Sambo (martial art)

Sambo, Russian: Cамбо

International Federation of Amateur Sambo

International Federation
of Amateur Sambo
Also known as Sombo (in English-speaking countries)
Focus Eclectic
Country of origin  Soviet Union
Famous practitioners Fedor Emelianenko, Alexander Pushnitsa, Oleg Taktarov, Nick Diaz, Vitaly Minakov, Volk Han, Andrei Kopylov, Chris Dolman, Gokor Chivichyan, Oleg Stepanov, Genrikh Shults, David Rudman, Andrei Arlovski, Blagoi Ivanov, Alexander Emelianenko, Vladimir Putin, Khaltmaa Battulga, Sergei Kharitonov, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rasul Mirzaev, Amir Sadollah, Rustam Khabilov, Dean Lister, Islam Makhachev, Ali Bagautinov, Omari Akhmedov
Parenthood Judo, Jujutsu, Russian boxing, Savate, Kurash, Alysh, Greco-Roman wrestling
Olympic sport No
Official website sambo-fias.org//

Sambo (Russian: са́мбо; IPA: [ˈsambə]; САМозащита Без Оружия) is a Soviet martial art and combat sport.[1][2] The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMozashchita 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.[1] It was intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts.

The pioneers of sambo were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the Great Purge after being accused of being a Japanese spy.[3] Oshchepkov spent several years living in Japan and training in judo under its founder Jigoro Kano.

Spiridonov and Oshchepkov independently developed two different styles, which eventually cross-pollinated and became what is known as sambo. Compared to Oshchepkov's system, called "Free wrestling" in Russia (known in the West as Catch as Catch Can wrestling or simply Catch wrestling), Spiridonov's style was softer and less strength-dependent. This was in large part due to injuries Spiridonov sustained during World War I.[4]

Anatoly Kharlampiev, a student of Vasili Oshchepkov, is also considered a founder of sambo. In 1938, it was recognized as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee.[3]

Styles

There are multiple competitive sport variations of sambo (though sambo techniques and principles can be applied to many other combat sports). Below are the main formats that are recognized by FIAS.[5]

History

Origins and influences

Sambo's early development stemmed from the independent efforts of Vasili Oshchepkov and Viktor Spiridonov, to integrate the techniques of Catch wrestling, Judo, Jujutsu, and other foreign martial arts into native Turkic wrestling styles. Oschepkov taught judo 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 jujutsu (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.[9] 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.[10] Thus, many techniques from jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems joined with the indigenous fighting styles to form the sambo repertoire.[11] 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 commandos.[12]

Development

In 1918, Lenin created Vsevobuch (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 Free wrestling (i.e Catch wrestling), Greco-Roman wrestling, many Turkic folk 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, Kito Ryu jujutsu and Fusen 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 Kharlampiyev 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.

Kharlampiyev 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, Kharlampiyev's political maneuvering is single-handedly responsible for the USSR Committee of Sport's accepting Sambo as the official combat sport of the Soviet Union in 1938—decidedly the "birth" of sambo.[13] So, more accurately, Kharlampiyev could be considered the father of "sport" sambo.

Spiridonov was the first to begin referring to the new system with a name similar to 'sambo'. He eventually developed a softer style called Samoz that could be used by smaller, weaker practitioners or even wounded soldiers and secret agents. 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 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 incorrectly stated that sambo was a demonstration sport at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. It is true that youth sambo was demonstrated in the Games' opening ceremonies; however, sambo was never formally recognised as a demonstration sport. This common error in history books is noted in several sources including From SAMOZ to SAMBO by Anatoly Makovetskii and Lukashev's History of Hand-to-Hand Combat in the First Half of the 20th Century: Founders and Authors.[14] Furthermore, the official documents of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee do not mention sambo as a participating sport in the Games.[15] As a side note, demonstration sports were suspended after the 1992 Summer Olympics. With the changes in Olympics Judo in for 2013 and the proposed removal of Freestyle Wrestling from the Olympics, there has been a great migration of wrestlers to SAMBO because of its all-encompassing techniques and dynamic yet consistent rules.

