Sambo

Instructor Michael O'Sullivan deals with a nasty leg lock from student Maureen Riordon Instructor Michael O’Sullivan deals with a nasty leg lock from student Maureen Riordon

Summary

Sambo is a Russian martial art that makes use of combined martial arts skills such as Judo and Jujutsu. The development of Sambo was made possible by Vasili Oschepkov and Victor Spiridonov, who were part of the team that strengthened the hand-to-hand combat style of the Russian soldiers. The team was later joined by Anatoly Kharlampiev and I.V. Vasiliev. The philosophy of Sambo was “to leave no room for mercy,” and such philosophy was a product of Russian Army’s defeat over the Japanese warriors.

History / Origins

ETYMOLOGY

The meaning of the term “Sambo” depends on how and where it is used. In some parts of Europe, “sam” means "together" and “bo” means “live” and therefore “sambo” can mean “to live together.” In Russia, the term “sambo” is used to refer to their traditional martial art. It is a shortened term for “samooborona bez oruzhiya” that literally translates to “defending oneself without weapon.”

BEGINNINGS

The foundation of Sambo can be attributed to Vasili Oschepkov and Victor Spiridonov, who exerted independent efforts in developing Russian martial art by combining the techniques of Jujutsu, Judo, and other forms of self-defence into their country’s own Wrestling styles.

While he was in Japan, Vasili Oschepkov learned the art of Judo. He was one of the very first non-Japanese to master the techniques of the martial art of Judo. He was under the supervision of Kano Jigoro, the Father of Judo himself, and earned his nidan, or second degree black belt, from him. Oschepkov was very influential in the Red Army forces at the Central Red Army House, as he was the one who taught the armed forces Judo and Karate
Karate.

Victor Spiridonov, on the other hand, was a part of the Russian Czarists Army and served as a low-ranking commissioned infantry officer. He took part in the Russian-Japanese war in 1905 and was in the Russian army when WWII happened. He perfected the tactics of “military-applied gymnastics” which pertained to the physical skills that Russian soldier should have. He is believed to have proficiency in bayonet techniques and to have self-studied the art of Jujitsu.

In 1923, Oschepkov and Spiridinov started a collaboration in order to develop and improve the Red Army's hand-to-hand combat system. Ten years later, together with prominent personalities such as Anatoly Kharlampiev and I. V. Vasiliev, who also toured in different countries to learn different martial arts, this collaboration gave birth to a Russian martial art known as Sambo. However, due to the political position Anatoly Kharlampiev held, he was regarded as the Father of Sambo.

PRESENT DAY

Because the art of Sambo graced the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, many regarded it as a mere demonstrated sport. However, despite the USSR All-Union Sports Committee Sports Organization’s recognition of Sambo as an official sport in 1938, it has not yet been recognized as a demonstrative sport. Several issues also occurred when the Olympic Organizing Committee did not include Sambo in the list of the Olympic discipline. To date, Sambo still struggles to become recognized as a demonstrated sport, especially nowadays, when there have been some rumors about the removal of classic Wrestling from the Olympics.

FOLKLORE

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Discipline
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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Russian Federation
TIME OF ORIGIN: c. 1930's
PRACTISED: Approx. 89 years
FOUNDERS:

Vasili Oschepkov, Victor Spiridonov, Anatoly Kharlampiev, I.V. Vasiliev

FOCUS: 

Hybrid

ALSO KNOWN AS: Sombo
PARENTHOOD:

Judo, Jujutsu, Wrestling

DESCENDANTS:

OLYMPIC SPORT: No

NOTABLE FEMALE PRATITIONERS

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NOTABLE MALE PRATITIONERS

Vasili Oschepkov
Victor Spiridonov
Anatoly Kharlampiev
I.V. Vasiliev

Sambo Training Products

Essential Writing Tools

Discipline
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NATIONALITY:
DATE OF BIRTH:
AGE: Approx. 89 years
BORN:

RESIDENCE: -
ALSO KNOWN AS: Sombo
OCCUPATION:

Hybrid

JOB TITLE:

Judo, Jujutsu, Wrestling

RELATED FEMALE INDIVIDUALS

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RELATED MALE INDIVIDUALS

Vasili Oschepkov
Victor Spiridonov
Anatoly Kharlampiev
I.V. Vasiliev

Sambo Training Products

Essential Writing Tools

Discipline
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COUNTRY: Russian Federation
LOCATION: -
FOUNDED: c. 1930's
OPERATIONAL: Approx. 89 years
FOUNDERS:

Vasili Oschepkov, Victor Spiridonov, Anatoly Kharlampiev, I.V. Vasiliev

ALSO KNOWN AS: Sombo
SECTOR:

Hybrid

DESCRIPTION:

Judo, Jujutsu, Wrestling

WEBSITE:

ACOSSIATED INDIVIDUALS

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ACOSSIATED ATHLETES

Vasili Oschepkov
Victor Spiridonov
Anatoly Kharlampiev
I.V. Vasiliev

Sambo Training Products

Essential Writing Tools

Practices

PHILOSOPHY

As Japanese warriors were extremely well-trained for the battlefield, the Russians faced defeat at the hands of their opponent. To avoid such humiliation from happening again, the new Soviet Red Army enhanced their fighting skills and developed in-depth hand-to-hand combat training methods for the Russian military. During that time, the philosophy of the Russian Red Army through the use of Sambo techniques was “to leave no room for mercy.” It is a martial art created for the purpose of victory in modern warfare and is meant to help survive in the never-ending struggle between life and death. Now in the modern days, Sambo teaches the competitors to end the fight quickly by taking the attacker to the ground and applying fast-submission strikes.

TECHNIQUES

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TRAINING

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RANKS & GRADING

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WEIGHT CLASSES

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Rules / Rulesets

RULES / RULESETS

International Sambo competitions have to follow a set of basic rules to ensure that the fight is legit. The basic rules include the following:

  • Identifying the age group;
  • Distributing of contestants to weight categories;
  • Wearing the proper Sambo attire: the dress code includes of a red and blue jacket, Sambo shoes made of soft leather with soft sole, and red and blue shorts made of wool, half-wool or synthetic jersey;
  • The acceptable Sambo attacks include painful holds, throws, hold-downs, and other basic martial art forms;
  • Before and after the competition, the competitors go to the mat’s center to shake each other’s hands.

Organisations & Historical Places

ORGANISATIONS

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HISTORICAL PLACES

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Popular Culture

POPULAR CULTURE

Due to the fame of Sambo in the modern times, its fighting forms have been seen in some action-packed movies and TV shows. The popular action series Dead or Alive always features Sambo’s techniques of fighting. This action series often employs Russian martial arts of command sambo and combat sambo. Dead or Alive is a series of fast-paced video games developed by Tecmo Koei. The action series is based on the Dead or Alive video games.

Useful Links

USEFUL LINKS

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References

REFERENCES

  1. http://www.judo-for-self-defense.com/combat-sambo.html
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_(martial_art)#Origins_and_influences
  3. http://sambo.com/rules

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