History of Sambo

Sambo is a martial art founded between 1920’s to 1930’s. Sambo is a martial art deprised from combination of Judo & Wrestling. Sambo was designed by the Soviet Union to enhance hand to hand combat skills of Soviet Military Personnel. Sambo is a martial art which is recognised worldwide. In the early 1920’s, Sambo was introduced and founded by Vasili Oshchepov and Viktor Spiridonov . Oshchepov and Spiridonov collaborated independently with a team of other experts from the Soviet Union with the target of improving upon Soviet Military hand to hand combat training, as mentioned earlier. What helped these guys achieve their aim was that both had extensive backgrounds in martial arts.Vasili Oschepkov was one of the first foreigners to study Judo in Japan, which he went on to teach to the elite Red Army forces. He was a second-degree black belt and a former student of Kano Jigoro (the founder of Judo). Viktor Spiridonov had a strong background in Greco Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, and a keen interest in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, they spent their time testing and merging various martial arts techniques so as to create the new system.From here, they incorporated throwing elements from Judo, karate striking, and various types of wrestling from that came from Uzbek and Tatar folk wrestling, to name but a few. Of course, they needed a name for the newly developed sport and settled on a portmanteau, Sambo, from САМозащита Без Оружия-samozashita bez oruzhia, which means combat without weapons.

Birth of Sambo

SAMBO official birth date is considered to be November 16, 1938, when the All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR Order No. 633 “On the Development of Free Style Wrestling” was issued. As for the name of SAMBO, it was first mentioned in the book by V.A.Spiridonov “Unarmed Self-Defense (Training and Competition)” published in 1928. However, the abbreviation didn’t catch on at once: the expression “free style wrestling” was commonly used for some time. The first tournament took place November 23-25, 1939 in Leningrad at Red Star Stadium. Time passed by, and the martial art officially received its present name at spring couch meeting in 1947. The USSR SAMBO Federation was founded the same year.

International Recognition

Over the years, SAMBO entered the international scene and received recognition abroad.

1956 – renowned wrestlers G. Schultz and A. Karaschuk made a demonstration of SAMBO at the prestigious World Exposition in Brussels.

In 1957, a friendly match between Hungarian and Soviet athletes took place.

1963 – SAMBO Association in Japan was established.

In 1966, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) officially recognised SAMBO as an international sport wrestling and decided on regular international competitions in this sport.

1967 – the First International Tournament took place in Riga with participation of Bulgaria, the USSR, Mongolia, Yugoslavia and Japan representatives.

In 1972, first open European SAMBO Championship took place in the same city. Athletes from 8 countries participated in it.

1973 – the first World Championship which became an arena for SAMBO practitioners from 11 countries took place in Teheran.

Since 1977, SAMBO World Cup has been held.

1979 – along with World Championships for adults, Junior World Championships have been conducted.

Since 1983, Women’s World Championships have been held.

1984 – FILA Assembly decided to establish an independent SAMBO Federation (FIAS). The Spaniard Fernando Conte was elected FIAS President. In the following years, SAMBO development constantly gathered pace; the martial art gained more supporters.

In 2007, the World Championship in Prague received 332 athletes from 43 countries. XXXI World Championship went down in history as the first tournament that united sport and martial competitions within a single championship.

In September 2010, SAMBO international recognition was further confirmed by inclusion into the First SportAccord World Combat Games in Beijing.

Modern Sambo

According to the FIAS (FEDERATION INTERNATION AMATEUR SAMBO), 2016’s World Sambo Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, drew over 500 athletes from 80 countries. While the exact number of people who practice sambo worldwide is not known, International Sambo Federation president Vasily Shestakov was quoted in 2013 as saying over 410,000 in Russia practice the sport.
Like many martial arts, sambo also has a philosophy that promotes personal development, self-discipline, friendship, and respect. Because studying sambo promotes these values in addition to improving strength, stamina, and endurance, it makes the martial art ideal for both adults and children.

Types of Sambo

There are several different sambo styles, but the martial art breaks down into two main categories: sport sambo and combat sambo.

Sport sambo.
Sport sambo is a competitive form of sambo, and is similar to wrestling and judo. Common moves include grappling, takedowns, and leg locks, which are similar to arm bars but are executed using the legs instead.

Combat sambo.
The phrase, “combat sambo” can be used to refer to the style of sambo used strictly by the military. However, it is also commonly used to refer to a competitive style of sambo that differs from sport sambo in its use of strikes including groin strikes, kicks, punches, head butting, and the use of elbows and knees, in addition to grappling. Combat sambo is similar to modern MMA.

Other types of sambo include beach sambo, which as the name implies, is sport sambo done on the beach; freestyle sambo, which allows choke holds and submissions not allowed in sport sambo; self-defense sambo, which in the spirit of Spiridonov’s samoz, emphasizes using an opponent’s aggression against them; and specialized sambo, which are styles of sambo developed specifically for use by the military and law enforcement.

Basic Sambo Moves

In addition to the moves listed above, there are some sambo techniques specific to the fighting style:

Sambo casting punch.
This is an extremely versatile punch that originates from the shoulder and can be used to either close distance or enter into a clinch to then execute a takedown. The name comes from the punch’s similarity to the movement of casting a fishing line.

Sambo knee bar.
This grappling submission technique is similar in principle to an arm bar and can be used either on its own, or as a transition into other submission holds.

Sambo leg lock.
Leg locks are an extremely common grappling submission technique used in sambo. Because leg locks are not allowed in judo, the use of leg locks is a major point of differentiation between judo and sambo.

Sambo Notable Athletes

In addition to those who helped create sambo and who helped increase its popularity, notable sambo practitioners include four-time World Combat Sambo Champion and six-time Russian national Combat Sambo Champion, Fedor Emelianenko, and two-time World Combat Sambo Champion and UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Fedor Emelianenko “The Last Emperor” and three-time World Combat Sambo champion, has used his base of Sambo to dominate his opponents in mixed martial arts. Fedor consistently tops the lists as the best MMA fighter of all time and has spent much of his career competing at the highest levels of the sport in Bellator, Strikeforce, Affliction, Pride and M-1.