Sambo (martial art)
Sambo is a Soviet martial art, an internationally-practised combat sport, and a recognized style of amateur wrestling included by FILA in the World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
It originated in the Russian SFSR in Soviet Union. The word sambo is an acronym of the romanization samozashchita bez oruzhiya, which literally translates to 'self-defence without weapons'. The correct, official English spelling, approved by USA Wrestling and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, is SOMBO.
Sambo is relatively modern, since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet NKVD and Red Army to improve hand-to-hand combat abilities of the servicemen. 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 spent several years living in Japan and training in Judo under its founder Kano Jigoro. Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the Great Purge after being accused of being a Japanese spy.
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, Spiridonov's style was softer and less brutal. It was also less strength-dependent, which in large part was due to injuries Spiridonov sustained during World War I.
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.
Styles
There are multiple competitive sport variations of sambo. Below are the main formats that are recognized by FIAS.- Sport sambo or Sambo wrestling is stylistically similar to old time catch wrestling and judo, and in a lot of ways influenced by them, but with some differences in rules, protocol, and uniform. More akin to catch wrestling, and in contrast with judo, sambo allows various types of leg locks, while not allowing chokeholds. It also focuses on throwing, ground work and submissions, with very few restrictions on gripping and holds. Sambo is an international style of amateur wrestling recognized by the FILA Congress in 1966.
- Combat sambo. Utilized and developed for the military, combat sambo resembles modern mixed martial arts, including forms of striking and grappling. Combat sambo allows regular punches, kicks, elbows and knees, as well as soccer kicks, headbutts and groin strikes, in addition to throws, holds, chokes and locks, except for a standing or flying wristbar. The chief distinction from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, apart from striking techniques, is that combat sambo rules and regulations do not permit a one-sided resort to ground fighting without throws or other combative manoeuvres. In terms of aliveness, combat sambo surpasses ARB by design, though both were designed for combat situations only. Competitors wear jackets as in sport sambo, but also hand protection and sometimes shin protection and headgear. The first FIAS World Combat Sambo Championships were held in 2001. The World Combat Sambo Federation, based in Russia, also sanctions international combat sambo events.
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, Armenian kokh, Romanian trîntǎ, Mongolian khapsagay and Georgian chidaoba. 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 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. His reliance on movement over strength was in part because during World War I he received a bayonet wound 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 commandos.
Development
In 1918, Lenin created Vsevobuch 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, Dynamo Sports Society.Spiridonov was a combat veteran of World War I and one of the first wrestling and self-defense instructors hired for Dynamo. His background included Free wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, many Turkic folk wrestling styles, and Japanese jujutsu. As a combatives investigator for Dynamo, he travelled to Mongolia and China to observe their native fighting styles.
In 1923, Oschepkov and Spiridinov collaborated 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 Jigoro's distillation of Tenjin Shinyo Ryu, Kito Ryu and Fusen-ryū 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 travelled 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 manoeuvring 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. 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 wrestling. Refined versions of sambo are still used today or fused with specific sambo applications to meet the needs of Russian commandos.
Running up to an Olympic sport status
After being recognized by FILA in 1968, by the U.S. National Amateur Athletic Union in 1972, and after being included to the programme of the 1973 World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling Sambo was rapidly making its way to become an Olympic sport.The first World Cup was contested in 1969. Don Curtis, a member of the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Committee, had predicted in 1975, that the Russians will introduce the Sambo wrestling in the 1980 Olympics programme in Moscow. In 1975 the first United States National Sambo Championships were held in Mesa, Arizona, in 1977 it was contested along with GR and freestyle at the first Pan American Wrestling Championships in Mexico City, and included in the schedule of the upcoming 1983 U.S. Olympic Festival and the 1983 Pan American Games In 1979 the National AAU Sambo Committee established several annual awards to honor outstanding persons in the sport of Sambo wrestling. By the 1980s it has been included to Pan American Games, National Sports Festival and AAU Junior Olympics program.
But as a result of political complications of the 1980 Olympic boycott which arouse after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Sambo was at first reduced to a demonstration sport at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. But later, because of the sport's strong association with the Soviet Union, it was relinquished of the demonstration sport status. 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. Furthermore, the official documents of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee do not mention sambo as a participating sport in the Games. Nevertheless, Jerry Matsumoto, Head of the U.S. Sambo Association, saw in 1990 Sambo becoming an Olympic sport, at least at the demonstration level, within the next eight years.
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. 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" and FIAS "West". 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. 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, only FIAS sanctions international competition in sport sambo. In 2014 FIAS and FILA signed a cooperative agreement. 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. 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 rumours 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. 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. As of 30 November 2018, sambo has indeed received temporary recognition by the IOC. This close relationship is reestablishing the global popularity and media emphasis on sambo.
