Man runs after woman, kicks her.

I was walking home, minding my own business of course, when I saw a woman cause a little boy, probably two years old, to cry.  The little boy had a shocked open-mouth look on his face for two seconds and then let loose with a loud wail.  Nothing unusual in that at all.  But the boy did look in my direction.  And from behind me, a man ran at the woman, who was then holding the baby's hand.  The man gave the woman two swift kicks to the back of her legs, not quite kicking her ass, and then screamed at the woman.  The woman, seeming not to be disconcerted by the kicks, screamed back.

I went on my way, as I was minding my own business, and did not see what conflict resolution measures, if any, were used.  A Wuxi Resolution usually involves a long tedious stand-off that attracts lots of people who have nothing better to do with their lives.

It reminds me of the another set-to I saw on CNY eve where a man ran from a distance to administer two swift kicks to a person.  That occasion, a man ran up to another man who was engaged in an altercation with a woman.  The man who was running first pushed the man to the ground and proceeded to kick him in the groin twice. 

Is there something in the Chinese culture that causes people to sprint at and swiftly kick  those who displease them?