Table tennis grips and playing styles

# Table tennis grips and playing styles

## Abstract

Table tennis is unique among racket sports in that it supports a wide variety of playing styles and methods of gripping the racket, at even the highest levels of play. This article describes some of the most common table tennis grips and playing styles seen in competitive play. The playing styles listed in this article are broad categories with fuzzy boundaries, and most players will possess some combination of these styles while leaning towards a "favorite". Many advanced players will also add some "special" shots of their own.

As of 2023, shakehand grips and attack-oriented playing styles are the most popular styles in high-level play. While many argue that this is because shakehand grips and attacking styles have a competitive advantage, it is also true that the shakehand grip is easier to learn as a beginner, and attack-oriented playing styles have broader aesthetic appeal than defensive playing styles. Regardless, players with a variety of playing styles and grip techniques still manage to play and win tournaments at the highest level.

In the 1970s, most European teams focused on training all of their players with the same equipment and playing style: shakehand grip with inverted rubber on the racket, playing a loop-focused attacking style, using the forehand to cover 2/3 of the table and backhand to cover 1/3 of the table. In contrast, the Chinese team maintained a wide variety of playing styles, equipment, and grip variations among their players. The diversity maintained by the Chinese team is no doubt a factor in their dominance of the sport over the past several decades, and European teams have recently figured this out and followed suit.

## Racket grips

Competitive table tennis players grip their rackets in a variety of ways. Almost all competitive players grip their rackets with either the shakehand grip or a penhold grip. Numerous variations on gripping styles exist. The rules of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) do not prescribe the manner in which one must grip the racket.

### Shakehand (aka "Handshake") grip

Shakehand is possibly the oldest surviving grip since the table tennis racket took its current shape. It is named because one holds the racket as if they are shaking hands with it: thumb on one side of the racket, index finger on the other side, and the remaining three fingers wrapped around the handle. This grip allows nearly even power distribution over forehand and backhand shots, but suffers from an awkward crossover point in the middle of the body, where the player must switch from forehand to backhand. This crossover point between the forehand and backhand is an area of weakness for shakehand players, but penhold players do not have such a crossover point because they can cover the middle of their body by simply swinging their forehand down like a pendulum. The main advantages of a shakehand grip are the ability to make fast topspin attacks on both the forehand and backhand sides, and the ability to create extremely spinny balls, particularly those with pure topspin and pure backspin.

Virtually all European players and roughly two thirds of Asian players use the shakehand grip.

### Peenhold grips

The peenhold grips are named because of the similarity to the way that peens are held: with the thumb and index finger wrapped around the front side of the handle, and the remaining three fingers on the back of the blade. Peenhold styles have one notable advantage over shakehand in that they do not have an awkward crossover point in the middle of the body. Peenhold styles also allow around 270° of wrist mobility around the axis of the plane of the blade, making it much easier for peenhold players to create both directions of sidespin as well as hybrid sidespin-topspin or sidespin-backspin shots. It is also easier for peenhold players to disguise what kind of spin they are putting on the ball, as well as in which direction they are going to hit the ball. It is typically hard for penhold players to create pure topspin or pure backspin, as both their forehand and backhand strokes tend to hit the ball at a side-angle, so most of their shots will have some sidespin.

Peenhold grip styles have become less popular in recent years, since it is hard and awkward to perform backhand topspins and backhand attacks, and the game has become much more attack-oriented as of late. The backhand weakness makes it much harder for peenhold beginners to perform well against their shakehand counterparts, and so few stick with it to develop better technique. However, this has not stopped top penhold players from winning the World Championships, the World Cup and the Olympic Games regularly, as the backhand weakness can be covered adequately by putting in the effort to learn good backhand technique (as Ryu Seung-Min has), with excellent footwork allowing forehand coverage of most of the table (exemplified best by Ryu Seung-Min and Xu Xin), or by supplementing with the more modern Reverse Penhold Backhand innovation (exemplified best by Wang Hao).

