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COMBAT SAMBO

 

Sambo is a method of unarmed hand-to-hand combatives used by Russian military forces. Sambo (Russian: самбо), is sometimes written in all-caps as SOMBO. The word "SOMBO" when translated to English literally means, "self-defense without weapons". 

 

HISTORY

Sambo was originally developed in the early 1920s by members of the elite Soviet Red Army. Sambo creators were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. 

 

In 1938 Sambo gained recognition as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee. 

 

This grappling style has its roots in traditional folk styles of wrestling such as Armenian Koch, Georgian Chidaoba, Moldovan Trîntǎ, Uzbek Kurash, Mongolian Khapsagay and Japanese Judo.

 

All of the throws, footsweeps and take-downs in Judo are also in Sambo. All of the devastating joint-locks, pin downs and submission ground fighting techniques of Freestyle Wrestling, Pancrase, Catch Wrestling and BJJ are also in Sambo.  

 

COMBAT SAMBO

Combat Sambo as practiced by Russian military units consists of Striking, Non-Sport Wrestling, and Practical Self-defense against weapons and multiple opponents. Combat SAMBO is constantly evolving.

 

With its ever-growing arsenal of techniques adopted from many martial arts and fighting forms, it is one of the most comprehensive self-defense and survival systems in the world.

 

Substyles of Sambo

Several offshoots of Sambo have emerged since the art was first formulated. However, there are truly only five that are recognized by the public at large. These are:

 

  • Combat Sambo: Combat Sambo was developed for exclusive use for in military/battlefield environments. Thus, it includes weapons usage and disarming techniques. Combat Sambo includes a significant amount of striking in addition to grappling.

  • Freestyle Sambo: Freestyle Sambo was established by the American Sambo Association in 2004 to encourage Judoka, Jujitsu athletes and Wrestling practitioners to participate in sport Sambo events. Freestyle Sambo tournaments allow the use of choke holds and other submissions that are not permitted in traditional Sport Sambo.

  • Self-Defense Sambo: Self-Defense Sambo is about defending oneself. Along with this, it teaches practitioners how to defend against weapons and more. Many of the methods taught involve using an opponent's aggression against them, which is similar to Jujitsu and Aikido. Along with this, Spiridonov's influence is strong here.

  • Sport Sambo: Sport Sambo rules allow full-contact kicks, boxing style punches, knees strikes in the clinch, and elbow strikes both in a standing position and on the ground. 

 

 

 

SAMBO FIGHTERS FINDING HUGE SUCCESS IN MMA

 

 

Maybe you’ve heard of Fedor Emelianenko, widely considered to be one of the greatest MMA fighters in history. What’s his martial arts background? Russian Sambo.

 

Then there’s Oleg Taktarov, a Russian fighter that won the UFC 6 tournament way back when. What was Taktarov’s martial arts style? That’s right, you guessed it, Russian Sambo. Fact is, we could list several outstanding and influential Sambo fighters if we wanted to. So maybe there’s something to this whole Sambo thing?

 

 

You’re darned right there is.

Russian Sambo is a martial arts style and self-defense system that was formulated in the former Soviet Union during the early 1900′s. In that sense, it does not have as long a history as some of the Asian styles. That said, Sambo, which is sometimes referred to as Sombo, has roots in several differentmartial arts types, drawing from many of the older styles.

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