# Sambo



## LoneRider (Jun 27, 2008)

I'm by no means a Sambo practitioner, and admittedly my own exposure to the art has been through a friend of mine at military school from Lithuania and my own research (to include the Human Weapon episode and Viktor Suvorov's book, Spetsnaz and the Martialpedia and Wikipedia entries on it). 

 My question regarding Sambo is thus: Is Jason Chambers' saying that Sambo is a hybrid art accurate? I've seen evidence to support it with Combat Sambo tournaments. 

 BTW my own martial arts background (I'm 24 soon to be 25 now):

 Tae Kwon Do (Ages 11-13)
 Western Boxing (Ages 19-21)
 Wing Chun (Ages 22-present day) 

 Regards,

 LoneRider


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## arnisador (Jun 27, 2008)

It has major components from Judo and Greco-Roman wrestling, certainly.


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## ArmorOfGod (Jun 28, 2008)

I have some of the Oleg Taktarov videos.  He was my favorite UFC guy.  Sambo is very impressive.

AoG


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## Aaron Fields (Jun 28, 2008)

Sombo is a product of the Soviet Union, originally formulated for their military.  It borrows from Judo, greco, freestyle, but more heavily from the variety of folk wrestling styles found within the former Soviet Union.  

I consulted for the Human Weapon series, both Judo and Sambo, the "hosts" left a bit to be desired.  Sombo is open about incorporating technices from a variety of sources, as to being a hybrid, it is like all combative and combative sports.  The human body is finite in its ability to gain mechanical advantage over another.  The concept of styles, especially with grappling, is really limiting.  (The major difference being the rules, clothes, and specializations that rise out of the prior two.)  

I found during my time practicing with the national team of a former Eastern Block country, that Sombo is focused on a methodology of movement, rather than a collection of techniques.  

You must also keep in mind that there are a variety of rule sets for sombo, most of which do not include striking.  

Scott Anderson is the foremost sombo historian in the US, but a number of online and print resources will provide a detailed history.

"An acronym for SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya or Self-defense without weapons, Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. Under the leadership of Sambos forefathers V.S. Oshchepkov, V.A. Spiridinov, and A. A. Kharlampiev, indigenous fighting styles from regions including Japan, China, Mongolia, India, Africa, Europe, North America, Caucasus, and Russia were studied and blended into what is now known as Sambo. After Like all fighting systems, Sambo continues to grow and evolve in both its sport and combat variants."  _American Sambo Association  _

_http://www.ussambo.com_


_If you have furhter questions, feel free to contact me directly._

_Regards,_
_Aaron Fields_
_Vice president American Sambo Association_
_Sea-Town Sombo_
_Seattle Jujutsu Club, Hatake Dojo_

_www.seattle-jujutsu.org_


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## LoneRider (Aug 6, 2008)

Thanks. I did find the Human Weapon treatment to give Sambo a little less justice than it deserved. I did read Viktor Suvorov's Spetsnaz book and as a military man I have a healthy respect for the toughness of Spetsnaz training and was especially impressed by their hand to hand fighting style of sambo. 

Next to Marine Corps Martial Arts, Israeli Krav Maga, and Army H2H, from my observations, I judge combat sambo as among the more effective martial arts of the world.


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## Xue Sheng (Aug 6, 2008)

Sambo


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## Perpetual White Belt (Aug 6, 2008)

I often see Sambo and BJJ taught together.  Is this coincidence or is there a reason behind it that I'm missing?


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## milosmalic (Sep 12, 2008)

One sport has some aspects developed in more details or better than other and vice versa. Smart people want to learn everything available. That's why.


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## BlueDragon1981 (Sep 12, 2008)

I have studied the history of Sambo and watched some video demonstrations, but in my area Sambo isn't exactly prevalant.


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## Boyd Ritchie (Dec 28, 2008)

Aaron Fields said:


> Sombo is a product of the Soviet Union, originally formulated for their military.  It borrows from Judo, greco, freestyle, but more heavily from the variety of folk wrestling styles found within the former Soviet Union.
> 
> I consulted for the Human Weapon series, both Judo and Sambo, the "hosts" left a bit to be desired.  Sombo is open about incorporating technices from a variety of sources, as to being a hybrid, it is like all combative and combative sports.  The human body is finite in its ability to gain mechanical advantage over another.  The concept of styles, especially with grappling, is really limiting.  (The major difference being the rules, clothes, and specializations that rise out of the prior two.)
> 
> ...



Aaron,
Good to see you here buddy!


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## jarrod (Dec 28, 2008)

Perpetual White Belt said:


> I often see Sambo and BJJ taught together. Is this coincidence or is there a reason behind it that I'm missing?


 
bjj tends to train few throws or leglocks.  sambo is excellent for both, but tends to be a bit weak off of the back (compared to bjj, at least).  this is because in sport sambo, chokes are not allowed, & if there is chest to chest contact, the bottom wrestler is being pinned, regardless of whether he has guard or not.  so the two together make for a pretty complete grappling system.

jf


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## Arthur (Jan 4, 2009)

Sambo (Sombo is PC rewriting of the word so as to not offend overly sensitive people who are incapable of thinking) and BJJ/GracieJJ are direct progeny of Judo.

While it is not PC to speak the truth about much of any things, including the foundations of these arts... they are both variant styles of japanese Judo.

Sambo has the leg locks that were once a major part of Judo, but not the chokes, and BJJ has the chokes but not the leg locks.

If anyone is really interested in understanding either of these arts... they might want to purchase the tape of of Kyuzo Mifune Sensei that is out there. In that tape you can see him apply all of the standardly known Judo techniques as well as leg locks, strikes and grandwork methods than many erroneously give BJJ credit for inventing. Likewise you might just see some groundwork that seems unique and inventive.

oh... and i should mention that it is the one true look commonly available at the true gentle art that Judo is. mifune executes lawless, strengthless throws agains giant brutes of opponents in real matches... throwing them effortlessly. For those that are interested in both Sambo and Systema, the tape is a gold mine. IMO.

Arthur


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## erich (Jan 6, 2009)

hey Arthur... wassup!

Is this the Mifune video you mention?  It is an awesome display...  Actually I believe that one of the big burly guys that Mifune throws in this video is Moshe Feldenkreis, min 22-23.  Can anybody confirm?  Would not be that surprising cause he acknowledges Mifune as one of his main judo teachers.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3748489073060595313


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## Arthur (Jan 8, 2009)

Hey Eric!

>hey Arthur... wassup!

This and that man... this and that. Shoot me a PM and tell me how the "baby" is doing, etc.

>Is this the Mifune video you mention? 

Its taken from the same video. There a re a lot of vids taken from that video... some incude more stuff than others.

>Actually I believe that one of the big burly guys that Mifune throws in >this video is Moshe Feldenkreis, 

I've heard that thought in various places... I must admit. Speaking of Moshe Feldenkrais... You know he said that Feldenkrais method without the inclusion of judo in particular and the martial in general... just plain wasn't Feldenkrais. That alaways amuses me when I hear Feldenkrais "teachers" expresss their "disdain" for the martial. interesting stuff.

Arthur


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## Ken Pfrenger (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice post Aaron!


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