.gif)
Sambo (martial art)
Encyclopedia
Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport
. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army
to improve their hand to hand combat abilities. Intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts, Sambo has roots in Japanese judo
plus traditional folk styles
of wrestling
such as: Armenia
n Kokh, Georgian
Chidaoba, Romania
n Trîntǎ, Tatar Köräş
, Uzbek
Kurash
, Mongolia
n Khapsagay and Azerbaijan
i Gulesh.
The pioneers of Sambo were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the political purges of 1937
after accusations of being a Japanese spy. Oshchepkov spent much of his life living in Japan and training judo under its founder Kano Jigoro
. The two men independently developed two different styles, which eventually cross-pollinated and became what is known as Sambo. Compared to Oshchepkov's judo based system, then called "Freestyle Wrestling", Spiridonov's style was softer and less strength dependent. This was in large part due to Spiridonov's injuries sustained during World War I
.
Anatoly Kharlampiev
, a student of Vasili Oshchepkov, is often officially considered the founder of Sport Sambo. In 1938, it was recognized as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee.
(куртка) or sambovka (самбовка) similar to a gi top, a belt and shorts of the same color, and sambetki самбетки(ru) or bortsovki/борцовки(ru) (Sambo/wrestling shoes). The Sambo uniform does not reflect rank or competitive rating. Sport rules require an athlete to have both red and blue sets to visually distinguish competitors on the mat.
In Russia, a competitive rating system is used rather than belt colors like judo
and jujitsu to demonstrate rank, though some schools around the world now institute belt colors as well. The rating system is called Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR
, with the highest athletic distinction known as the Distinguished Masters of Sport in Sambo.
Examination requirements vary depending on the age group and can vary from country to country. The examination itself includes competitive accomplishment as well as technical demonstration of knowledge. Higher level exams must be supervised by independent judges from a national Sambo association. For a rating to be recognized, it must be registered with the national Sambo organization.
Similar to other martial arts being promoted by 'degree' or 'dan', Sambists are promoted by 'razryad'. Each sambo rank consists of three razryads, the 1st being the highest.
wrestling, bolstered with the most useful and adaptable concepts and techniques from the rest of the world.
Over the centuries, the inhabitants of what is now known as Russia had had ample opportunity to evaluate the martial skills of various invaders: from the Vikings in the West and from the Tatars
and Genghis Khan
's Golden Horde
from Mongolia in the East. The regional, native combat systems included in Sambo's genesis are Russian fist fighting, Tuvan
Khuresh
, Yakuts
khapsagai, Chuvash
akatuy
, Georgian
chidaoba, Romania
n trinta, Armenian
kokh, and Uzbek
Kurash
to name a few.
The foreign influences included various styles of European wrestling
, catch wrestling
, Japanese jujutsu
, French savate
, muay thai
and other martial arts of the day plus the classical Olympic sports
of amateur boxing
, Greco-Roman wrestling
and freestyle wrestling
. Sambo even derived lunging and parrying techniques from the Italian school of swordsmanship
.
The founders of Sambo deliberately sifted through all of the world's martial arts available to them to augment their military's hand-to-hand combat system. Sambo's early development stemmed from the independent efforts of Vasili Oschepkov and Victor Spiridonov, to integrate the techniques of judo, jujitsu, and other foreign martial arts into native wrestling styles. Oschepkov taught judo
and karate
to elite Red Army
forces at the Central Red Army House. Vasili Oschepkov was one of the first foreigners to learn Judo in Japan and had earned his nidan (second degree black belt, out of then five) from judo's founder, Kano Jigoro
. Spiridonov's background involved indigenous martial arts from various Soviet regions as well as an interest in Japanese JuJitsu (though he never formally trained it). His reliance on movement over strength was in part based on the fact that he received a bayonet wound during World War I which left his left arm lame. Both Oschepkov and Spiridonov independently hoped that Soviet military hand-to-hand combat techniques could be improved with an infusion of the techniques distilled from other foreign martial arts. Contrary to common lore, Oschepkov and Spiridonov did not cooperate on the development of their hand-to-hand systems. Rather, their independent notions of hand-to-hand combat merged through cross-training between students and formulative efforts by their students and military staff. While Oschepkov and Spiridonov did have occasion to collaborate, their efforts were not completely united.
Each technique was carefully dissected and considered for its merits, and if found acceptable in unarmed combat, refined to reach Sambo's ultimate goal: to stop an armed or unarmed adversary in the least time possible. Thus, many techniques from jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems joined with the indigenous fighting styles to form the Sambo repertoire. When the techniques were perfected, they were woven into Sambo applications for personal self-defense, police
, crowd control
, border guards, secret police
, dignitary protection, psychiatric hospital
staff, military
, and commando
s.
(General Military Training) under the leadership of N.I. Podvoyskiy to train the Red Army. The task of developing and organizing Red Army military hand-to-hand combat training fell to K. Voroshilov, who in turn, created the NKVD
physical training center Dinamo.
Spiridonov was a combat veteran
of World War I
and one of the first wrestling and self-defense instructors hired for Dinamo. His background included Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, many Slavic wrestling styles, and Japanese jujutsu. As a combatives investigator for Dinamo, he traveled to Mongolia and China to observe their native fighting styles.
In 1923, Oschepkov and Spiridinov collaborated (independently) with a team of other experts on a grant from the Soviet government to improve the Red Army's hand-to-hand combat system. Spiridonov had envisioned integrating the most practical aspects of the world's fighting systems into one comprehensive style that could adapt to any threat. Oschepkov had observed Kano's distillation of Tenjin Shin’yo Ryu jujutsu and Kito Ryu jujutsu into judo, and he had developed the insight required to evaluate and integrate combative techniques into a new system. Their developments were supplemented by Anatoly Kharlampiev and I.V. Vasiliev who also traveled the globe to study the native fighting arts of the world. Ten years in the making, their catalogue of techniques was instrumental in formulating the early framework of the art to be eventually referred to as Sambo.