Uniform and ranking
Similar to wrestling, andi a sambo practitioner normally wears either a red or a blue competition outfit. The kurtka or sambovka as it is called, looks similar to a Judogi top and belt, but has belt loops, shoulder straps, wrestling style shorts and shoes which match the uniform's colour. 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. 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, FKE, 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
Competitions
FIAS World SAMBO Championships
| Number | Year | Dates | Host | Champion | Events | Participating countries |
| 1 | 1973 | 6–11 September |  Tehran, Iran | 10 | 11 | |
| 2 | 1974 | 26–28 July |  Ulan Bator, Mongolia | 10 | 5 | |
| 3 | 1979 | 11–14 December |  Madrid, Spain | 10 | 11 | |
| 4 | 1980 | 30–31 May |  Madrid, Spain | 10 | 11 | |
| 5 | 1981 | 28 February – 1 March |  Madrid, Spain | 10 | 12 | |
| 6 | 1982 | 3–4 July |  Paris, France | 10 | 11 | |
| 7 | 1983 | 30 September – 1 October |  Kyiv, Soviet Union | 10 | 8 | |
| 8 | 1984 | 14–15 June |  Madrid, Spain | 10 | 10 | |
| 9 | 1985 | 19–21 September | San Sebastián, Spain | 10 | 11 | |
| 10 | 1986 | 21–24 November | Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France | 10 | 8 | |
| 11 | 1987 | November |  Milan, Italy | 10 | 9 | |
| 12 | 1988 | 1–5 December |  Montreal, Canada | 10 | 11 | |
| 13 | 1989 | 8–11 November |  West Orange, United States | 10 | 9 | |
| 14 | 1990 | 7–10 December | Moscow, Soviet Union | 10 | 18 | |
| 15 | 1991 | 28–29 December | Montreal, Canada | 10 | 8 | |
| 16 | 1992 | 6–10 November |  Herne Bay, England | 10 | 14 | |
| 17 | 1993 | 9–15 November |  Kstovo, Russia | 10 | 28 | |
| 18 | 1994 | 7–9 October |  Novi Sad, Yugoslavia | 10 | 20 | |
| 19 | 1995 | 1–3 September |  Sofia, Bulgaria | 9 | 23 | |
| 20 | 1996 | 1–3 November |  Tokyo, Japan | 18 | 23 | |
| 21 | 1997 | 10–12 October |  Tbilisi, Georgia | Georgia | 18 | 20 |
| 22 | 1998 | 16–18 October | Kaliningrad, Russia | 18 | 20 | |
| 23 | 1999 | 12–14 November | Gijón, Spain | 18 | 20 | |
| 24 | 2000 | 25 November |  Kyiv, Ukraine | 18 | 21 | |
| 25 | 2001 | 20–21 October | Krasnoyarsk, Russia | 18 | 26 | |
| 26 | 2002 | 26–29 November |  Panama City, Panama | 18 | 19 | |
| 27 | 2003 | 18 October 6–10 November | Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France ' St. Petersburg, Russia | 27 | 32 | |
| 28 | 2004 | 16–21 June 25–26 September |  Prague, Czech Republic '  Chișinău, Moldova | 27 | 23 | |
| 29 | 2005 | 21–23 October 11–14 November | Prague, Czech Republic '  Astana, Kazakhstan | 27 | 27 | |
| 30 | 2006 | 30 September – 2 October 3–5 November |  Tashkent, Uzbekistan ' Sofia, Bulgaria | 27 | 33 | |
| 31 | 2007 | 7–11 November | Prague, Czech Republic | 27 | 43 | |
| 32 | 2008 | 13–17 November | St. Petersburg, Russia | 27 | 48 | |
| 33 | 2009 | 5–9 November |  Thessaloniki, Greece | 27 | 46 | |
| 34 | 2010 | 4–8 November | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 27 | 26 | |
| 35 | 2011 | 10–14 November |  Vilnius, Lithuania | 27 | 65 | |
| 36 | 2012 | 8–12 November |  Minsk, Belarus | 27 | 64 | |
| 37 | 2013 | 7–11 November | St. Petersburg, Russia | 27 | 70 | |
| 38 | 2014 | 20–24 November |  Narita, Japan | 27 | 82 | |
| 39 | 2015 | 12–16 November |  Casablanca, Morocco | 27 | 80 | |
| 40 | 2016 | 10–14 November | Sofia, Bulgaria | 27 | 77 | |
| 41 | 2017 | 9–13 November | Sochi, Russia | 27 | 90 | |
| 42 | 2018 | 8–12 November |  Bucharest, Romania | 27 | 80 | |
| 43 | 2019 | 7–11 November |  Cheongju, South Korea | 27 | 80 | |
| 44 | 2020 | 6–8 November |  Ashgabat, Turkmenistan | TBD | TBD | TBD |
FIAS World Cup
and Supercup have been contested since 1969, initially held by FILA, and since 1985 by FIAS.| Year | Dates | Location |
| 1969 |  Riga, Soviet Union | |
| 1970 | Sochi, Soviet Union | |
| 1975 | Moscow, Soviet Union | |
| 1976 |  Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1977 | 9–12 June |  Oviedo, Spain |
| 1980 | Madrid, Spain | |
| 1981 | 18–20 September | Pontevedra, Spain |
| 1982 | 11 June | Bilbao, Spain |
| 1983 |  Lyon, France | |
| 1984 | 12–14 October |  Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela |
