Shuai jiao (摔跤 or 摔角, shuāijiāo) is traditional Chinese wrestling. It is fought standing, in a thick short jacket closed by a belt, the 褡裢 (dālian). The aim is to throw the opponent to the ground with grips, off-balancing and leg techniques, and after every throw both wrestlers start again on their feet.
- 历史HistoryFrom the Chiyou legend and Qin-Han jiaodi to the Qing imperial Shanpu Ying, the Republican Guoshu era and the modern sport of Chinese wrestling.
- 规则RulesUniform, scoring, banned techniques, match length, weight classes and penalties in shuai jiao, compared across the main rule sets in use.
- 技术TechniquesShuai jiao techniques: jacket grips, stance, footwork and throws by family, with Chinese characters, pinyin and known counters.
- 人物PeopleTwelve wrestlers and teachers who shaped shuai jiao, from Ping Jingyi and Chang Dongsheng to the wrestlers of Beijing's Tianqiao and of Tianjin.
- 成绩ResultsSelected 2023–2026 shuai jiao results: World Shuai Jiao Games, European championships and cups, Chinese nationals. Italian athletes, links to full results.
- 游戏GameFree browser minigame: jacket grips, balance and throws of shuai jiao, with the Chinese names of the techniques.
Why Jiaodi
Jiaodi (角抵) is one of the ancient names of Chinese wrestling: under the Qin it became the usual term, before xiangpu and finally shuaijiao. Tradition links it to the "game of Chiyou", in which people wrestled wearing ox horns, but that is a legend. We tell the story on the history page.
How we work
Shuai jiao is a serious discipline, and on many points the sources disagree: masters' birth dates, the origins of the styles, the titles they won. Every page on Jiaodi numbers its statements and links them to the source list at the bottom. We cite sources in Chinese, English and whatever other languages we found them in. When two sources contradict each other we say so, and legend is kept apart from documented history.