History

THE DECISIVE ARGUMENT AND HIGH ART

Any national culture has three necessary components – material culture, moral culture and physical culture. The physical culture, which largely determines the national identity, includes the skill of single combat from ancient times.

Hand-to-hand sport is a complex and versatile concept. On one hand, any battle which includes the use of edged weapon can be called hand-to-hand fight. On the other hand, the modern sense of this term means rather one of the styles of single fight which characterized by the presence of:

• Methods of protection and attack (throws, hits, painful and suffocating techniques)
• Training methods for training athletes and employees of various security and law enforcement agencies
• Methods of psychological training, including the development of concentration and relaxation skills
• Unified rules for training and sport duels

Hand-to-hand sport has two main directions – applied and sport. Applied direction is practiced in the army and different special divisions. Practically there is no limitation for methods that are used in the army, the main task of the soldier is to disable the enemy or put the opponent out of action with guarantee. Another thing is the use of techniques by law enforcement agencies. That’s why the training process is based on the development of required skills.

The sport direction differs from applied one, first of all, by the limitation related to the safety of the fighters. Dangerous traumatic tricks and hits are prohibited, protective equipment is used, evaluation system of the action of fighters is introduced, and duel time limit for fights and tournaments is established.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The common past, a similar system of the state support and development of sports in general, as well as constant interaction of countries at the level of power ministries and departments, helped hand-to-hand sport to come to international level.

The main objectives of the World Hand to Hand Sport Federation are:

• developing and promoting hand-to-hand sport in the world;
• encouraging healthy lifestyle and involvement of young people in physical education and sports;
• strengthening collaboration between athletes from different countries.

The main goal is the inclusion of hand-to-hand fight in the Olympic Games program.

Official competitions are held in two disciplines: “Fight” and “Self-defense”.

Besides public interest, the real needs of the force structures in qualified personnel have not gone anywhere, and, therefore, hand-to-hand fight is an essential part of the service and applied training of the army special forces, as well as of employees of the security and law enforcement agencies of many countries.

Now hand-to-hand fight is going through a real Renaissance. As a combat sport it captures more and more supporters all over the world who want to fulfil themselves in the fighting arena. WHHF closely cooperates with representatives of the other types of martial arts who participate in the Federation’s events with great interest. To promote hand-to-hand fight H2HSPORT Champions League was created, which holds bright and spectacular tournaments. But only athletes who have achieved the highest results at the amateur level can participate in tournaments. Champions League fights are always a manifestation of the highest level of martial arts.

Hand-to-hand sport is bright and many-sided.

• It is a perfect weapon in the arsenal of armies and special services!
• It is a relentless sport competition!
• It is a healthy lifestyle!
• It is a thrilling show!
• It is an instrument of harmonious development of the body and spirit!
• It is strong moral principles!
• It is a way of life!
• Everyone can choose for themselves their own, the only and unique definition of hand-to-hand sport.