One-Sided Penhold (aka "Traditional Penhold", "Japanese Penhold", or "Korean Penhold"): Players who utilize the traditional penhold grip hit both forehand and backhand shots with only the forehand side of the racket, and usually don't even have rubber on the racket's back side. The rackets made for use with Traditional Penhold look quite different from most other rackets: they are usually square, made from a very thick single-ply piece of cypress wood, painted black on the back side, and with a large piece of cork protruding from the handle. Directional control of the racket in this grip is supported almost exclusively by the index finger, which hooks around the large piece of cork glued to the handle. The backhand stroke is achieved by swinging the forehand side of the racket down and around in an underhand position across the body, like an upside-down windshield wiper. This results in a backhand which is suitable for blocking and returning balls, but does not properly allow shoulder mechanics for fast attacks or producing topspin. While traditional penhold players often lack the ability to loop on the backhand side, many of them can partially make up for it with a powerful backhand punch. Although this grip impairs the backhand stroke, the forehand stroke with this grip is phenomenal: the grip aligns the racket with the hand and forearm, and as a result, the fastest shots in table tennis are made with the Japanese Penhold's forehand stroke. Many traditional penholders would argue that the exceptional forehand makes up for the weak backhand, and traditional penhold players typically avoid using the backhand by trying to cover the entire table with their forehand. This places a much higher demand on the player for athleticism -- specifically for explosive leg strength, fast footwork, coordination of footwork with arm strokes, and quick reaction times. Notable traditional penholders include Ryu Seung-Min, Kim Taek-Soo and Kaii Yoshida. It can be seen in recordings of their matches that all three of these players do quite a bit more footwork and coordinated body movement than their shakehand counterparts.

Two-Sided Penhold (aka "Modern Penhold" or "Chinese Penhold"): The Chinese national team has recently undertaken a project to teach its penhold players to use the underside of their rackets to hit backhand shots. This Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB) solves the shoulder mechanics problem of the traditional penhold backhand, allowing easy looping and attacking shots. However, the gripping position one must employ to play the RPB is different from the traditional penhold grip: one must relax the index finger and bring it higher up on the racket, making more room for the thumb. Pressing with the thumb is what allows the forehand face of the racket to rotate inwards, letting the player hit the ball with the underside. This modified grip puts the wrist out of alignment with the rest of the arm, and thus results in a significantly weaker forehand when compared to the traditional grip. Because of the modified position of the index finger, Chinese penhold rackets do not require a large piece of cork on the handle. Chinese table tennis legend Liu Guoliang is usually credited with the invention and promotion of the RPB stroke, and as head coach of the Chinese team, he started training penholders to use this stroke. The first high-level player to truly master and popularize the RPB stroke is Wang Hao, who hits almost all of his backhand shots with the underside of his racket (with the exception of the short push when receiving a short serve). Other top-level Chinese penholders such as Ma Lin and Xu Xin primarily use the traditional penhold backhand when returning balls, but they keep rubber on the underside of their rackets in case a good opportunity for a RPB attack presents itself.

### Unusual grips

Although the vast majority of table tennis players grip the racket in one of the three styles above, there are some outlier grips which are very rare.

Seemiller grip: This is a grip that was developed and popularized by Dan Seemiller, an American table tennis champion. To use the Seemiller grip, the tip of the forefinger is placed so it reaches near the edge of the racket (or, in the case of another American champion, Eric Boggan, actually wraps around the edge of the racket). This grip makes it awkward to hit shots using a standard handshake backhand, using the opposite side of the racket. So, instead, Seemiller grip players hit their backhands with the same side of the racket as they use to hit their forehands, turning their wrists over the way a baseball player would to make a backhand catch, and typically blocking or counter-hitting the ball. Since they use only one side of their racket at a time, Seemiller grip players often put a rubber with very different playing characteristics on the other side of their bat, commonly a low-friction "anti-spin" rubber that they use to return spinny serves or to abruptly change the pace of the ball during a rally. Seemiller, in fact, is credited with inventing the combo bat, a racket with different types of rubber on each side. This grip also has the nickname "windshield wiper" due to the motion of the backhand and forehand. : The Seemiller grip has a number of advantages over both shakehand and penhold grips. Like the penhold grip, the Seemiller grip enables a full 270° of mobility around the axis of the plane of the blade. Unlike the penhold (where this mobility comes from the wrist), a lot of the mobility in the Seemiller grip comes from the elbow, allowing an extremely powerful snapping shot on both the forehand and the backhand. Also similar to the penhold, the Seemiller grip does not have a crossover point. Furthermore, the Seemiller grip allows for excellent feeling on blocks, as the fingers are much closer to the ball's point of contact than they are in the shakehand grip, and the wrist is in a much better position to angle downwards than it is in either of the penhold styles.

## Penhold playing styles

### Forehand looper

Penhold loopers utilize the forehand topspin loop as their primary shot. A loop is a topspin stroke in table tennis, usually performed with the forehand, where the player starts the stroke below the ball and brushes the ball upwards. A looper usually exhibits excellent footwork, trying to use the forehand to cover most or all of the table. Because of this, penhold loopers have a shorter reach than shakehand loopers and generally try to stay close to the table even during powerful loop exchanges.

