From 1989 to 1994, he was transferred to the post of assistant coach of Inner Mongolia's boxing team where he noted it was a good learning experience as foreign experts were brought in.
He visited various schools to recruit members although there was initial difficulty as many who joined quit early due to strenuous training requirements needed for the sport.
At the 2001 National Games of China, the Inner Mongolia sports committee assigned the Sanda team the task of obtaining a gold medal.
At the 2005 National Games of China, his students Gele Qing and Qin Lizi won a gold and silver medal respectively in Sanda.
[5][7][9] In 2005, Zhao met Andy Pi who was then looking for fighters in China to participate in his MMA promotion, Art of War Fighting Championship.
Zhao convinced Pi that looking for pure grapplers was misguided and that Sanda fighters he recommended were also suitable for MMA .
[2][4][5][8][11] Zhao is currently deputy director of Wushu department as well as Head Coach of the Sanda team at Xi'an Physical Education University.