The Chinese Wushu Association, which oversees martial arts in China, issued a call Friday for Wushu practitioners to avoid unregulated free fighting events and to not represent their arts in such competitions. The announcement came on the heels of a notice from China's main sports governing body, the General Administration of Sport, calling for greater regulation to improve the safety of MMA and other professional combat sports.

In recent years such events have become a hot button topic in China with the defeats of several traditional kung fu masters at the hands of kickboxers and mixed martial artists in various free fighting competitions.