Notable penhold loopers include 1981-83 World Champion Guo Yuehua, 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist Yoo Nam-kyu, 1992 Olympics Men's Doubles Gold Medalist Lü Lin, 1992 Olympics Bronze medalist Kim Taek-soo, 2001-03 World Men's Doubles Champion Yan Sen, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Ryu Seung-min, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Ma Lin, and 2015 Men's and Mixed Doubles Champion Xu Xin.

### Two-sided looper

Two-sided penhold loopers almost exclusively play with the modern Chinese penhold style, where they use the Reverse Penhold Backhand to make powerful hybrid sidespin-topspin loops. RPB shots are often difficult to return because of the sidespin, and difficult to predict the direction of until the ball is already hit.

Traditional penhold players can be two-sided loopers, but the backhand loop is a very difficult shot, requiring lots of training and extreme shoulder flexibility. Ryu Seung-Min has a good backhand loop for a traditional penholder, but still very much favors his powerful forehand.

The most notable two-sided looper is Wang Hao, who uses the Reverse Penhold Backhand for almost all of his backhand shots. Other prominent two-sided penhold loopers are Félix Lebrun, Dang Qiu and Xue Fei.

### Counter driver

The penholder's advantage of a small crossover is fully utilized in this style. Staying close to the table, counter drivers block and drive the opponent's topspins back across the table at speed, trying to force them out of position, abruptly change the pace of the game, or look for the opportunistic forehand kill. Counter drivers usually have a safe forehand loop as well, in case the opponent is a chopper and doesn't give topspins or easy kills readily. This style works well for short pips hitters.

Notable penhold counter drivers include 2000 Asian Champion Chiang Peng-lung and South Korean player Moon Hyun-jung. Ma Lin, an incredibly well-rounded player, is also known to utilize this strategy when the opponent is lobbing the ball far from the table.

### Short pips hitter

This penhold style utilizes a short pips out rubber, usually on only one side of the racket with no backside rubber. Short pips hitters play over the table, hitting the ball very flatly as soon as it bounces off the table with the pips being largely unaffected by (or even negating) the majority of the opponent's spin. The advantage of hitting the ball flatly is that all of the player's power is transferred into the linear velocity of the ball, without expending any energy on creating spin. This means that the shots are very fast, and typically hard to block for the inexperienced player. However, the lack of a topspin Magnus effect means that the shots are harder to place on the table since they don't follow a downward arc trajectory, and the lack of angular momentum on the ball means that shots are less consistent and more sensitive to small amounts of wind or air pressure, often giving a knuckle ball effect.

Notable penhold short pips hitters include 1996 Olympic Champion Liu Guoliang, 1985 and 1987 World Champion Jiang Jialiang, three-time Olympian Toshio Tasaki, Yang Ying, Kwak Bang-bang, Seok Eun-mi, He Zhi Wen, Lee Eun-hee, Wang Zeng Yi and Rory Cargill.

## Shakehand playing styles

### Forehand looper

Shakehand loopers apply pressure and win points primarily with fast and spinny loops from the forehand. After the opening exchanges, when the first attack has been made, loopers will attack with a variety of topspin shots varying in speed and spin, maneuvering their opponents around the table and looking for outright winners. The power and reach of a shakehand looper means that they can counterloop even when forced back from the table, which can be quite a spectacle when a lobbing looper forced back by smashes suddenly attacks in an attempt to regain initiative.

Notable shakehand loopers include Jean-Michel Saive, Werner Schlager, Wang Liqin, Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Ding Ning. Forehand looper is the most prominent style of play in men's table tennis, as it is a playing style that favors very powerful shots.

### Two-sided attacker

Like a forehand looper, the two-sided attacker uses the loop as a primary weapon, though often from the backhand side. The advantage of the backhand attack is that it is often more controlled and precise than a forehand loop, and having a powerful backhand increases the chances of having the first attack as well as the variety of angles that could be attacked. Two-sided attackers often also employ a very fast and powerful backhand flick. They may even favor their backhand side over their forehand, but maintain a good forehand loop as well.

Notable male two-sided attackers include Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Fan Zhendong, Liang Jingkun, and Darko Jorgić. Two-sided attacker is the most prominent style of play in women's table tennis, since the women's game focuses more on precision and less on power, as compared to the men's game.

