ARB (martial art)


ARB is a Soviet martial art, which was developed for the military in the late 1970s and tested with the Soviet Airborne Troops, utilising both striking and grappling techniques with an emphasis on stand-up fighting and use of throws to take an opponent down quickly. It incorporated many functional elements from an arsenal of army-style hand-to-hand combat and martial arts styles from around the world, and has been intened for use in combat environment. It is relatively modern and quickly developing style of martial arts, and as a combat sport it received popularity for full-contact sparrings while offering a relatively modest risk of injury to sportspeople. Contrary to Combat Sambo contests, which are being held at a standard wrestling mat, ARB contests require a 10×10 m tatami-like squared area.

History

ARB's origin as a military-applied martial art dates back to 1979 when the city of Kaunas held the first championship for Airborne troops on the sports base of the 7th division of guards of Airborne troops. Since then, the Airborne troops' ARB championships have been held annually. ARB was created by experts and enthusiasts of physical preparation and was played as a sport of the Soviet Army. It was also successfully introduced into the Soviet army to train soldiers.
Carrying out of the first championship on ARB would not have been possible without long-term practice and experiments with various kinds of single combat. Black belt-rated sportsmen and prize-winners of competitions in boxing, wrestling, judo and other fighting sports were carefully selected to participate in a game of ARB. Methodical work of fighters and commanders, has also impulsed to the origin of the martial art which is nowadays widely known under the name "Army Hand-to-Hand Combat". At that point in time actual training of regular soldiers for hand-to-hand combat was named "as the Program of preparation of instructors in sports and special receptions of a landing".

Rules

A distinctive part of ARB that sets it apart from other full contact single combat martial arts is the possibility of finishing with the opponent on hands and feet from a standing position. The opponent may call "Stop", as some kicks on the head of the opponent may not be protected by a helmet, and can lead to heavy damages that interrupt the match immediately. Blows of the opponent by a foot in a head is a knock-down to the fighter who has performed such a blow.

General rules