A historical victory for Chinese Sanda!! In a pioneer team challenge match between Japanese Full-contact Karate & Chinese Sanda Kungfu 2 nights ago at the Langfang City Stadium of Hebei province, the brave Sanda fighters have scored a convincing 3 to 1 victory over the Karateka. They have proven for the 1^st time in front of a small home crowd of 4000 & to the Japanese what the Chinese are capable of once they throw away their inhibitions & set their minds to accomplish something.

The challenge matches started off with the 65kg category fight between Cui Chen, the "Thousand hand Buddha" from Sichuan province & Hasegawa, the "Noble Sakura Warrior". The Chinese like to give their fighters grand titles, friend or foe alike. Cui Chen won decisively by his superior Shuai Jiao - throwing skills. The Japanese Karateka is obviously not well-trained in stand up grappling.

Next is the 70kg category fight between Lin Jianshen, the "Flashing Sword of Nantian" from Guangxi province & Kitade, the "Iron Fist of Mt Fuji". Lin also won clearly with a good punch-kick combo followed by a powerful lifting throw.

Following up is the 75kg category fight between Zhang Zhen, the "Jade Emperor Sword" from Chongqing & Watanabe, the "Iron Hand". This Karateka is the only fighter who managed to give his Sanda opponent a hard time, pummeling Zhang with rapid blows until he is forced to throw in the towel in the 4^th round due to sustained injuries. Watanabe lived up to his title as the Iron Hand.

Last is the 80kg category fight between Xue Fengqiang, the "Divine Shadow of Yandu" from Beijing & Hamamatsu, the "Ichiro Sword". Although Hamamatsu fought fiercely, Xue manage to prevail against him with better combo techniques. He won by points.

After this victory over Full-contact Karate comes the challenge from Korean Taekwondo fighters, scheduled on the 24^th of July. They are all known to be young, below 20 years, but very talented. The Sanda Team however, feels confident of another victory for these Taekwondo fighters are mostly trained in accurately scoring points through various kicks, & may not have enough KO power in their blows. If Korea is sending WTF athletes, then I must agree with the analysis of the Sanda side.

Following that will be what everyone is waiting for - the Showdown between Sanda & Muaythai, scheduled in the coming August, September & October. 2 challenges will be held in China & 1 in Thailand. The popularity of these 3 challenge matches is predicted to greatly surpass that of Karate & Taekwondo. Afterall, Muaythai is the best striking art in existence & the ultimate Ring Sport. Now the organisers have stated that they will not impose any rule restrictions on either side - meaning it will be a truly free style match up. Man, I can't wait to see the Thais teach the Chinese not to become too confident too fast. I hope the Thai side will send their top fighters, & believe me, Muaythai still have something superior to Sanda right now. As long as the Thais can freely use all their Muaythai techniques, Sanda fighters are going to have a really hard time. Onward China!!

Its founder, Jukucho (President) Azuma, was a former Kyokushin All Japan Open champion in 1977 as well as a 4^th placer in the 1^st Kyokushin World Open. He left Kyokushin a few years later & founded Daidojuku in 1981. His reason for doing this is to develop a well-rounded style of martial art that covers all aspects of unarmed combat, instead of just stand-up bare-knuckle fighting. According to Azuma himself this is not the first time his fighters have face Sanda, & he takes this defeat as a learning experience for his still growing style of Karate. He hopes that Chinese Sanda fighters can have a chance to fight under Daidojuku rules as well, & states that a rematch is possible if his fighters are still willing. Incidentally, Kitade, the 70kg fighter from the Japanese side is not a Karateka, but a Sanda fighter from the Tokyo Sanshu Club. So his defeat must therefore be disregarded & the actual result of this Challenge should be 2:1, not 3:1. Not such a bad result, I'd say. Daidojuku Karate is well-known for its many exchanges with different martial arts through the years, including Muaythai. Azuma is commendable in the sense that he is not afraid to open up the doors of his style & willing to accept defeat for the sake of progress. For his kind of courage I sincerely salute him.  

*The VCDs of this Sanda VS Karate challenge is available now at $10. Those interested pls email me here.

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