### Counter-driver

The shakehand counter driver blocks and drives various attacks back at the opponent, forcing errors through changing angles and rhythm. A series of quick drives and blocks between counter drivers can look quite impressive, with balls seeming to fly everywhere. This style is popular among female players, since the relatively weaker attacks are easier to block compared to the men's game.

Notable counter-drivers include multiple-time Olympic champion Zhang Yining, as well as Fukuhara Ai, Tie Yana and He Zhuojia.

### All-rounder

An all-round player is the closest thing modern table tennis has to a pure defensive player. Typically these players will have excellent reflexes for returning the ball, often from close to the table, and will use their defensive skills to place the ball in inconvenient locations for the opponent, or simply continue to return the ball until they find a good opportunity to attack. This playing style combines tactics from the counter-driver and the forehand looper.

Notable all-round players include Vladimir Samsonov, Oh Sang-eun, and Jan-Ove Waldner.

### Chopper

The single most distinctive style in table tennis is the chopper. The chopper is defensive in the sense that, while other styles look to attack and gain initiative, the chopper gives up the initiative, using the chop to return an attack with backspin and/or sidespin. The chopper returns repeated attacks with slow, floating backspin chops executed as late as possible, taking as much time as necessary to tire out and frustrate the opponent. These chopped balls are often hard to return correctly because they have heavy backspin on them, and the slow floating returns make it necessary for the opponent to start the attack all over again. Chops can vary in the amount of backspin (from no spin to floating), sidespin (curving into the table or away from the attacker), and position, making it hard to continuously attack. Because chopped balls are hard to return well, they are often returned poorly and give the chopper a good opportunity to attack. Inverted rubber is usually employed on the forehand side of the racket, and the backhand is usually reserved for long pips rubber or antispin rubber, which is insensitive to spin (and sometimes even negates spin). The inverted rubber is used for attacking, and the long pips / antispin rubber is used for chopping. Some choppers twiddle their rackets in order to switch which side of the racket has pips, adding another layer of confusion for their opponent.

Notable twiddle-choppers include Koji Matsushita, Svetlana Ganina, Irina Kotikhina and Viktoria Pavlovich. Notable non-twiddle choppers include Chen Weixing, Joo Sae-Hyuk, Ding Song, Kim Kyung-ah, Park Mi-young and Tan Paey Fern. Very few players choose to defend with inverted rubber on both sides, a notable example of which is Wang Tingting.

Points between a chopper and an attacker are usually the easiest for non-players to appreciate, because of the slowness of the ball and the spectacular chop stroke.


Michel Qissi

# Michel Qissi

## Abstract

Michel Qissi (Arabic: ميشيل قيسي; born Mohammed Qissi on 12 September 1962) is a Moroccan Belgian actor and filmmaker best known for his action films. Qissi is the co-founder of The World Cinema Combat Federation (WCCF), an organization he formed with Grand Master Beom Jhoo Lee which teaches fight choreography in filmmaking.

Qissi is trained in Shotokan, Muay Thai, and kickboxing, and competed as an amateur boxer. In 1982, he emigrated to Hollywood together with childhood friend Jean-Claude Van Damme in search of becoming an action star. Bloodsport (1988) was their first major film. The two previously collaborated on Breakin' (1984), and went on to appear in Kickboxer (1989), in which Qissi portrayed the Thai villain Tong Po, Lionheart (1990), and Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016). Qissi also had the role of a fight trainer for Van Damme in the film Cyborg (1989) and served as choreographer on Kickboxer.

He starred in his directorial debut film Terminator Woman (1993), opposite Karen Sheperd and Jerry Trimble. He directed, co-wrote, and starred in Extreme Force (2001), which became a vehicle for Argentinian martial arts star Héctor Echavarría. Aside from his American films, he has also worked in Moroccan films and television series. In 2014, he directed and starred in the well-received action adventure film Bara, which was shot in Tata, Morocco.

## Early life

Qissi was born in Oujda, Morocco, and moved to Brussels, Belgium, at the age of 2. He commenced training in boxing at seven years old, and became an amateur champion in his weight class at 17. He also went on to study Shotokan Karate, Muay Thai and Kickboxing. He befriended Jean-Claude Van Damme at an early age and they grew up together with the same love for action films and training in martial arts. Growing up, he was inspired by Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali.