Today

In 1968, the FILA 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 of which 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 1990s slowed down the growth of sambo before the success of several sambo fighters increased its popularity a decade later.[16] In 2005, FILA reached an agreement with FIAS "West" and re-assumed sanctioning over sport sambo.[17] However, in 2008, FILA again discontinued sanctioning sambo and sambo is now notably missing from the FILA website.[18] At present, only FIAS sanctions international competition in sport sambo. In 2014 FIAS and FILA signed a cooperative agreement.[19] While this does not place sambo back on FILA's recognized list, it does move towards unity and prevents future 'turf wars' regarding the sport's promotion. A similar agreement was signed by FIAS and the International Judo Federation in 2014 as well.[20] Both FIAS and the World Combat Sambo Federation host international combat sambo competition. The American Sambo Association has continued to host freestyle sambo tournaments in the US and Canada since 2004. These events are unrecognized by FILA. Rumours rising in 2012 stating that sambo will be included as a demonstration sport in the 2016 Olympics are therefore not supported by any facts, and thus sambo is still a very long way from maturing into an Olympic sport, notwithstanding the effort that is being put into the matter. Indeed, given the intention of the Olympic Committee to remove classic wrestling from the Olympic roster, there are rumors that sambo is highly unlikely to ever make it to the Olympics. However, sambo has been included in the 27th Annual Summer Universiade for the first time in history.[21] FIAS submitted an application to the International Olympic Committee IOC to consider sambo for the 2020 Games and has devoted 2010-2013 to creating a sambo commission in the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).[22] This close relationship is reestablishing the global popularity and media emphasis on sambo.

Uniform and ranking

Similar to wrestling, a sambo practitioner normally wears either a red or a blue competition outfit. The kurtka (куртка) or sambovka (самбовка) as it is called, looks similar to a Judo gi top and belt, but has wrestling style shorts and shoes which match the uniform's color. 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.

Also similar to wrestling ranking system used in Russia, a competitive rating system is used (rather than the belt color ranking system used in judo and jujutsu). Various sport organizations distribute these ranks for high levels of competition achievement or in some cases coaching merits. People who have earned these ranks are known as 'Masters of Sport.' Institutions that grant a sambo 'Master of Sport' in Russia include FIAS,[23] FKE,[24] and the International Combat Sambo Federation. Other nations have governing bodies that award 'Masters of Sport' as well, including the American Sambo Association in the United States [25]

