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Shuaijiao (Chinese: 摔跤 or 摔角; pinyin: Shuāijiāo; Wade–Giles: Shuai-chiao) is the modern term for Chinese and Mongolian wrestling. The word shuai stands for "to throw onto the ground" and jiao may have two meanings; the first and oldest, 角, stands for "horns" and the second and recent, 跤, stands for "wrestle", so Shuaijiao literally means "to throw onto the ground using 'horns'" or "to thrown onto the ground through wrestling".
As a fighting art it incorporates limb control (joint locks, bars and twists), chokes, footsweeps, throws, groundighting and grappling. Students learn the vital points of human anatomy, but with a view to grasping, pressing and locking them rather than strking them.
Wrestling as a martial art originated in prehistoric times. In the oldest versions of Shuaijiao that we know of, contestants wore horned headgear which they attempted to butt their opponents with. In ancient China, wrestling had many different names according to the current dynasty; Jiaoli, Jiaoti and Shoubo were some of them. By 700 wrestling reached such a cultural level that contests were held before the emperor. These contests were held as court amusement and used as eliminatory process for selecting superb martial arts instructors for the military. Some contests would last a week or so, with more than 1,000 participants.
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