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I have been training Sanshou for ten years. My first competition took place 8 years ago and I have been competing ever sence. I compete in the 65 kg category. I have four Swedish national championship titles, several gold medals from different Swedish competitions, gold medal in the European Wushu championship 2004, a bronze medal from the world Wushu championship in 2005 and a gold medal from San Shou European Challenge Cup in Great Britain in 2003.
I have to say, I'm not a big expert but I believe that Wushu is the "family" name of all different kind of Kung Fu. San Shou actually is the modern way of Wushu fighting in different championships and competitions.
Yes, I played handball for about ten years and riding horses for 12 years. And for improving my San Shou skills, I've also (briefly) been training boxing.
I have, as I mentioned earlier, been playing handball and been riding horses, so I must say I like all kind of sports. But in the same time, combat sport is nothing like anything else. You have to be in a perfect shape when you compete, otherwise you may get hurt or lose the fight. I like that after a long period of hard training that it's still up to yourself if you're going to succeed or not. Wushu/San Shou is really a sport for both mind and body.
I have not a great deal of experience from other martial arts than San Shou, but I still believe that San Shou is one of the most all-round martial arts, if you don't include combat sports like shootfigthing and similar.
Most of the time I have about one to two days a week when I have no training. When I'm preparing for a fight, I train almost every day of the week. There is San Shou training 4 times a week and I also run a couple of days and work out at the gym three times a week.
I have never been worried about anything like that. If you are scared and feeling afraid then a combat sport my not be for you. And you are more likely to get serious hurt if you hesitate both on training and in fights.
You can win a fight by points or by knock-out. If a contender is very superior her/his opponent one can also win by TKO.
My favorite techniques are boxing and frontkick. A good boxing is very important for how and when you can continue with a kick or a takedown, for example. Frontkick, a foreward pushing kick, is relevant if you want to stop your opponant or push him/her backward. Overall, I believe it's important to be able to vary your techniques with boxing, low and high kicks and takedown. By doing this you, you'll not be predictable in your fighting.
I have been close to knock somebody out but it has never really happened.
No, I have never been knocked out.
A knockout is when a fighter gets a hard or well put technique that makes him/her become unconscious. It's the same as in boxing.
I believe that it always will be a discussion about the rules of knockout. The debate in Sweden is for the first time in many years coming to an end. Professional boxing have always been forbidden and there's now special rules for even a Sanshou competition. This is of course for your own good but I think the laws and rules have to be equal for all sports.
It is always a tragedy when someone gets injuried or worse, as in your examples from the press, dies. It is of course important that a competition has strict rules. In order to reduce possible injuries all fighters should have a medical certificate of good health. This is the primary preparation all competitions chould have, and of course a doctor at every fight. It is hard for me to give specific comment for a single fight apart from general comments because I don't have all the facts from the case. Accidents do happen and some can be prevented and a good start is to have strict rules as I mentioned above.
It isn't just in boxing people can be killed in an accident and in ice-hockey, for an example, they always gets into a fight. I think that the differens between a game of ice-hockey and a boxing match is that two fighters in a ring are both up to the task and aware of the purpose of the sport - and that makes it more "cruel". Personally I think that professional boxing can be rather rough and for this reason I think that Sanshou with all the protection is a less dangerous type of martial art. And Sanshou is not to the same degree as boxing focused upon the head for winning techniques.
I have come across a couple of "bad losers", but never been in a conflict of any kind. I'm very careful to separate feelings in a fight with any personal emotions. You have to remember that you fight for yourself and can't be affected by anyone else. There's more unusual to come across a "bad winner", but believe me, they exist.
A bad loser is a fighter who doesn't win the fight and can't handle it in a good sportsmanship. I think it's important to be able to lose a fight without loosing your temper. I have come across a couple of bad losers that are not too friendly and at the same time are trying to make bad excuses for loosing the fight and trying to tell you that you only won because you were lucky.
The fight that means the most to me is the final fight in the European championship 2004 because I won the gold medal.
By not giving any name at all, I will not forget somebody...
I haven't tried in MMA but I participated in Swedish competitions called "All Style Open" where fighters from different martial arts like Karate, Kung fu, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu and full-contact Kickboxing compete each other by a certain set of rules. But it has nothing to do with Sanshou.
In training is it up to each female fighter to wear any protection, in competitions is it sometimes in the regulations.
Why not?? For the same reason as we like watching men in combat movies I guess.
I don't agree, I think it's men who are insecure and can't handle female fighters that have this kind of thinking.
Not in specific a fighter, but people often see that you're a professional (or elite) athlete.
I don't think fighting is for everyone. You must have fighting spirit and a motivation for getting your ass kicked. But I believe that it's physical possible for almost every female to become a fighter but as I said, you have to be strong.
I personally think that you still can be both tender and delicate even if you're a fighter. But people do prefer different thing in a partner. Men, as the same time as women, don't always prefer the "typical" about a sex, even if that's what the general picture looks like most of times. I don't think so many people choose their husband or wife depending on whether they are good fighter, for example, or not. At least not only by this preference.
Yes, if they like to. I believe that everybody should be able to have an influence on their own life.
I have been lucky to mostly come across people that understand my dedication and support me. My family was a bit anxious at first, but they have realised that I won't get hurt or anything.
I think it goes both ways.
I haven't been in a streetfight or any fights with anyone. If I sometime must defend myself, then I will do it. But I don't believe in fighting in the street just for fun.
I'm careful about the way I look, but not to that extend that it becomes an obstacle in my fighting or the preparations before a fight. I can't focus on whether or not I might get a face injury. If it happens, it happens.
"Sodermalms Shaolin" or "Sodermalms kung fu forening" is the kung fu club/gym where I (and Hanna Sillen) is training. The gym is the most successful kung fu club in Sweden. The whole Swedish national San Shou team is from this gym.
I'm a student at a college university in Stockholm, Sweden. I study political science and I'm writing my master thesis at this moment.
*) "All Style Open" tournament - a competition in which martial artists representing different styles compete in full contact following special general rules. All style competitions were invented in 1983 by Thabo Motsieloa, in order to give martial artists of various styles a possibility to test their techniques and strength against each other as well as effectiveness their martial art styles.
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