bartekb wrote:Yes, but I had just dislocated my left thumb and could only use a limited amount of techniques, so it's not really a good example of TCMA sparring.
https://youtu.be/vsriRyODYqo 3:20 i assume? the one that starts at 5:00 - this is where it really gets bad
No, it starts at around 10:00. I only had the one hand, the one I don't normally use as much. If it's strong enough, though, people will want to get out of the way..
At 3:30 I attempted to switch to a right lead, which did not work out for me very well. After that I began training both sides almost equally in case something like that happens again (and it did) and my right lead side has vastly improved.
At 5:00 you can't really criticise the short one too much. He is a Gongfu brother of mine and studied Sanda for about one year and about eight months with my master before that video was shot. It was supposed to be a friendly sparring bout and that arsehole just went mental on him. After the initial shock he recovered and gave his opponent a really hard blow towards the end, which is sort of off camera. You can see some traditional techniques in there, plus a bit of traditional footwork, but it is from a Sanda base. The other bloke studied Baguazhang and is supposed to be a priest at the local mosque and was bragging about it for a long time afterwards. It looked like utter shite and the next time I saw him, just before I left Guilin, I really wanted to bash his brains in, but restrained myself.
The short one went on to compete in several provincial Sanda tournaments, where he was always in the top three. He was never able to fully convert from Sanda to TCMA. Perhaps when people are used to a particular fighting style it's harder for them to totally switch techniques and strategies and much easier to just add in some traditional techniques that fit well into what you already do.