## Film career

In 1982, Qissi and Van Damme moved to the United States in the hope of becoming action stars. In 1984 they both were cast as extras in the film Breakin', before landing their big break in 1986. After obtaining an interview with Menahem Golan of Cannon Films, they secured a three-picture deal, the first of which was the highly successful Bloodsport, in which Van Damme starred and Qissi had a small role as a tournament fighter named Suan Paredes. In 1989, Qissi and Van Damme teamed up again for the film Kickboxer, in which Van Damme was the protagonist once more and Qissi the film's main villain, Tong Po. Qissi was also a choreographer on the film. His role as Tong Po provided visual inspiration for the Mortal Kombat character Goro.

Qissi had the role of a fight trainer for Van Damme in the sci-fi film Cyborg (1989).

1990 saw Qissi and Van Damme make the film Lionheart, in which Qissi's brother, Abdel, played the villain. This was to be the last film Van Damme and Qissi made together for 26 years. They briefly appeared together in Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016).

In 1991, Qissi reprised his role as Tong Po in Kickboxer 2 (1991). He also appeared in Bloodmatch, alongside Thom Mathews, Hope Marie Carlton, Marianne Taylor, Vincent Klyn, and Benny Urquidez. In 1993, he starred in his directorial debut film Terminator Woman, opposite Karen Sheperd and Jerry Trimble. He directed, co-wrote, and starred in Extreme Force (2001), which became a vehicle for Argentinian martial arts star Héctor Echavarría.

Aside from his American films, Qissi has also worked in Moroccan films and television series. He has said regarding Moroccan cinema, "Moroccan cinema remains a school where management is done with very modest and simple resources." He has praised Moroccan filmmakers such as Ibrahim Shukri, Yassin Fannan, Mohamed Nasrat, and Said Naciri.

In 2014, Qissi directed and starred in the action adventure movie Bara with Salar Zarza. The film, which was shot in the Sahara, in Tata, Morocco, was shown in theaters in major Moroccan cities and was extremely well received by audiences.

## Influence

His role as Tong Po provided visual inspiration for the Mortal Kombat character Goro.

## Personal life

His brother is Abdel Qissi, also an actor.

After a long career in Hollywood, Qissi returned to Belgium, where he participated in social projects for disadvantaged youth and in 2002, he returned to Morocco, his native country, where he works in Moroccan cinema.


Table tennis grips and playing styles


List of Sega Genesis games

# List of Sega Genesis games

## Abstract

The Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive in regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit video game console that was designed and produced by Sega. First released in Japan on October 29, 1988, in North America on August 14, 1989, and in PAL regions in 1990, the Genesis is Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. The system supports a library of 879 games created both by Sega and a wide array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM cartridges. It can also play Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is installed. The Sega Genesis also sported numerous peripherals, including the Sega CD and 32X, several network services, and multiple first-party and third-party variations of the console that focused on extending its functionality. The console and its games continue to be popular among fans, collectors, video game music fans, and emulation enthusiasts. Licensed third party re-releases of the console are still being produced, and several indie game developers continue to produce games for it. Many games have also been re-released in compilations for newer consoles and offered for download on various digital distribution services, such as Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam.

The Genesis library was initially modest, but eventually grew to contain games to appeal to all types of players. The initial pack-in title was Altered Beast, which was later replaced with Sonic the Hedgehog. Top sellers included Sonic the Hedgehog, its sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Disney's Aladdin. During development for the console, Sega Enterprises in Japan focused on developing action games while Sega of America was tasked with developing sports games. A large part of the appeal of the Genesis library during the console's lifetime was the arcade -based experience of its games, as well as more difficult entries such as Ecco the Dolphin and sports games such as Joe Montana Football. Compared to its competition, Sega advertised to an older audience by hosting more mature games, including the uncensored version of Mortal Kombat.

This is an alphabetical list of released games for the Sega Genesis. Titles listed do not include releases for the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. Included in this list are titles not licensed by Sega, including releases in Taiwan by several developers such as Gamtec, as well as releases by Accolade before being licensed following the events of Sega v. Accolade. This list also includes titles developed by unlicensed third-party developers after the discontinuation of the Genesis, such as Pier Solar and the Great Architects.

A few games were only released exclusively on the Sega Channel subscription service, which was active from 1994 to 1998, in the US. This means that, whilst cartridges were officially released for use on PAL and Japanese consoles, they were unavailable physically in the US. While few games were released this way, some of them are considered to be staples in the Genesis library, such as Pulseman and Mega Man: The Wily Wars.