FIAS World SAMBO Championships

No.YearDatesCity and host countryChampion
I 1973 November 9–13 Iran Tehran, Iran  Soviet Union
II 1974 July 26–28 Mongolian People's Republic Ulan Bator, Mongolia  Soviet Union
III 1975 September 19–21 Soviet Union Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Minsk, Byelorussia, Soviet Union  Soviet Union
IV 1979 October 13–14 Spain Madrid, Spain  Soviet Union
V 1981 February 28 - March 1 Spain Madrid, Spain  Soviet Union
VI 1982 July 3–4 France Paris, France  Soviet Union
VII 1983 September 30 - October 1 Soviet Union Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union  Soviet Union
VIII 1984 June 14–15 Spain Madrid, Spain  Soviet Union
IX 1985 September 19–21 Spain San Sebastián, Spain  Soviet Union
X 1986 November 21–24 France Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France  Soviet Union
XI 1987 Italy Milan, Italy  Soviet Union
XII 1988 December 1–5 Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada  Soviet Union
XIII 1989 November 8–11 United States West Orange, New Jersey, United States  Soviet Union
XIV 1990 Soviet Union Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union  Soviet Union
XV 1991 Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada  Russia
XVI 1992 November 6–10 United Kingdom England Herne Bay, England  Russia
XVII 1993 November 9–15 Russia Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia  Russia
XVIII 1994 October 7–9 Serbia and Montenegro Novi Sad, Yugoslavia  Russia
XIX 1995 Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria  Russia
XX 1996 November 1–3 Japan Tokyo, Japan  Russia
XXI 1997 October 10–12 Georgia (country) Tbilisi, Georgia  Georgia
XXII 1998 October 16–18 Russia Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia  Russia
XXIII 1999 November 12–14 Spain Gijón, Spain  Russia
XXIV 2000 November 25 Ukraine Kiev, Ukraine  Russia
XXV 2001 October 20–21 Russia Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia  Russia
XXVI 2002 November 26–29 Panama Panama City, Panama  Russia
XXVII 2003 October 18
November 6–10
France Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Combat Sambo)
Russia St. Petersburg, Russia
 Russia
XXVIII 2004 June 16–21
September 25–26
Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic (Combat Sambo)
Moldova Chișinău, Moldova
 Russia
XXIX 2005 October 21–23
November 11–14
Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic (Combat Sambo)
Kazakhstan Astana, Kazakhstan
 Russia
XXX 2006 September 30 - October 2
November 3–5
Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Combat Sambo)
Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria
 Russia
XXXI 2007 November 7–11 Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic  Russia
XXXII 2008 November 13–17 Russia St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia  Russia
XXXIII 2009 November 5–9 Greece Thessaloniki, Greece  Russia
XXXIV 2010 November 4–8 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan  Russia
XXXV 2011 November 10–14 Lithuania Vilnius, Lithuania  Russia
XXXVI 2012 November 8–12 Belarus Minsk, Belarus  Russia
XXXVII 2013 November 7–11 Russia St. Petersburg, Russia  Russia
2014 November 20–24 Japan Narita  Russia
2015 November 12–16 Morocco Casablanca Russia Russia
2016 November 10–14 BulgariaBulgaria, Sofia N/A
2017 N/A Russia Russia, Sochi N/A

Medal table (2006–2009)

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Russia 199 25 82 308
2  Belarus 12 11 19 42
3  Bulgaria 12 10 22 44
4  Ukraine 7 17 26 50
5  Kazakhstan 4 5 23 31
6  Mongolia 4 7 7 18
8  Georgia 3 2 9 14
7  Lithuania 2 4 11 17
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 5 6
19  France 0 1 4 5
20  Romania 0 1 3 4
21  Estonia 0 1 3 4
22  China 0 1 3 4
23  Germany 0 1 1 2
24  Poland 0 1 1 2
25  Colombia 0 1 1 2
26  Israel 0 1 0 1
27  Greece 0 0 2 2
28  Spain 0 0 2 2
29  Czech Republic 0 2 5 7
30  Indonesia 0 0 1 1
31  Iran 0 0 1 1
32  India 0 0 1 1
33  Jordan 0 0 1 1
34  Canada 1 0 0 1
35  United States 0 0 1 1
36  Netherlands 1 0 0 1
37  Turkmenistan 0 0 1 1
38  South Korea 0 0 1 1
39  Slovenia 0 0 1 1
40  Portugal 0 0 1 1
41  United Kingdom 0 0 1 1
Total 245 111 208 426

FIAS Hall of Fame

Champions

Founders

Sambo fighters

Sambo fighters (sambo practitioners) are athletes who train, compete and coach under the rules of sambo.

American Sambo Association U.S. Sambo Archive

The American Sambo Association (ASA) has compiled the most extensive archive of American sambists competing abroad as well as U.S. based sambo tournaments held since 1973; as well as other important pieces of U.S. Sambo history dating back to 1968.[26] The database currently has over 1400 entries. Only verifiable results have been included in the database (no word of mouth reports are included). To be listed in the ASA archive, verifiable evidence of an athlete’s participation and/or placing must be provided; this can include official results, photos on the podium, magazine or newspaper articles, certificates, passbooks, awards, etc.