Kharlampiev is often called the father of Sambo. This may be largely semantics, since only he had the longevity and political connections to remain with the art while the new system was named "Sambo". However, Kharlampiev's political maneuvering is single-handedly responsible for the USSR Committee of Sport accepting Sambo as the official combat sport of the Soviet Union in 1938—decidedly the "birth" of Sambo. So, more accurately, Kharlampiev could be considered the father of "sport" Sambo.
Spiridonov was the first to actually begin referring to the new system as one of the "S" variations cited above. He eventually developed a softer
, more aikido
-like system called Samoz that could be used by smaller, weaker practitioners or even wounded soldiers and secret agent
s. Spiridonov's inspiration to develop 'Samoz' stemmed from his World War I bayonet injury, which greatly restricted his (left arm and thus his) ability to practice Sambo or wrestle. Refined versions of Sambo are still used today or fused with specific Sambo applications to meet the needs of Russian commandos today.
at the 1980 Summer Olympics
in Moscow, USSR. Youth Sambo was demonstrated in the Games' opening ceremonies; however, Sambo was not formally recognized as demonstration sport. This common error in history books is noted in several sources including History of SAMBO by A. Makoveski and Lukashev's History of Hand-to-Hand Combat in the First Half of the 20th Century: Founders and Authors . Furthermore, the official documents of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee do not mention Sambo as a participating sport in the Games.
accepted Sambo as the third style of international wrestling. In 1985, the Sambo community formed its own organization, Federation International Amateur Sambo (FIAS). In 1993, FIAS split into two organizations, both used the same name and logo and the two groups were often referred to as FIAS "East" (under Russian control) and FIAS "West" (under US and Western European control). This split mirrored the last days of Cold War politics of the time as well as the recent break-up of the Soviet Union. In the U.S., disagreements between the sport's organizers and the rise of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
in the 90s slowed down the growth of Sambo before the success of several Sambo fighters increased its popularity a decade later. In 2005, FILA reached an agreement with FIAS "West" and re-assumed sanctioning over sport Sambo. However, in 2008, FILA again discontinued sanctioning sambo and sambo is now notably missing from the FILA website. At present, FIAS sanctions international competition in sport and combat sambo.
has faced problems concerning the word's (linguistically unrelated) racial overtone. Sambo representatives were forced to choose the "politically correct
" spelling Sombo, which retains currency to date.
Combat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...
. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
to improve their hand to hand combat abilities. Intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts, Sambo has roots in Japanese judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
plus traditional folk styles
Folk wrestling
A folk wrestling style is a traditional wrestling discipline which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most human cultures have developed their own sort of grappling style unique from other styles practiced...
of wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
such as: Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n Kokh, Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
Chidaoba, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Trîntǎ, Tatar Köräş
Köräs
Köräş, also Tatarça köräş - Tatar wrestling, is the Tatar style of wrestling, related to some Central Asian styles of wrestlings, such as kurash and Turkey's yağlı güreş....
, Uzbek
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
Kurash
Kurash
Kurash is a form of upright jacket wrestling native to Uzbeks, practiced since ancient times. It is an event in the Asian Games and there is an effort to include Kurash in the Olympic games.-Rules:...
, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
n Khapsagay and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
i Gulesh.
The pioneers of Sambo were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the political purges of 1937
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
after accusations of being a Japanese spy. Oshchepkov spent much of his life living in Japan and training judo under its founder Kano Jigoro
Kano Jigoro
was the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the...
. The two men independently developed two different styles, which eventually cross-pollinated and became what is known as Sambo. Compared to Oshchepkov's judo based system, then called "Freestyle Wrestling", Spiridonov's style was softer and less strength dependent. This was in large part due to Spiridonov's injuries sustained during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Anatoly Kharlampiev
Anatoly Kharlampiev
Anatoly Arkadyevich Kharlampiyev was a Russian martial artist considered to have been the founder of Sambo, a martial art developed in the Soviet Union. Kharlampiyev worked as a physical education trainer at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, and also was dedicated student of...
, a student of Vasili Oshchepkov, is often officially considered the founder of Sport Sambo. In 1938, it was recognized as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee.
Styles
There are three FIAS recognized competitive sport variations of Sambo (though Sambo techniques and principles can be applied to many other combat sports).- Sport Sambo ) is stylistically similar to Olympic Freestyle Wrestling or Judo, but with some differences in rules, protocol, and uniformUniformA uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
. For example, in contrast with judo, Sambo allows some types of leg locks, while not allowing chokeholdChokeholdA chokehold or choke is a general term for grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air or blood from passing through the neck of an opponent. The restriction may be of one or both and depends on the hold used and the reaction of the victim...
s. It focuses on throwing, ground work and submissions, with (compared to JudoJudois a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
) very few restrictions on gripping and holds.
- Combat Sambo . Utilized and developed for the military, Combat Sambo resembles modern mixed martial artsMixed martial artsMixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
, including extensive forms of strikingStrike (attack)A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...
and grapplingGrapplingGrappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...
where (unlike Sport Sambo) choking and bent joint locks are legal. Competitors wear jackets as in sport sambo, but also hand protection and sometimes shin and head protection. The first FIAS World Combat Sambo Championships were held in 2001.
- Freestyle Sambo – uniquely American set of competitive Sambo rules created by the American Sambo Association (ASA) in 2004. These rules differ from traditional Sport Sambo in that they allow choke holds and other submissions from Combat Sambo that are not permitted in Sport Sambo as well as certain neck cranks and twisting leg locks. Freestyle Sambo, like all Sambo, focuses on throwing skills and fast ground work. No strikes are permitted in Freestyle Sambo. The ASA created this rule set in order to encourage non-Sambo practitioners from judo and jiujitsu to participate in Sambo events.
Uniform and ranking
A Sambo practitioner normally wears either a red or a blue jacket kurtkaKurtka
A kurtka is the generic word for a jacket in a number of European languages, most notably in Polish and Russian. The word itself is a Slavic diminutive of the original Hungarian word kurta, which in turn was derived of the Latin word curtus, "excurtus", meaning short .In addition to the general...