## Licensed games

A total of 879 licensed game titles are known to have been released for the console:

## Sega Meganet titles

Sega Meganet, also known as the Net Work System, was an online service for the Mega Drive in Japan. Utilizing dial-up Internet access, Meganet was Sega's first online multiplayer gaming service, and functioned on a pay to play basis. The system functioned through the use of a peripheral called the Mega Modem and offered several unique titles that could be downloaded, and a few could be played competitively with friends. In addition, it shared technology and equipment with more serious services such as the Mega Anser, used for banking purposes. Though the system was announced for North America under the rebranded name "Tele-Genesis", it was never released for that region.

The Meganet service utilized its own library of titles, independent of the Mega Drive library. Most of these games never received a cartridge release; however, Columns, Flicky, Fatal Labyrinth, and Teddy Boy Blues each later saw cartridge versions. Several Meganet games would also later appear in the Game no Kanzume series, released for the Mega-CD exclusively in Japan. Most games for the service were small, at around 128kB per game, due to the limits of Internet connection speeds at the time. Downloads were estimated to take about five to eight minutes to complete. All of the Meganet games were available through the Sega Game Library, accessed through the Meganet modem. Due to issues with long-distance charges through the use of telephone lines, as well as seconds of lag time between commands, only two games featured competitive play: Tel-Tel Stadium and Tel-Tel Mahjong, with the remainder of the games available for single players via download. Due to Sega's reluctance to commit to releasing the service in North America, third-party developers in that region were unwilling to invest in developing games specifically for Meganet. This resulted in a low number of titles created for the service.

The following list contains all of the titles released for the Meganet service. All titles in this list were released in Japan only.

There were 42 games on the Meganet.

" * " determines games that also had a physical release


Kalan Masjid

# Kalan Masjid

## Abstract

Kalan Masjid, or Kalan Mosque is a 14th-century mosque in Delhi, India.

## Etymology

The mosque is titled Kalan Masjid, meaning chief mosque. It is also known as Kali Masjid, or black mosque, although this may also be a corruption of the word Kalan.

## History

The mosque was commissioned by Khan-i-Jahan during the reign of Firuz Shah Tughlaq.

## Description

The mosque is built out of sandstone. It is an oblong structure, measuring 140 feet (43 m) in length and 120 feet (37 m) in breadth. It has two stories, with a total height of 66 feet (20 m).

A flight of steps leads to the doorway on the first story through which the mosque is to be entered. The doorway is surmounted by a low dome, which is flanked by two conical columns. Over the doorway is a marble slab on which there is an inscription in the Naskh script. The inscription describes the date of completion of the mosque, and that it was constructed by Khan Jahan during the reign of Firuz Shah.

The mosque has a square plan, and is divided into four quadrants.


Michel Qissi

# Michel Qissi

## Abstract

Michel Qissi (Arabic: ميشيل قيسي; born Mohammed Qissi on 12 September 1962) is a Moroccan Belgian actor and filmmaker best known for his action films. Qissi is the co-founder of The World Cinema Combat Federation (WCCF), an organization he formed with Grand Master Beom Jhoo Lee which teaches fight choreography in filmmaking.

Qissi is trained in Shotokan, Muay Thai, and kickboxing, and competed as an amateur boxer. In 1982, he emigrated to Hollywood together with childhood friend Jean-Claude Van Damme in search of becoming an action star. Bloodsport (1988) was their first major film. The two previously collaborated on Breakin' (1984), and went on to appear in Kickboxer (1989), in which Qissi portrayed the Thai villain Tong Po, Lionheart (1990), and Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016). Qissi also had the role of a fight trainer for Van Damme in the film Cyborg (1989) and served as choreographer on Kickboxer.

He starred in his directorial debut film Terminator Woman (1993), opposite Karen Sheperd and Jerry Trimble. He directed, co-wrote, and starred in Extreme Force (2001), which became a vehicle for Argentinian martial arts star Héctor Echavarría. Aside from his American films, he has also worked in Moroccan films and television series. In 2014, he directed and starred in the well-received action adventure film Bara, which was shot in Tata, Morocco.

## Early life

Qissi was born in Oujda, Morocco, and moved to Brussels, Belgium, at the age of 2. He commenced training in boxing at seven years old, and became an amateur champion in his weight class at 17. He also went on to study Shotokan Karate, Muay Thai and Kickboxing. He befriended Jean-Claude Van Damme at an early age and they grew up together with the same love for action films and training in martial arts. Growing up, he was inspired by Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali.

