PARAWUSHU GREECE

The Vanguard of Parawushu Greece

The effort being made at Parawushu Greece is pioneering. As a federation, we are the first to have defined all of the above, with an inclusive and integration-oriented approach. This applies to both associations and instructors, as well as the federation itself. We would be particularly pleased if our example is followed by other countries and other Wushu Kung Fu federations, perhaps even the European and global federations. We are present and have institutionalized so much that we could help, collaborate, and share our expertise and enthusiasm everywhere, so that athletes with disabilities do not settle for personal training and sporadic exhibitions, as we used to do in the past.

Ongoing initiatives and assessment.

With a quick glance, we could say that in recent years, Parawushu Greece has managed to achieve:

• Equal participation and presence in the federation’s championships.
• Inclusion of athletes with or without disabilities together, as opposed to the previous practice of allowing athletes with disabilities only in festivals.
• Training and participation of judges through the judge school.
• Training, participation, and awareness-raising of coaches through judge-coach seminars.
• Advocacy for accessibility and communication with relevant stakeholders.
• Establishment of a Facebook page and continuous promotion of Parawushu athletes.
• Work towards the creation of a website in the near future.
• Consistent online article publishing.
• Contact, information sharing, and collaboration with associations that have integrated athletes with disabilities.
• Official categorization of Parawushu.
• Participation in or organization of seminars for independent living and Kung Fu.
• Establishment of scientific and technical personnel.
• Engagement with the disability movement and adaptive sports.
• Ongoing activities to engage athletes in outdoor settings during the pandemic.

With the support, guidance, supervision, counseling, and coordination of specialists, we have managed to exist and continuously grow over the past 5 years. Recently, we have been preparing an inclusion-focused coaching guide for the sport of Wushu, so that in the future, all our fellow trainers within the General Secretariat of Sports can be trained in the fields of Inclusion and Integration. In addition to the team of specialists who have supported us during this period, we are in communication with professors of special education and adapted physical education from the Schools of Physical Education in Athens. This will enable us to present our work and have their support in everything we call Parawushu.

At this point, we would like to emphasize that the founders and leaders of Parawushu Greece are individuals with disabilities themselves. Through this endeavor, they have shown the potential for development through hard work and extensive training, making their uniqueness a goal of progress for everyone else.

KONSTANTINOS MOUKAS: Head of the Parawushu Greece department (mobility disabilities).

KONSTANTINOS ATHANASIOU: Co-head of Parawushu Greece (sensory and neurodevelopmental disabilities).

Scientific Advisors at Parawushu Greece

• Sofia Drosou: Psychologist – Scientific oversight and project coordination (Inclusion – Integration).
• Alexandros Taxildaris: Physician – Paralympian in Aquatics and President of the Association of People with Mobility Disabilities “PERPATO.”
• Clairi Zoniou: Physician – Acupuncturist.
• Paulos Gkizis: Physiotherapist.
• Thanasis Draganis: K.F.A – Physiotherapist – Osteopath.

Special thanks to:

• Giannis Galatis: Professor of the Chinese language, interpreter (Beijing Language and Culture University). Consultant on matters related to Chinese culture.
• Marilena Kalogiannidou: Translator, interpreter (L’ UNIVERSITE MARC BLOCH – STRASBOURG-II) – Wu Hao Taiji Instructor, for her unwavering support and translation of articles and announcements for Parawushu Greece.

Finally, we would like to thank our instructors and all our colleagues who embraced the entire project from the very beginning, allowing us to speak about Parawushu Greece today!