(куртка) or sambovka (самбовка) similar to a gi top, a belt and shorts of the same color, and sambetki самбетки(ru) or bortsovki/борцовки(ru) (Sambo/wrestling shoes). The Sambo uniform does not reflect rank or competitive rating. Sport rules require an athlete to have both red and blue sets to visually distinguish competitors on the mat.
In Russia, a competitive rating system is used rather than belt colors like judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
and jujitsu to demonstrate rank, though some schools around the world now institute belt colors as well. The rating system is called Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for athletes. The classification was established in 1935 and was based on separate classifications, which existed for several sports disciplines before...
, with the highest athletic distinction known as the Distinguished Masters of Sport in Sambo.
Examination requirements vary depending on the age group and can vary from country to country. The examination itself includes competitive accomplishment as well as technical demonstration of knowledge. Higher level exams must be supervised by independent judges from a national Sambo association. For a rating to be recognized, it must be registered with the national Sambo organization.
Similar to other martial arts being promoted by 'degree' or 'dan', Sambists are promoted by 'razryad'. Each sambo rank consists of three razryads, the 1st being the highest.
| Sambo rating rank | Razryad | Equivalent competitive achievement | Eligibilities |
|---|---|---|---|
(Novice) | To be able to apply self-protection. To pass a theory exam and to sign an oath. | Can participate in demonstration sambo or sports sambo competitions (until straightened arm). | |
| To gain 1 victory over a Novichok of the 3rd Razryad. To pass the exam. | |||
| To gain 1 victory over a Novichok of the 1st Razryad or 2 victories over Novichoks of the 2nd Razryad. To pass the exam. | |||
(Junior Level) | To gain 3 victories over Sambists of the 3rd Yunosheskiy Razryad or 5 victories over Novichoks. To pass the exam. | Can participate in demonstration sambo or sports sambo competitions (until submission). | |
| To gain 5 victories over Sambists of the 2nd Yunosheskiy Razryad (2 of the victories should be clean) or 10 victories over Sambists 3rd Yunosheskiy Razryad (4 of the victories should be clean). To pass the exam. | |||
| To gain 5 victories over Sambists of the 1st Yunosheskiy Razryad (2 of the victories should be clean) or 10 victories over Sambists of the 2nd Yunosheskiy Razryad (4 of the victories should be clean). To pass the exam. | |||
(Senior Level) | To gain 6 victories over Sambists of the 1st Yunosheskiy Razryad (2 of the victories should be clean) or 3 victories over Sambists of the 3rd Vzrosliy Razryad. To pass the exam. | Can participate in demo sambo, sports sambo, or freestyle sambo (chokes and crossing legs over the body and over the neck are allowed). | |
| To gain 8 victories over Sambists of the 3rd Vzrosliy Razryad (2 of the victories should be clean) or 4 victories over Sambists of the 2nd Vzrosliy Razryad. To pass the exam. | |||
| To gain 10 victories over Sambists of the 2nd Vzrosliy Razryad (3 of the victories should be clean) or 5 victories over Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad. To pass the exam. | |||
(Candidate for Master) | To take 1–4 place in a sanctioned competition with at least 5 Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad participating, and gain 5 victories over Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad (2 of the victories should be clean). To pass the exam. | Can participate in demo sambo, sports sambo, freestyle sambo, and combat sambo (punches and kicks are allowed). Can also coach students of Sambo. | |
| To take 1–2 place in a sanctioned competition with at least 8 Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad participating, and gain 10 victories over Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad (4 of the victories should be clean). To pass the exam. | |||
| To win 1st place in a sanctioned competition with at least 10 Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad participating, and gain 16 victories over Sambists of the 1st Vzrosliy Razryad (6 of the victories should be clean). To pass the exam. | |||
| To take 1–4 place in a sanctioned competition with at least 12 Sambists participating (3 Kandidat Masters and 6 of 1st Vzrosliy Razryad). To pass the exam. | Can participate in demo sambo, sports sambo, freestyle sambo, and combat sambo (elbow, punches, and knee strikes are allowed). Can hold seminars. | ||
| To take 1–2 place in a sanctioned competition with at least 12 Sambists participating (6 Kandidat Masters and 6 of 1st Vzrosliy Razryad from 5 different regions). To pass the exam. | |||
| To win 1st place in a sanctioned competition with at least 12 Sambists of Kandidat Master from 5 different regions participating. To pass the exam. | |||
| To take 1–4 place in a sanctioned competition with at least 3 Sambists of International Master rank from different countries participating, and take 1–6 place in a national competition. To pass the exam. | Can participate in demo sambo, sports sambo, freestyle sambo, and combat sambo. Can coach, conduct exams, and hold seminars. | ||
| To take 1–2 place in a sanctioned competition with at least 3 Sambists of International Master rank from different countries participating, and take 1–3 place in a national competition. To pass the exam. | |||
| To take 1–3 place in the World Sambo Championships. | |||
| To win 1st place in the World Sambo Championships; or to take 2–3 place in the World Sambo Championship and win 1st place in a continental competition. | Can participate in demo sambo, sports sambo, freestyle sambo, and combat sambo. Can coach, conduct exams, hold seminars, and participate in federation ruling body. | ||
| Repeated world champion; or world champion and repeated continental champion. | |||
| Repeated world champion. | |||
(Distinguished Grand Master) | To coach 3 Sambists of 3rd Razryad Grand Master, found school (club). To have published works. To promote sambo in own country. | Can coach, participate in federation ruling body, and hold seminars. | |
| To coach 3 Sambists of 2nd Razryad Grand Master, found school (club) with at least 500 students. To publish books on sambo. To promote sambo in the continent. | |||
| To coach 3 Sambists of 1st Razryad Grand Master, found school (club) with at least 1000 students. To promote sambo in the world. |
Origins and influences
Sambo was in part born of native Russian and other regional styles of grappling and combativeCombatives
Combatives is a United States Army term for hand-to-hand combat training and techniques.-History:Militaries have long taught unarmed combat, both as physical conditioning and as a supplement to armed combat. Among the samurai of Japan, such combatives were known as Bujutsu...
wrestling, bolstered with the most useful and adaptable concepts and techniques from the rest of the world.