| 1985 | 22 September | San Sebastián, Spain |
| 1986 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1987 | 4–5 April |  Casablanca, Morocco |
| 1988 | June | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| 1990 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1992 | Spain | |
| 1993 |  Nizhni Novgorod, Russia | |
| 1994 | May | Kstovo, Russia |
| 1999 | 28 November | Nice, France |
| 2000 | 27–29 November | Nice, France |
| 2001 | Moscow, Russia | |
| 2006 | 26 November | Nice, France |
| 2012 | Kazan, Russia |
United States National Sambo Championships
United States National Sambo Championships known initially as the National AAU Sambo Wrestling Championships are the annual championships held in the United States. American enthusiasts of martial arts took up Sambo shortly before it was contested at the 1973 World Wrestling Championships and was rapidly making its way to become an Olympic sport in 1980.| Year | Dates | Location | Venue | Events |
| 1975 | 10 May | Mesa, Arizona | Community College | 10 |
| 1976 | 5 June | Chandler, Arizona | Chandler High School gym | 10 |
| 1977 | 23 April | Southeast San Diego, California | Jackie Robinson Memorial YMCA | 10 |
| 1978 | 20 May | Chula Vista, California | Southwestern College | 10 |
| 1979 | 21 April | Walnut, California | 10 | |
| 1980 | 2 August | Kansas City, Missouri | 20 | |
| 1984 | 3 March | Kansas City, Missouri | Kansas City North Community Center | |
| 1984 | 30 March | Washington, D.C. | ||
| 1987 | 28 March | Kansas City, Missouri | Bishop Ward High School | |
| 1988 | 9 April | Newark, New Jersey | Essex County College | 29+3 |
| 1989 | 10 November | Newark, New Jersey | ||
| 1990 | 13 May | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 27 | |
| 1991 | 31 March | Covington, Kentucky | ||
| 1992 | 28 March | Cincinnati, Ohio | ||
| 1993 | 27 March | Norman, Oklahoma | Norman High School | |
| 1994 | 26 March | Chula Vista, California | Southwestern College | |
| 1996 | South Annville, Pennsylvania | Annville-Cleona High School | ||
| 1998 | 11 April | Washington, D.C. | ||
| 2006 | 19-20 August | North Palm Beach, Florida | North Palm Beach Community Center |
Sambo at the National Wrestling Championships
The national Sambo competition also was held along with Greco-Roman and freestyle events at the 1987 and 1988 AAU/USA Grand National Wrestling Championships on July 1, 1987, and July 6, 1988, respectively, both held at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. Next year it was contested at the 1989 AAU/Carrier Grand National Wrestling Championships on July 5 at Metra in Billings, Montana. 1990 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships also hosted a national Sambo competition at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 10. 1992 AAU Grand National edition hosted a national Sambo competition in July in Amarillo, Texas. 1994 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships also hosted a national Sambo competition at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Michigan on July 13. 1995 AAU Grand National edition hosted a national Sambo competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 1999 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships also offered Sambo to competitors on June 30 at Metra in Billings, Montana. The 2002 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships saw Sambo competition on June 19 at Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.USA Wrestling has added Sambo as a style since the 2007 U.S. National Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Notable practitioners
See List of Sambo practitionersName controversy
Although sambo is a Russian acronym, exponents of the sport in the English-speaking world have faced problems concerning the linguistically unrelated racist term. Sambo representatives have opted to use the alternative spelling Sombo to avoid offence. In Swedish, "sambo" is the term for an unmarried couple living together on permanent basis. To avoid confusion, FIAS also references the sport with its acronym spelling: SAMBO.Organizations
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Others