• SANSHOU (free hand) or SANDA (free fighting) is a full contact sport that includes a large number of WUSHU KUNG FU techniques including strikes with hands, feet and wrestling reversal techniques. • SANSHOU matches are held on an 8X8 elevated platform called a LEI TAI. An athlete is declared the winner by accumulating the most points in each of the two two-minute rounds of the match. While in case of a tie there is also a third round that decides the result. Unless of course there is some serious injury or knockout. • Dueling over the LEI TAI has its roots in China many centuries ago. Fighters fought not only with their bare hands but also with weapons, and the result was often serious injury or even death. An example is that in the 1928 Chinese championship the matches were so tough that the fighters who passed the preliminary stages were not allowed to compete for fear of losing the lives of some of the great teachers of the time. Pavlos Serdaridis The use of protective gloves and some rules were created by the Chinese military in the 1920s in the Kuomintang province at the Whampoa academy. He later began teaching from the People's Liberation Army of China. • SANDA in its current form was developed during the 1960s when the Chinese Government brought together all the country's grandmasters with the aim of creating a system of regulations that would allow athletes from different styles of KUNG FU to participate. • In order to limit the risk of serious injury, the use of protective equipment (chest - helmet - gloves - straws) was adopted. Locks and chokes are not allowed, and the fight does not continue when the athletes fall to the ground, to ensure the fast flow of the matches and the spectacle. • The variety of techniques, the realism and the emphasis on the safety of the participating athletes guarantee a full contact sport with a high spectacle index. Sanshou - Sanda is cultivated in the associations of E.O.G.S.K.F. since 1988, the year in which the Pan-European GOUSOU Championship was organized by Greece, in Athens. In this championship we had as a country the first great distinction in Sanda, with the conquest of the first place at 60 kg, by the athlete Pavlos Serdaridis. Vetimis Konstantinos Since 2000, the teaching and dissemination of sanda began systematically in the federation's associations with seminars, articles, demonstrations and competitions. Since then it has been an integral part of interclub and Panhellenic championships. Our country has continuously participated since 2000 in all European and world championships, winning a significant number of medals and very high positions in sanda. The greatest distinction was the winning of the bronze medal by the athlete Konstantinos Vetimi, at the World Wushu Championship held in 2007 in Beijing. In Greece, as in many countries in the world, elite competitions are organized in which sanda athletes participate, facing with excellent results, athletes from other racing styles. The techniques of sanda if applied with bare hands form a complete and highly effective fighting system. Another form of sanda is QINGDA, which uses the same techniques, however the percentage of contact force is around 10%. In Qingda, direct hits to the face are not allowed and throws are performed at chest height. This particular sport is ideal for athletes who want to get to know a fighting art in depth, to acquire techniques that when they are in a true defensive position they will be able to use them effectively but do not want full contact fights. It is still good for children as part of their entry into the sanda road. It is also an important self-defense technique that is easily taught to women. The material of sanda has been organized by the Hellenic Federation to be taught at nine (9) levels and is an innovative method of an excellent education. So it is extremely feasible for every athlete to learn and assimilate this material and if they wish to obtain the title of sanda coach.