Over the centuries, the inhabitants of what is now known as Russia had had ample opportunity to evaluate the martial skills of various invaders: from the Vikings in the West and from the Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
and Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
from Mongolia in the East. The regional, native combat systems included in Sambo's genesis are Russian fist fighting, Tuvan
Tuvan
Tuvan can refer to:*Of or pertaining to Tuva*The Tuvans*The Tuvan language*Tuvan Syndrome, a fictional Star Trek malady that afflicts Vulcans, Romulans and Rigellians....
Khuresh
Khuresh
Khuresh is a traditional form of wrestling in the ethnically Turkic region of Tuva, in southern Siberia. The word originates from the same root as Turkish "Güreş" ....
, Yakuts
Yakuts
Yakuts , are a Turkic people associated with the Sakha Republic.The Yakut or Sakha language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic family of languages....
khapsagai, Chuvash
Chuvash
Chuvash may refer to:*Chuvash people*Chuvash language*Chuvashia, a republic in Russia*Çuvaş, Azerbaijan...
akatuy
Akatuy
Akatuy may refer to one of the following.*Akatuy , a village in Siberia , a place of the Akatuy katorga*Akatuy katorga of Russian Empire*A Chuvashian holiday of land fertility, see Sabantuy...
, Georgian
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
chidaoba, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n trinta, Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
kokh, and Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
Kurash
Kurash
Kurash is a form of upright jacket wrestling native to Uzbeks, practiced since ancient times. It is an event in the Asian Games and there is an effort to include Kurash in the Olympic games.-Rules:...
to name a few.
The foreign influences included various styles of European wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
, catch wrestling
Catch wrestling
Catch wrestling is a style of folk wrestling that was developed and popularised in the late 19th century by the wrestlers of traveling carnivals who incorporated submission holds, or "hooks", into their wrestling to increase their effectiveness against their opponents...
, Japanese jujutsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....
, French savate
Savate
Savate , also known as boxe française, French boxing, French kickboxing or French footfighting, is a French martial art which uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed unlike some systems such as Muay...
, muay thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
and other martial arts of the day plus the classical Olympic sports
Olympic sports
Olympic sports, as defined by the International Olympic Committee, are all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The Summer Olympics, as of 2012, will include 26 sports, with two additionall sports due to be added in 2016...
of amateur boxing
Amateur boxing
Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...
, Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...
and freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...
. Sambo even derived lunging and parrying techniques from the Italian school of swordsmanship
Italian school of swordsmanship
The term Italian school of swordsmanship is used to describe the Italian style of fencing and edged-weapon combat from the time of the first extant Italian swordsmanship treatise to the days of Classical Fencing ....
.
The founders of Sambo deliberately sifted through all of the world's martial arts available to them to augment their military's hand-to-hand combat system. Sambo's early development stemmed from the independent efforts of Vasili Oschepkov and Victor Spiridonov, to integrate the techniques of judo, jujitsu, and other foreign martial arts into native wrestling styles. Oschepkov taught judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
and karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
to elite Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
forces at the Central Red Army House. Vasili Oschepkov was one of the first foreigners to learn Judo in Japan and had earned his nidan (second degree black belt, out of then five) from judo's founder, Kano Jigoro
Kano Jigoro
was the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the...
. Spiridonov's background involved indigenous martial arts from various Soviet regions as well as an interest in Japanese JuJitsu (though he never formally trained it). His reliance on movement over strength was in part based on the fact that he received a bayonet wound during World War I which left his left arm lame. Both Oschepkov and Spiridonov independently hoped that Soviet military hand-to-hand combat techniques could be improved with an infusion of the techniques distilled from other foreign martial arts. Contrary to common lore, Oschepkov and Spiridonov did not cooperate on the development of their hand-to-hand systems. Rather, their independent notions of hand-to-hand combat merged through cross-training between students and formulative efforts by their students and military staff. While Oschepkov and Spiridonov did have occasion to collaborate, their efforts were not completely united.
Each technique was carefully dissected and considered for its merits, and if found acceptable in unarmed combat, refined to reach Sambo's ultimate goal: to stop an armed or unarmed adversary in the least time possible. Thus, many techniques from jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems joined with the indigenous fighting styles to form the Sambo repertoire. When the techniques were perfected, they were woven into Sambo applications for personal self-defense, police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, crowd control
Crowd control
Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...
, border guards, secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
, dignitary protection, psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
staff, military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
, and commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
s.
Development
In 1918, Lenin created VsevobuchVsevobuch
Vsevobuch , universal military training) is the name of the compulsory military training of men practised in the former Soviet Union. Vsevobuch is affiliated with sports training, to which it contributed....
(General Military Training) under the leadership of N.I. Podvoyskiy to train the Red Army. The task of developing and organizing Red Army military hand-to-hand combat training fell to K. Voroshilov, who in turn, created the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
physical training center Dinamo.
Spiridonov was a combat veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and one of the first wrestling and self-defense instructors hired for Dinamo. His background included Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, many Slavic wrestling styles, and Japanese jujutsu. As a combatives investigator for Dinamo, he traveled to Mongolia and China to observe their native fighting styles.
In 1923, Oschepkov and Spiridinov collaborated (independently) with a team of other experts on a grant from the Soviet government to improve the Red Army's hand-to-hand combat system. Spiridonov had envisioned integrating the most practical aspects of the world's fighting systems into one comprehensive style that could adapt to any threat. Oschepkov had observed Kano's distillation of Tenjin Shin’yo Ryu jujutsu and Kito Ryu jujutsu into judo, and he had developed the insight required to evaluate and integrate combative techniques into a new system. Their developments were supplemented by Anatoly Kharlampiev and I.V. Vasiliev who also traveled the globe to study the native fighting arts of the world. Ten years in the making, their catalogue of techniques was instrumental in formulating the early framework of the art to be eventually referred to as Sambo.
Kharlampiev is often called the father of Sambo. This may be largely semantics, since only he had the longevity and political connections to remain with the art while the new system was named "Sambo". However, Kharlampiev's political maneuvering is single-handedly responsible for the USSR Committee of Sport accepting Sambo as the official combat sport of the Soviet Union in 1938—decidedly the "birth" of Sambo. So, more accurately, Kharlampiev could be considered the father of "sport" Sambo.
