In this video lesson you will lean how to do a sanda sidekick. The sidekick is probably the most popular and powerful sanda skill. Most chinese sanda fights start with the sidekick ( in chinese: ce shuai tui ) Start from your fighting stance and lift the knee of the front leg. For a high sidekick it is important to lift the knee close to the chest. Stand on the ball of your foot. Keep your heel a fem cm from the floor. ( not too far ) Then thrust the leg straight forward and extend your leg. The hip should be fully extended or be in a slight bow shape. The back hand stays close to the face. Hook punches are a common defense against side kicks, so protect your chin. Hit your opponent with the heel or the foot sole, not with the ball of the foot. When you do a sanda sidekick, you don't have to let the toes point down or hold the kick like when you do a karate sidekick. It's ok if your foor is horizontal. Keep looking, staring at your opponent and pull your leg back as fast as you can. Don't let your opponent grab your leg. This is all about speed and power. ( no time for beauty ) You can also kick with the back leg, but this is seldom practiced in chinese sanda. ( can be more powerful, but it is usually too slow to be really effective ) However, for a sidekick with the back leg, turn on the ball of the foot of your front leg and lift your knee first. Then kick and put the leg back down close to your opponent. ( pulling the leg back to its initial position makes everything even slower ) Instead you can use this position for a left hook punch, which is very strong from this position and bings you back to the right side of your fighting stance.

Animated Sanda Lessons:

Sanda Main

Sanda Fighting Stance

Performed by: Li Xin and Zhang Hua Dong
Coach: Zhou Zhang Yong - Song Jiang Wushu School