Yes Kyokushin style tournaments do not allow head punching, it wouldn't be healthy to slam punches into eachothers heads with bare knuckles and no grappling or takedowns allowed. Not pretty.

But plenty of Kyokushin stylists compete and do well in competitions allowing head punches and grappling etc, some of the best kickboxers ever, even some up and coming boxers here in OZ have had a kyokushin backgrounds.

In Australia there was an annual full contact Kung Fu tournament that allowed head punches leg kicks and grappling, throwing and takedowns. (Adam Watt a K1 fighter from OZ once won it. He has a bckground in SeidoKaiKan, Kyokushin Offshoot. He has gone on to bigger and better things, he is a boxing champ aswel as a K1 Oceana champ now)
Would this have been considered a Sanshou tournament?

But just coming back to my main query, what was the difference between Sanshou/da and shootboxing?

And is Sanshou/Da a unique art to China, or is it an eclectic mix of modern day contact sports, given a Chinese name so it is much more easily marketed on a broader scale. And to make up for the lack of exposure Chinese arts have had on the full contact fighting cicuit.
What are the regulations governing san shou instructors, ie could a shootboxer open a gym and say he is teaching san shou.
Are there any Gyms that train Sanshou in Sydney Australia?

Hence the question what is truly unique to a Sanshou stylist over say a shootboxer or mixed martial artist. Is it the rules that govern the competition that sanshou stylists compete in? Is it the whole system and it's influence by wushu? Mind you Sanshou looks nothing at all in anyway to Wushu.

I am interested and look forward to your response.

OSU