Spiridonov was the first to actually begin referring to the new system as one of the "S" variations cited above. He eventually developed a softer
Hard and soft (martial arts)
In martial arts, the terms hard and soft technique denote how forcefully a defender martial artist counters the force of an attack in armed and unarmed combat...
, more aikido
Aikido
is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
-like system called Samoz that could be used by smaller, weaker practitioners or even wounded soldiers and secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
s. Spiridonov's inspiration to develop 'Samoz' stemmed from his World War I bayonet injury, which greatly restricted his (left arm and thus his) ability to practice Sambo or wrestle. Refined versions of Sambo are still used today or fused with specific Sambo applications to meet the needs of Russian commandos today.
As an Olympic Sport
It is often stated that Sambo was a demonstration sportDemonstration sport
A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...
at the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow, USSR. Youth Sambo was demonstrated in the Games' opening ceremonies; however, Sambo was not formally recognized as demonstration sport. This common error in history books is noted in several sources including History of SAMBO by A. Makoveski and Lukashev's History of Hand-to-Hand Combat in the First Half of the 20th Century: Founders and Authors . Furthermore, the official documents of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee do not mention Sambo as a participating sport in the Games.
Today
In 1968, the FILAInternational Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, also known in French as Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées , is an international wrestling federation that holds events around the world. It is the governing body of international amateur wrestling...
accepted Sambo as the third style of international wrestling. In 1985, the Sambo community formed its own organization, Federation International Amateur Sambo (FIAS). In 1993, FIAS split into two organizations, both used the same name and logo and the two groups were often referred to as FIAS "East" (under Russian control) and FIAS "West" (under US and Western European control). This split mirrored the last days of Cold War politics of the time as well as the recent break-up of the Soviet Union. In the U.S., disagreements between the sport's organizers and the rise of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...
in the 90s slowed down the growth of Sambo before the success of several Sambo fighters increased its popularity a decade later. In 2005, FILA reached an agreement with FIAS "West" and re-assumed sanctioning over sport Sambo. However, in 2008, FILA again discontinued sanctioning sambo and sambo is now notably missing from the FILA website. At present, FIAS sanctions international competition in sport and combat sambo.
World Sambo Championships
The results of the past five World Sambo Championships:- 35th 2011 World Sambo Championships2011 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 35th 2011 World Sambo Championships were held in Vilnius, Lithuania on November 11th to13th for men's and women's sport Sambo and the Combat Sambo...
in VilniusVilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
- 34th 2010 World Sambo Championships2010 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 2010 World Sambo Championships was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan between the 4th and 8th of November, 2010.This tournament included competition in both sport Sambo, and Combat Sambo....
in TashkentTashkentTashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
- 33rd 2009 World Sambo Championships2009 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 2009 World Sambo Championships was held in Thessaloniki, Greece between the 5th and 9th of November, 2009.This tournament included competition in both sport Sambo, and Combat Sambo....
in ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Greece
- 32nd 2008 World Sambo Championships2008 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 2008 World Sambo Championships was held in St. Petersburg, Russia on 13 to 17 of November, 2008.This tournament included competition in both sport Sambo, and Combat Sambo....
in St. PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
- 31st 2007 World Sambo Championships2007 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 2007 World Sambo Championships was held in Prague, Czech Republic from the 7th to the 11th of November, 2007.This tournament hosted competition in Combat Sambo, and sport Sambo events....
in PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
- 30th 2006 World Sambo Championships2006 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 2006 World Sambo Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria on November 3rd to 5th for men's and women's sport Sambo, and the 2006 Combat Sambo championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on September 30th to October 2nd...
in SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
Medal table (2006–2009)
| 1 |  Russia |
58 | 24 | 17 | 99 |
| 2 |  Belarus |
12 | 11 | 18 | 41 |
| 3 |  Bulgaria |
12 | 10 | 21 | 43 |
| 4 |  Ukraine |
7 | 17 | 26 | 50 |
| 5 |  Kazakhstan |
4 | 5 | 22 | 31 |
| 6 |  Mongolia |
4 | 7 | 7 | 18 |
| 7 |  Lithuania |
2 | 4 | 11 | 17 |
| 8 |  Georgia (country) |
2 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
| 9 |  Uzbekistan |
1 | 8 | 15 | 24 |
| 10 |  Kyrgyzstan |
1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 |  Serbia |
1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 12 |  Tajikistan |
1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 13 |  Latvia |
1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 14 |  Moldova |
1 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| 15 |  Venezuela |
0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 16 |  Armenia |
0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 17 |  Azerbaijan |
0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 18 |  Japan |
0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 19 |  France |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 19 |  Romania |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 19 |  Estonia |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 22 |  Germany |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 |  Colombia |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 |  Israel |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 |  Greece |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 25 |  Spain |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 27 |  Czech Republic |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 |  Indonesia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 |  Iran |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 |  Jordan |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 |  United States |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 |  Turkmenistan |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 27 |  Slovenia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 107 | 111 | 207 | 425 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Champions
- Igor Kurinnoy, a Merited Master of Sport, three time Sambo World Champion, a five time Sambo World Cup Champion and director of Borec Sports Club.
- Umar Shokhzodayev former russian sambo champion
- Fedor EmelianenkoFedor EmelianenkoFedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo...
, former multiple time World Combat Sambo Champion and Russian Combat Sambo Champion in the +100 kg division. Russian Judo champion, he was the last heavyweight champion of the former PRIDE Fighting Championships and was the consensus #1 ranked Heavy weight MMA fighter in the world for over seven years. - Andrei ArlovskiAndrei ArlovskiAndrei Valeryevich Arlovski is a Belarusian kickboxer, mixed martial artist and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion.-Biography:...
, former UFC heavyweight champion. He was also the Junior World sport Sambo Champion, as well as a silver medalist in the World Sambo Championship and World Sambo Cup. - Ron TrippRon TrippRon Tripp Battle Creek, Michigan, is a World Sambo and Judo champion and the current general secretary of USA Judo. He is also a member of the board of directors of the United States Olympic Committee....
