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Kung Fu, the Art of War " The Rebirth"
Part of the reason that Muaythai suffered this loss is over-confidence on the Thai team. They did not closely study the way their Sanda opponents fought, & to find their weaknesses. Although they are all seasoned champions, they went to Beijing with the assumption that since Muaythai had beat all other striking arts in the past, including Kungfu, they can beat the Chinese based on experience alone. The Thai side is so confident that they willingly took the handicap of no elbows & knees to the head, believing they can still win Sanda without these 2 important weapons. And they have been proven wrong. In the press conference after the challenge the Thai officials complained that the Chinese referees stopped the match whenever the Thai fighters clinched their Chinese opponents to use knees strikes. But what is the point of complaining when they've already agreed to these critical restrictions in the first place? The Chinese, on the other hand, carefully studied their opponents, finding ways to evade Muaythai's strengths & attacking its weaknesses. Besides improving their conditioning, all the Chinese coaching brains spend much time drilling the Sanda fighters in the methods which they believe will work against Muaythai. All the 4 Chinese victories were won by points gained from throws. With the extra edge of not needing to worry about elbows/knees, the Chinese war plan have more or less succeeded. This is evidence to show you how effectively the Chinese can apply strategies from the Art of War, something which I think deserves credit. In comparison, the Thai people are much more simple & straightfoward, thus losing out in this war of brains + brawn. As individual fighters, they are tougher than the Chinese. In fact, they dominated all of the bouts with superior striking skills. Yet somehow the Chinese still managed to out-smart the Thais as a team. So this is where the Thai side must calmly reflect upon if they wish to regain their position as the ultimate ring sport. The next challenge will be scheduled on the 23rd of September at the new Guangzhou Sports Stadium in Canton, & in this challenge the Thais will no longer have any handicaps - they will be free to use all Muaythai elbow/knees. The Chinese have sent out many formidable champion fighters from the King of Sanda tournament inclding last year's King, Liu Hailong, who will fight in the 75kg category match. If the Chinese are still able to defeat the Thais on the 23rd, then we can safely acknowledge the supremacy of Sanda, anointing it as the new leader of ring sports. Avenging the shame that Muaythai has put on Kungfu in the past decades, the Chinese have for now proven that they could bridge the big gap of standard that used to exist between the 2 striking arts, although not convincingly. Still, being able to achieve this result with just 3 years of modification is worthy of praise. A step forward for Sanda, & hopefully Chinese Martial Science will be richer for it. So on the 23rd, let us see whether this can be confirmed.