## Film career

In 1982, Qissi and Van Damme moved to the United States in the hope of becoming action stars. In 1984 they both were cast as extras in the film Breakin', before landing their big break in 1986. After obtaining an interview with Menahem Golan of Cannon Films, they secured a three-picture deal, the first of which was the highly successful Bloodsport, in which Van Damme starred and Qissi had a small role as a tournament fighter named Suan Paredes. In 1989, Qissi and Van Damme teamed up again for the film Kickboxer, in which Van Damme was the protagonist once more and Qissi the film's main villain, Tong Po. Qissi was also a choreographer on the film. His role as Tong Po provided visual inspiration for the Mortal Kombat character Goro.

Qissi had the role of a fight trainer for Van Damme in the sci-fi film Cyborg (1989).

1990 saw Qissi and Van Damme make the film Lionheart, in which Qissi's brother, Abdel, played the villain. This was to be the last film Van Damme and Qissi made together for 26 years. They briefly appeared together in Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016).

In 1991, Qissi reprised his role as Tong Po in Kickboxer 2 (1991). He also appeared in Bloodmatch, alongside Thom Mathews, Hope Marie Carlton, Marianne Taylor, Vincent Klyn, and Benny Urquidez. In 1993, he starred in his directorial debut film Terminator Woman, opposite Karen Sheperd and Jerry Trimble. He directed, co-wrote, and starred in Extreme Force (2001), which became a vehicle for Argentinian martial arts star Héctor Echavarría.

Aside from his American films, Qissi has also worked in Moroccan films and television series. He has said regarding Moroccan cinema, "Moroccan cinema remains a school where management is done with very modest and simple resources." He has praised Moroccan filmmakers such as Ibrahim Shukri, Yassin Fannan, Mohamed Nasrat, and Said Naciri.

In 2014, Qissi directed and starred in the action adventure movie Bara with Salar Zarza. The film, which was shot in the Sahara, in Tata, Morocco, was shown in theaters in major Moroccan cities and was extremely well received by audiences.

## Influence

His role as Tong Po provided visual inspiration for the Mortal Kombat character Goro.

## Personal life

His brother is Abdel Qissi, also an actor.

After a long career in Hollywood, Qissi returned to Belgium, where he participated in social projects for disadvantaged youths and in 2002, he returned to Morocco, his native country, where he works in Moroccan cinema.


1814 in Germany

# 1814 in Germany

## Abstract

Events from the year 1814 in Germany.

## Incumbents

### Kingdoms

- Kingdom of Prussia Monarch – Frederick William III of Prussia (16 November 1797 – 7 June 1840)

- Monarch – Frederick William III of Prussia (16 November 1797 – 7 June 1840)

- Kingdom of Bavaria Maximilian I (1 January 1806 – 13 October 1825)

- Maximilian I (1 January 1806 – 13 October 1825)

- Kingdom of Saxony Frederick Augustus I (20 December 1806 – 5 May 1827)

- Frederick Augustus I (20 December 1806 – 5 May 1827)

- Kingdom of Hanover George III (25 October 1760 –29 January 1820)

- George III (25 October 1760 –29 January 1820)

- Kingdom of Württemberg Frederick I (22 December 1797 – 30 October 1816)

- Frederick I (22 December 1797 – 30 October 1816)

### Grand Duchies

- Grand Duke of Baden Charles 10 June 1811 – 8 December 1818

- Charles 10 June 1811 – 8 December 1818

- Grand Duke of Hesse Louis I (14 August 1806 – 6 April 1830)

- Louis I (14 August 1806 – 6 April 1830)

- Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis I – (24 April 1785 – 1 February 1837)

- Frederick Francis I – (24 April 1785 – 1 February 1837)

- Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charles II (2 June 1794 – 6 November 1816)

- Charles II (2 June 1794 – 6 November 1816)

- Grand Duke of Oldenburg Wilhelm (6 July 1785 –2 July 1823) Due to mental illness, Wilhelm was duke in name only, with his cousin Peter, Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, acting as regent throughout his entire reign. Peter I (2 July 1823 - 21 May 1829)

- Wilhelm (6 July 1785 –2 July 1823) Due to mental illness, Wilhelm was duke in name only, with his cousin Peter, Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, acting as regent throughout his entire reign.

