Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling)

What is Shuai Jiao?

Shuaijiao (also spelled Shuai-Chiao) is a Chinese Kung Fu fighting method that is approximately four thousand years old. Shuaijiao was born in a time of war long ago when falling on the battlefield likely meant never getting up, and in that spirit, Shuaijiao's curriculum focuses on throwing in several ways. It is a standing grappling style, meaning that although there are hip throws, leg sweeps and hand techniques, like many other arts, there is no ground grappling. Shuaijiao's goal is to finish in a dominant standing position.

Shuai Jiao meets on Saturdays from 4-5:30 and is taught by Shifu James

Class Structure and Curriculum

This class focuses on the fundamental jibengung [foundation work] of classical Chinese martial arts as applied to the practice of shuai jiao. Coach Gomez defined a very clear basic curriculum of 10 core techniques: Sweeping, Diagonal striking, Elbow locking, Crunching, Lower leg blocking, Diagonal pulling, Embracing, Eyebrow mopping, Hip throw, and Neck surrounding.

Shuai Jiao has around 80 classes of throws, of which the above are only 10 classes. Shifu James provides material from an extensive library of shuai jiao books and DVDs to further supplement training other classes of throws. The class is structured into three phases over 90 minutes:

1) 30 minutes of warm-up and fundamental postures, including safely tumbling

2) 30 minutes of partner training on fundamentals such as stepping, proper gripping and proper application

3) 30 minutes of applied throws, which can include the use of a 90 pound throwing dummy for safety purposes