, 1994 World Champion and 7 times World Medalist capturing 8 US National Titles and 6 Pan Am Golds during his career (both FIAS East and West). A Judo champion and current general secretary of USA Judo. Tripp was promoted to 10th degree in Sambo in 1995 and became America's first International Distinguished Master of Sport in 1996. Also in 1996, he served as World Team Coach at the Tokyo World Championships. At the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships, he scored a total victory throw victory over Brazilian Jiu-JitsuBrazilian Jiu-JitsuBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...
legend Rickson GracieRickson GracieRickson Gracie is a Brazilian 8th degree black and red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a retired mixed martial artist. He is a member of the Gracie family: the son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and Relson Gracie, and half-brother to Rolker, Royce, Robin and Royler Gracie.-Biography:Rickson...
. - Clinton Burke, NCAA wrestling finalist and All-American from the University of Oklahoma, was a four-time finalist in world competition beginning in 1987, when he earned a silver medal in the World Cup in Tokyo. He won World Championship silver medals in three different weight classes (62 kg, 68 kg, and 74 kg), closing his career in 1993 as runner-up in the World Championships in Kstovo, Russia.
- Lance Campbell Sport Sambo World Champion (FIAS West). One of only eight grapplers selected to compete in the Ultimate Submission Showdown.
- Martin Clarke, The Father of British Sambo, Multiple time FIAS British Sambo Champion, World GamesWorld GamesThe World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events within a sport, that are not contested in the Olympic Games...
Silver 1985, World Silver 1986, World Masters Silver 1997. He is the only person in Great Britain to receive the FIAS Gold Medal for services to FIAS. He holds the rank of Grand MasterGrandmaster (martial arts)Grandmaster and Master are titles used to describe or address some senior or experienced martial artists. Such titles may be, to some extent, aligned to the elderly martial arts master stock character in fiction...
in Combat Sambo and Sport Sambo. - Amy Ehlenfeldt, an accomplished US judo player; she won the 1991 FIAS World Championships in Montreal, Canada, becoming the first American woman to achieve victory over a female USSR competitor.
- Aleksander EmelianenkoAleksander EmelianenkoAlexander Vladimirovich Emelianenko , more commonly known as Alexander Emelianenko or Aleksander Emelianenko, is a Russian mixed martial artist. He is a three-times Russian national Sambo champion and three-time world Sambo champion in the absolute division...
, Fedor's brother, is a two-time Russian national Sambo champion and two-time world Sambo champion in the absolute divisions. - Jason Gabrielson, Three-time World champion, one-time World Cup champion, Pan-American Games champion, Sixteen-time US Champion competing in all age groups (FIAS West). Only US lifetime undefeated champion. Was nominated for (but did not win) the American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo award. Is also a champion wrestler and judo competitor.
- James Chico HernandezJames Chico HernandezJames "Chico" Hernandez is an accomplished athlete in the sport of Sambo and a seven-time member of the Team USA National Team.-Early years:...
, the first Sambo Champion to be featured on a box of WheatiesWheatiesWheaties is a brand of General Mills breakfast cereal. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on the exterior of the package, and has become a major cultural icon...
Energy Crunch. He is a 2000 FIAS West World Cup Vice-Champion, 1987, 2000 AAUAmateur Athletic UnionThe Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
United States National Sambo Champion and a three-time British FIAS Sambo silver medalist, First Sambo Wrestler to appear in CNN/SI “Faces In the Crowd”. - Scott SonnonScott SonnonScott Sonnon is a martial art expert, fitness coach, and wellness speaker. He has worked with movie stars such as Peta Wilson and Donna Karan as well as Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts fighters such as Alberto Crane, Jorge Rivera, Andrei Arlovski, and Elvis Sinosic.Scott Sonnon...
, Honourable Master of Sports in Sambo from the AASF http://www.rmaxinternational.com/images/sambo/sonnonsambodiplomasmall.jpg, was nominated for (but did not win) the American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo award, World University Sambo Games Silver Medalist (not an official University games event), USA Grand National and Pan-American Sambo Champion, and USA National Sambo Team Coach. - Igor YakimovIgor YakimovIgor Yakimov is a world Judo champion, as well a world sport sambo champion and a medallist at the Combat Sambo world championships. He is the author of the Russian Judo video series and for his Sambo Leglocks video series.-Biography:...
, World Judo Champion, as well a world Sport Sambo Champion and a medallist at the Combat Sambo world championships - Irina RodinaIrina RodinaIrina Rodina is a Russian judoka. Rodina also competed in mixed martial arts. She competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the heavyweight division, finishing in equal seventh place.-Achievements:...
, Russian women's sport Sambo champion, Judo Olympian, and mixed martial artist - David RudmanDavid Rudman (wrestler)David Rudman is a former Soviet wrestling champion, Sambo world champion, and judo European champion.-Early and personal life:Rudman is Jewish, and was born in Kuibyshev...
, USSR, champion of the first International Sambo Tournament, at 70 kg, and first World Champion in the weight category up to 68 kg. - Yury RybakYury RybakYury Rybak is a Belarusian judoka, and Sambo player.-Achievements:-References:* on JudoInside.com...
, Belarussian sport Sambo champion, and World Judo silver medalist - Andrei KazusionakAndrei KazusionakAndrei Kazusenok is a Belarusian judoka, and Sambo player.At the 2008 Summer Olympics he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 90 kg competition after losing his fight to Ivan Pershin. In the repechage he lost in the semifinals against the upcoming bronze medalist Hesham Mesbah...
, Belarussian sport Sambo champion, European Judo champion, and Olympian - Blagoi IvanovBlagoi Ivanov|-| Win| 5-0 | Zak Jensen| Technical submission | Bellator 52| |align=center| 2|align=center| 2:35|Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States| Bellator Season 5 Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal|-| Win| 4–0 | William Penn| TKO...
, Won the over 100 kg Combat Sambo gold medal at the 2008 World Sambo Championships2008 World Sambo ChampionshipsThe 2008 World Sambo Championships was held in St. Petersburg, Russia on 13 to 17 of November, 2008.This tournament included competition in both sport Sambo, and Combat Sambo....
