coach.
Under the tutelage of Soviet advisors, the Chinese endeavored to create a similar method of training their military forces. The program was perhaps more important to the Chinese who lacked an industrial base and access to most modern warfare technology. The Whampoa military instructors who studied the traditional martial art styles combined them with the modern training methods and created Sanshou and the decision was made to use a Kickboxing like format when practiced.
Ground fighting was never introduced at this time as they believed that most self defense situations are initiated from a standing position. Furthermore, being on the ground for long periods makes you more venerable to attack and the surface itself could present numerous dangers especially when falling. Therefore Sanshou was developed to avoid confrontation on the ground focusing on skills in striking, kicking, wrestling, throwing and takedowns as well as joint locking and seizing. The idea was to stay on your feet the most effective way possible.
To further improve military personnel the Whampoa Academy would frequently hold competitive events between the soldiers to test and practice their barehanded martial skills, ability and techniques. These bouts would be fought on a raised platform called a “Lei Tai”. Historically, “Lei Tai” fights dates back centuries in China where challenge matches would be fought both barehanded and with weapons. Often these bouts would end in serious injury or death.
With Sanshou being taught and practiced on a wider scale outside of the military the Central Wushu Institute was established in Nan Jing (or Nanking) in 1928 and a National Chinese tournament was held featuring competitions in long weapons, short weapons, Sanshou and Shuai Jiao (Chinese wresting). The fights on the “Lei Tai” were so brutal that the final 12 contestants were not permitted to fight through fear of killing off some of the great masters of that time. There was also a tournament held in 1933 with a similar outcome so changes were needed.
Modern Sanshou developed into a sport at the same time as modern Wushu during the 1960’s and protective equipment was introduced. Gloves, head-guards and body armours would now be worn during competitive bouts. Also, a set of rules were introduced to reduce the risk of serious injury. These rules would allow for a wide array of full contact punching, kicking, takedowns and throws taken from the traditional applications but the use of knees, elbows, chokes, joint locks and submission holds would be excluded.