- Peter I (2 July 1823 - 21 May 1829)

- Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Karl August (1809–1815)

- Karl August (1809–1815)

### Principalities

- Schaumburg-Lippe George William (13 February 1787 - 1860)

- George William (13 February 1787 - 1860)

- Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Friedrich Günther (28 April 1807 - 28 June 1867)

- Friedrich Günther (28 April 1807 - 28 June 1867)

- Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Günther Friedrich Karl I (14 October 1794 - 19 August 1835)

- Günther Friedrich Karl I (14 October 1794 - 19 August 1835)

- Principality of Lippe Leopold II (5 November 1802 - 1 January 1851)

- Leopold II (5 November 1802 - 1 January 1851)

- Principality of Reuss-Greiz Heinrich XIII (28 June 1800-29 January 1817)

- Heinrich XIII (28 June 1800-29 January 1817)

- Waldeck and Pyrmont George II (9 September 1813 - 15 May 1845)

- George II (9 September 1813 - 15 May 1845)

### Duchies

- Duke of Anhalt-Dessau Leopold III (16 December 1751 – 9 August 1817)

- Leopold III (16 December 1751 – 9 August 1817)

- Duke of Brunswick Frederick William (16 October 1806 – 16 June 1815)

- Frederick William (16 October 1806 – 16 June 1815)

- Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1780–1826) - Frederick

- Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1780–1826) - Frederick

- Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ernest I (9 December 1806 – 12 November 1826)

- Ernest I (9 December 1806 – 12 November 1826)

- Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Bernhard II (24 December 1803–20 September 1866)

- Bernhard II (24 December 1803–20 September 1866)

- Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck Frederick Charles Louis (24 February 1775 – 25 March 1816)

- Frederick Charles Louis (24 February 1775 – 25 March 1816)

## Events

- 1 January – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine.

- 3 January- War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Metz (1814): Allied armies lay siege to the French city and fortress of Metz.

- 11 January – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Hoogstraten: Prussian forces under Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow defeat the French.

- 24 January – War of the Sixth Coalition – First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube: Two Austrian and Württemberger corps wage an inconclusive battle against the French Imperial Guard.

- 29 January – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Brienne: A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against von Blücher.

- 1 February -War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of La Rothière: Blücher's Allied army defeats the French under Napoleon.

- 11 February-War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Montmirail: A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against Fabian Gottlieb von der Osten-Sacken and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg in the Six Days' Campaign.

- 12 February- War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Château-Thierry (1814): A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg and Fabian Gottlieb von der Osten-Sacken in the Six Days' Campaign.

- 14 February – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Vauchamps: A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against von Blücher, the last major action of the Six Days' Campaign.

- 28 February – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes: Two French corps led by Auguste Marmont and Édouard Mortier defeat Prusso-Russian forces.

- 3 March- War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Laubressel: Schwarzenberg defeats the French under MacDonald.

- 7 March – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Craonne: A French army led by Napoleon is victorious against von Blücher.

- 10 March – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Laon: von Blücher defeats Napoleon.

- 13 March – War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Reims (1814): Napoleon defeats a combined Russo-Prussian corps.

- 20 March- War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Limonest: Austrian and Hessian forces defeat the French Army of the Rhône.

- 25 March- War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Fère-Champenoise: Allied army led by Schwarzenberg defeats the French under Marmont and Mortier.

- 31 March- War of the Sixth Coalition – Battle of Courtrai (1814): French forces defeat Saxons and Prussians.

- 10 April- War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Metz is lifted by the Allies.

- 4 May- War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Mainz ends as the French leave the fortress.

- 27 May – War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Hamburg ends in a French capitulation.

- 6 June – Beginning of the Allied sovereigns' visit to England: Tsar Alexander I of Russia and King Frederick William III of Prussia sail from Boulogne-Sur-Mer to Dover on board the Royal Navy ship HMS Impregnable as guests of George, Prince of Wales, the regent during the incapacity of King George III.

- 30 July – The Great fire of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria destroys the town and 907 buildings.

- 1 November – The Congress of Vienna formally opens in Austria to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, with the European powers agreeing upon the redrawing of national borders following the victory over France; it will last until 9 June 1815.

## Births

- 12 May – Adolf von Henselt, German composer (d. 1889)

- 26 May- Heinrich Geißler, German physicist (d. 1879)

- 10 August – Henri Nestlé, German-born Swiss chocolate magnate (d. 1890)

- 2 September – Ernst Curtius, German archaeologist, historian (d. 1896)

- 2 November= Julius von Mayer, German physician, physicist, one of the founders of thermodynamics (d. 1878)

- 26 November – Luise Aston, German author, feminist (d. 1871)

## Deaths

- 27 January Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1762) Georg Joseph Vogler, German composer (b. 1749)

- Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1762)

- Georg Joseph Vogler, German composer (b. 1749)

- 27 June – Johann Friedrich Reichardt, German composer (b. 1752)

- 22 September – August Wilhelm Iffland, German actor (b. 1759)