,at 22 years of age he notably defeated Fedor Emelianeko, 4 time World Combat Sambo Champion. - Sergej Grecicho, two time Lithuanian combat Sambo champion, mixed martial artist
- Rumen DimitrovRumen Dimitrov|-| Win|align=center| 12-0-2| Mikel Cortes| TKO | ММА MAXFIGHT-21 ||align=center| 1|align=center| 2:39|Sofia, Bulgaria||-| Win|align=center| 11-0-2| Shonie Carter| TKO | ММА MAXFIGHT-19 ||align=center| 2|align=center| 2:48...
, Bulgarian combat Sambo champion, and mixed martial artist - Rosen DimitrovRosen Dimitrov| 82 kgRosen Dimitrov is a Bulgarian Sambo practitioner who has won a Gold medal at the Combat Sambo World Championships...
, Bulgarian combat Sambo champion, and mixed martial artist - Genrikh ShultsGenrikh ShultsGenrikh Karlovich Shults ) was a Russian judoka and Sambo practitioner who competed for the Soviet Union.Genrikh Shults was 6-times Champion of the Soviet Union in Sambo ....
, 6-times Soviet Sport Sambo champion (85 kg), the first capitan of the USSR national JudoJudois a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
team, European Judo champion (80 kg)
Other notable practitioners
- Khabib Nurmagomedov is a Russian-Ukrainian mixed martial artist. He competes in the UFC Lightweight division. Has a black belt in Sambo.
- Dennis SiverDennis SiverDennis D. Siver ; born January 13, 1979) is a Russian-German mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of July 2011, Siver is ranked as the #8 lightweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly...
is a German-Russian mixed martial artist. He competes in the UFC Lightweight division. - Amir SadollahAmir SadollahAmir Sadollah is an American professional mixed martial artist of Iranian and Irish descent. He was the winner of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter 7....
is American mixed martial artist. Speaker at Middleweight UFC. Has a black belt in Sambo. - Heath HerringHeath HerringHeath Herring is an inactive American Heavyweight professional mixed martial artist who attained popularity fighting for PRIDE FC in Japan and most recently fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
is an American Heavyweight mixed martial artist (UFC, PRIDE FC) - Gokor ChivichyanGokor ChivichyanGokor Chivichyan is an Armenian Judo, submission grappling, and mixed martial arts instructor. Gokor currently trains professional and amateur fighters at the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood. Chivichyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia....
- Hiroshi Hase, Japanese Olympic wrestler-turned-pro wrestler who learned sambo in an expedition to the Soviet Union in 1989.
- Takayuki IizukaTakayuki Iizuka, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling.-Early years :Takayuki Iizuka made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1986, wrestling against Akira Nogami. In June 1989, Iizuka and Hiroshi Hase went to the Soviet...
, Japanese pro wrestler who learned sambo in an expedition to the Soviet Union in 1989. - Stephen Koepfer, president of the American Sambo Association, he was awarded a Master of Sport of Russia in Combat Sambo in 2009 http://www.ussambo.com/stuff/mos.jpg. One of the US team coaches for the 2008 FIAS 70th Anniversary world championships.
- Alexey OleinikAlexey OleinikAlexey Oleinik is a Ukrainian-Russian mixed martial artist who is a M-1 Global veteran and has fought for Bellator Fighting Championships, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, BodogFight and YAMMA Pit Fighting.-Mixed martial arts career:...
, Ukrainian mixed martial artist, and Combat Sambo competitor - Artemij SitenkovArtemij SitenkovArtemij Sitenkov is a Lithuanian professional mixed martial artist and Sambo master. Fighting for Lithuanian Vale Tudo fighting network, has competed in the biggest European MMA events.-Mixed martial arts record:...
, Lithuanian world combat Sambo representative, and mixed martial artist - Ibragim MagomedovIbragim MagomedovIbragim Magomedov is a Russian mixed martial artist, whose height is and weight is 112.7 kg .Born in Makhachkala, Dagestan on June 8, 1972, Magomedov made his MMA debut in 2000 at Samurai 2000 Tournament where he defeated the Japanese fighter Ryushi Yanagisawa.After being discovered by Satoru...
, a Russian mixed martial artist. - Victor Nemkov, Russian World Cup champion, and emerging mixed martial artist .
- Oleg TaktarovOleg TaktarovOleg Nikolaevich Taktarov is a retired Russian mixed martial artist and actor. He is a practitioner of Sambo and Judo and has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships. Taktarov was the UFC 6 tournament champion and holds notable wins over Marco Ruas and David...
, UFC 6 Champion, UFC '95 Ultimate Ultimate Tournament finalist, and actor. - Megumi FujiiMegumi FujiiMegumi Fujii is a female Japanese mixed martial artist. She is currently the #3-ranked pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com and the #1-ranked female flyweight according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.-Biography:Fujii specializes mainly in submission fighting and is...
, a current MMA-fighter. She is known as the "Princess of Sambo." - Sergei Kharitonov, a former PRIDE Fighting Championship competitor.
- Satoko ShinashiSatoko Shinashiis a female Japanese mixed martial arts fighter.She specializes in Judo, Sambo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is known for using a variety of armbars to submit her opponents....
, an accomplished Japanese mixed martial arts competitor often called the "Queen of MMA." - Oleg Prudius, a UkrainianUkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
professional wrestlerProfessional wrestlingProfessional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
best known for performing on WWE's RAWWWE RAWWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
BrandWWE Brand ExtensionWWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
as Vladimir Kozlov, has experience in Sambo among other martial arts. - Vladimir PutinVladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, former President and current Prime Minister of RussiaPrime Minister of RussiaThe Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation The use of the term "Prime Minister" is strictly informal and is not allowed for by the Russian Constitution and other laws....
, is Master of Sports in both Sambo and Judo. - Professional wrestlerProfessional wrestlingProfessional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
Dave Taylor was a Sambo champion in England and is a third-generation practitioner of the sport. - Volk HanVolk HanMagomedkhan Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov , better known by his alias Volk Han , is a Russian shoot wrestler and later a mixed martial artist renowned for his technical mastery of Sambo and submission victories in shoot wrestling and MMA. He was representing Russia in the Russian RINGS team with Fedor...