Champions

The World Sambo Academy in Kstovo, the venue of many sambo competitions

Other notable sambo fighters

Fictional sambo fighters

Name controversy

Although sambo is a Russian acronym, exponents of the sport in the English-speaking world have faced problems concerning the word's (linguistically unrelated) racial overtone. Sambo representatives opted to use the alternative spelling Sombo to avoid offense.[39] However the name had unwanted associations in other languages, too. In Spanish, it means intoeing or pigeon toe, to refer to someone who has legs like this. In Swedish, "sambo" is the term for an unmarried couple living together on permanent basis. To avoid further confusion, FIAS references the sport with an acronym spelling: SAMBO.[40]

References

  1. 1 2 Schneiderman, R.M. (June 19, 2010). "Once-Secret Martial Art Rises in Ring’s Bright Lights". the New York Times.
  2. "Once-secret KGB martial art fights for recognition". The Independent. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Andavolu, Krishna (1937-09-29). "Sambo's Gulag Past and MMA Future | FIGHTLAND". Fightland.vice.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  4. Виктор Афанасьевич Спиридонов (Viktor Spiridonov) – biography at peoples.ru (in Russian)
  5. "Sambo Ranking System (Approved on XVI FIAS Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan, 2005) | SAMBO.COM - Federation Internationale de Sambo". Sambo.Com. 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  6. Classic Sambo – Get the Upper Hand on Your Opponent With Nasty Leglocks by Stephen Koepfer, in Grappling magazine
  7. "UNITED KINGDOM SAMBO ASSOCIATION". Mixed Martial Arts - Knucklepit.
  8. Freestle Sambo Rules. Ussambo.com (2010-08-23). Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  9. "MMA Fan's Guide to Grappling: Sambo". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  10. Adams, Andy (2013-03-26). "Classic Black Belt Article From 1967: Russia Prepares to Export Sambo (Part 3) – - Black Belt". Blackbeltmag.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  11. Adams, Andy (2013-03-22). "Classic Black Belt Article From 1967: Russia Prepares to Export Sambo (Part 2) – - Black Belt". Blackbeltmag.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  12. "MMA Origins: Russian Revolution". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  13. Adams, Andy (2013-03-21). "Classic Black Belt Article From 1967: Russia Prepares to Export Sambo (Part 1) – - Black Belt". Blackbeltmag.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  14. Sambo a demo sport in 1980 olympics? (Worldwide Grappling Forums)
  15. Games of the XXIII Olympiad (Volume 3 – Participants and Results) (640 pages)
  16. Schneiderman, R.M. (July 19, 2008). "Once-Secret Martial Art Rises in Ring’s Bright Lights". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  17. Struggling To Survive – Can FILA End Sambo's Civil War? – in Grappling magazine
  18. FILA/USAW Drops Sambo (Again) – (Wide Grappling Forums)
  19. "FILA and FIAS sign a memorandum of cooperation". sportspromedia.com.
  20. "INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS OF JUDO AND SAMBO SIGNED COOPERATION AGREEMENT". sportspromedia.com.
  21. "27th Summer Universiade in Kazan, July 6-17 2013". Kazan2013.ru. 1990-07-14. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  22. "The International Sambo Federation (FIAS)". Sambo-fias.org. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
  23. "Официальный сайт Международной Федерации САМБО". sambo-fias.org.
  24. "FKE.RU - Федерации Комплексных Единоборств". fke.ru.
  25. "ASA Rankings". Ussambo.com. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  26. American Sambo Association U.S. Sambo Archive.
  27. Rickson Gracie Interview. Onthemat.com (2006-10-13). Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  28. "BSF Organisation". Britishsombo.co.uk. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  29. Archived August 12, 2002, at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  30. Tatami. Worldcup.sambofrance.org. Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  31. Find What You Want. Britishsombo.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  32. Sombo Results 2001 till 2008. Britishsombo.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  33. Archived October 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  34. "American Sambo Federation : Diploma". Rmaxinternational.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  35. Martial Arts Biography by Scott Sonnon
  36. USSR. – Agentstvo pechati "Novosti". Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  37. ".". Daily Times. November 23, 2005. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  38. "YIVO | Jews in Sport in the USSR". Yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  39. Who runs International Sombo? by Martin Clarke Archived November 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  40. "The International Sambo Federation (FIAS)". Sambo-fias.org. Retrieved 2013-09-18.

Sources

Organizations

Others

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