San Soo
San Soo is a form of Chinese martial arts also known as Kung Fu San Soo and San Soo Kung Fu.
San Soo fighting tactics were begun in the Kwan-Yin (goddess of mercy) monastery in the village of Pon Hong, Guangdong Province of Southern China. The monks are said to have developed this form of martial arts to protect themselves from bandits and outlaws as they returned with supplies and donations from the nearby villages as well as to maintain their physical fitness..
Jimmy Woo (Chin Siu Dek) is credited with bringing the art to America in the 1930's, finally opening his own studio to teach formally in 1962.
San Soo is not a tournament sport, a basic premise of San Soo is there are "no rules in a fight" and it incorporates techniques that aim to remove a threat as quickly and effectively as possible. Typical moves include blows to the throat, upward blows to the nose, or kicking to the groin, all of which are commonly banned from sports styles.
San Soo can be used effectively by smaller, weaker persons against large assailants, as it does not rely on brute force. The swiftness of neutralizing an opponent is another aspect of this paradigm, with some practitioners aiming to end a fight within ten seconds, using merely three blows.