, Russian hybrid wrestling competitor and mixed martial artist. Also the first primary trainer for the Russia Top Team, the mixed martial arts team for which Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander Emelianenko, and Sergei Kharitonov all were members.
Fictional practitioners
- Boris Ivanov and Alexander Kareda from the manga Shijō Saikyō no Deshi Ken'ichi (aka History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi) both use Command Sambo.
- The fictional character Blue MaryBlue Mary, real name , is a video game character from both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games developed by SNK Playmore . Blue Mary's first appearance was in the arcade and console game Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory which introduced her as an agent who investigates...
of the King of FightersKing of Fighters, officially abbreviated KOF, is a series of fighting games by SNK Playmore . The series was originally developed for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware, which served as the main platform for the series until 2004, when SNK retired the MVS in favor of the Atomiswave arcade board...
video game series uses a stylized version of Sambo. - Sergei Dragunov of the Tekken series uses the military version of Sambo.
- Bayman and Leon of the Dead or AliveDead or Alive (video game series)is a video game series that is primarily composed of fast-paced 3D fighting games for arcades and home systems. The series is produced by Tecmo and developed by Team Ninja. Its story and characters are the creation of Tomonobu Itagaki, who has since left the company and is no longer working on the...
game series both use Combat Sambo. - CyraxCyraxCyrax is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat series. Making his debut in Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax is a cyborg ninja who used to be human until he was automated, along with Sektor and Smoke.-In video games:...
and SektorSektorSektor is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat series. Making his debut in Mortal Kombat 3 in 1995, Sektor is a cyborg ninja who used to be human until he was automated, along with Cyrax and Smoke....
use Sambo in Mortal Kombat: Deadly AllianceMortal Kombat: Deadly AllianceMortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, originally known as Mortal Kombat V: Vengeance or simply Mortal Kombat 5, is a fighting game developed and published by Midway for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance...
. - ZangiefZangiefis a fictional character in the Street Fighter series of video games. Created by Akira Yasuda for Capcom, Zangief first appeared in Street Fighter II, later appearing in other games, media, and promotions related to the Street Fighter franchise...
of the Street Fighter series uses a variation of Sambo and integrates it into Pro Wrestling. - Abel from Street Fighter IVStreet Fighter IVis a fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom since . The coin-operated arcade game was released in Japan on July 18, 2008, with North American arcades importing the machines by August...
is a Sambo practitioner. - Mikhail Bakunin of the TV series LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
appears to use Sambo, probably due to his military training before joining the DHARMA InitiativeDHARMA InitiativeThe Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA , was a fictional research project featured in the television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. Dharma's interests were directly connected with fringe science...
. - Michael WestenMichael WestenMichael Westen is a fictional character played by Jeffrey Donovan in the television series Burn Notice. Michael, a spy, was abruptly blacklisted while on an assignment. Forced to go back to his hometown of Miami, Florida, he finds himself cut off from the United States Intelligence Community...
uses Sambo as part of his under cover operation in the Burn NoticeBurn Notice (TV series)Burn Notice is an American television series created by Matt Nix. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless, and, beginning in the fourth season, Coby Bell. The series premiered on June 28, 2007, on USA Network. On April 15, 2010, the show was renewed for its...
episode 'Comrades'. - Rumble FighterRumble FighterRumble Fighter is a free-of-charge, 3-D, online fighting game developed by WeMade Entertainment and Nimonix, and published by OGPlanet. The game is a translated port of an original game called which originated from Korea...
, an online fighting game, allows players to purchase a version of Sambo. - Igor, main character in Paulo CoelhoPaulo CoelhoPaulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.-Biography:Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical,...
's book The Winner Stands AloneThe Winner Stands AloneThe Winner Stands Alone is a novel by Paulo Coelho first published in 2008. The book was first published in Portuguese under the title O Vencedor está Só...
uses Sambo on some occasions. - Valery Ilyuchin from the manga ShamoShamo (manga)is a Japanese action manga with a dark theme. It was discontinued because Weekly Manga Action went out of business but it is now being serialized in Evening. It tells a story of a boy who killed his parents and turned himself into a cold-blooded martial artist. The manga inspired a Hong Kong film...
is a three time Sambo world cup winner in middleweight. - Colonello from the manga and anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn! was a master of Sambo as well as karate.
Name controversy
Although Sambo is a Russian acronym, exponents of the sport in the English-speaking worldEnglish-speaking world
The English-speaking world consists of those countries or regions that use the English language to one degree or another. For more information, please see:Lists:* List of countries by English-speaking population...
has faced problems concerning the word's (linguistically unrelated) racial overtone. Sambo representatives were forced to choose the "politically correct
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
" spelling Sombo, which retains currency to date.
Sources
- FILA Sombo Rules – May 2006
- Sombo – A Style of Wrestling – by Bruce Gabrielson, PhD
- Creation of Sambo – by Michail Lukashev, first published in Physical Culture and Sport magazine N9-10/91.
- Classical SAMBO – with many examples and pictures.
- About Sombo – Sambo overview at AnyMartialArt.org
- CST Magazine Interview with Steve Koepfer from the American Sambo Association – information about combat and freestyle Sambo.
- New York Times Article and Video covering the history of Sambo – published July 19, 2008.
- LA Talk Radio's Kip Brown discusses Sambo on In The Can – Aired September 13, 2008.
- G4 Network's Attack of the Show covers Sambo Aired October 1, 2008.
- Russia Today covers the 70th Anniversary of Sambo – Aired October 22, 2008
- Slate.com covers Sambo training in Russia, the 2008 FIAS World Championships, and Fedor Emilianenko – published February 23–27, 2009
- Injury shake up unearths political controversy at USA SAMBO Open Published May 3, 2010
Organisations
- FIAS (Federation International Amateur Sambo)
- Asian SAMBO Federation
- American Sambo Association
- United States Combat SAMBO Association
- Combat Sambo Federation of Ukraine