Posted by: Lowdown
sambo?russians judo? - 10/24/03 09:25 AM
GUYS THIS is copied from the blackbelt mag i thought u guys might be interested so read on!!!![ Sambo, a compound word for samo-oborona bez oruzhia, meaning "self-defense without a weapon" is claimed to be one of the most popular fledgling sports in the U.S.S.R. Although sambo bears striking similarities to the sport of judo, the Soviets disclaim any plagiaristic tendencies, what more, laud it as superior to judo, and prevaricate sambo's long history. They seem to trace it back to the XI century's Lavrentian Chronicles, which depict the struggle between the Slavs and the Pechengs. Merely because Ilya Murometz, the valiant knight of the Russian epic, had certain methods by which to overcome his opponents in a wrestling match, the Soviet "sport historians" lay the foundation for sambo to this early period.
It is an old Russian method, it seems, to kick with the tip of your right foot the left foot of your opponent, knocking him thus to the ground. This "Moscovite method" is just one of a score of styles employed in sambo, and it is again said to go far back in Russian history. Indeed, even recently, if one had the misfortune to tour Moscow by night one could easily observe this ingenious kick from a great many a hooligan and stilyaga who line the not-so-safe-after-dark avenue of Arbat.
Although sambo bears striking similarities to the sport of judo, the Soviets disclaim any plagiaristic tendencies, what more, laud it as superior to judo...
Throughout pre-revolutionary Russia a great variety of national types of wrestling existed with the people of Central Asia, of the Caucasus, and of the Far (Siberian) East. However, apparently these types were neither widespread nor systematized during that period. The study of these national matches bore a fortuitous character. It is only after the October Revolution, the Soviets boast, that a "genuine interest for this type of sport arose."
What more, sambo's originator, Anatoly Arkadevich Kharlampiev, decided to study and collect the diversified arsenal of the aforementioned national games and to utilize the experience of the many nationalities of the U.S.S.R. such as the Tartars, Georgians, Azherbeydzhani, Central Asians, and others. In total he studied some 23 types of wrestling and its allied categories of the nations of the Soviet Union; and some 15 foreign types. And finally, this Soviet "scholar-sportsman" was able to piece together his own "system" which on June 9, 1938, was recognized as a sport on an all-union level. Somewhat later it was called sambo.
Sambo is divided into two categories: a) sport and b) combat (a series of vital grips of self-defense against an armed attack). The latter category is highly recommended by a little instruction booklet published by the Ministry of Defense of the U.S.S.R., and in this pamphlet it is stated that "the sport category enforced by these elements /combat techniques/ becomes a powerful means in the hands of the sportsman for the defense of his homeland as well as for his own personal protection."
In general, a sambo match consists of such basic traits as throws, throws with falls, tumbles, turning over, holding position, and the vital grips. The rules for sambo are:
1 ) A throw from a standing position with the opponent landing on his back—scores a complete victory.
2) A vital (painful) grip from which the opponent surrenders—a complete victory.
3) A hold with over 20 second duration—scores one point.
4) A throw leading to a suppine, even if momentary, condition of the opponent—one point.
5) Less worthy throws—score half a point.
6) If the encounter should end in a draw one's points are counted and the winner is one with the largest accumulation of points.
The sambo contestants, or samboists as they are often called, are presently categorized into eight weight classes, and they have appeared in team matches since 1949. Individual matches, however, were started some ten years prior to that. In 1957 Soviet samboists are said to have met a Hungarian judo team and won all 24 matches. (The Hungarian Revolution had its demoralizing effect even here!) Two years later, in 1959, the sambo team "Dynamo" engaged the East German judo team "Vorwaerts" and— won all the three matches.
How was it possible to match sambo with judo, a fly with a bee? Certain "amendments" had to be made to be able to stage this sambo-judo meet. The already bastardized game of judo, namely sambo, had to be revised, just as judo had to be revised to "accommodate" sambo. The samboists, for example, did not use their vital grips on the opponents' leg-joints; the judo players did not engage their strangle holds.
A Sambo player applies an arm-lock which is legal and mostly used technique. Although the rules are different from judo, Sambo players have been pretty successful against judo-men. They even took the European Judo Team title.
But basically the differences between sambo and judo are insignificant. In the matter of clothing, for example, samboists wear trunks and sneakers, and their belted jackets have lapels. Judo players, on the other hand, are barefooted, and they wear special pants. In sambo the vital grips are allowed on the opponent's arms and legs (only in a Iying position); in judo they are permitted only on the arms. Strangle holds are not permitted in sambo because "they are not sportsmanlike,' groin-kicks seem to be o.k. An encounter in sambo lasts 10 minutes. During this period one can accumulate points, and even if one loses this round one can "catch-up" in the playoff. A judo-round fluctuates between 3-7 minutes (according to a country's given set of rules), and the judo player can't "catch-up" in his points. Throws are also judged slightly differently. In judo throws are awarded points only if they are accomplished by a snatch off the mat and are "in flight" and one may fall with the opponent. All throws count in sambo, but the contestant must remain standing. Judo has the basic "three-second rule" whereby the contestant must release his grip intended to topple his opponent after this period. In sambo one can hold the grip to one's heart delight.
Of all the differences, slight as they may be, between judo and sambo, the Soviets admit one major difference— that of weight classes in sambo. "This makes the contest more interesting and accessible to a larger number of participants,' they admit in self-praise. Only we must note that since the judo championship playoffs in 1961, three categories of weight classes have been instituted. The "absolute category" also exists; all weights may participate with one another!
IS THIS JUDO? Nope, the Russian claimed that it is not a judo throw. But it certainly looks like Circle Throw (Tomoe Nage).
And in the Soviet sports mag Fizkul'tura i Sport, No. 5,1962, two authors lament in this manner: "This is precisely the irony of fate that the Japanese national game of judo is popular in several countries; but sambo—truly an international game—is cultivated only in the U.S.S.R" Not only do sports writers voice their lament, Russian hipsters (many of the Arbar type, no doubt), also bemoan the fact that only few qualified instructors are available to impart on them the mysteries and techniques of sambo. To discourage haphazard attempts at self-instruction by these individuals, another author, Yuri Voronin, states in the same mag (No. 7, 1961) that "to learn sambo by self-instruction is most difficult" and he suggests further that one contact the chairman of the All-Union Federation of Sambo, a comrade S. Rozhdestvensky.
Now it seems that comrade Kharlampiev, the "father of sambo" didn't do a thorough job, for it is noted that sambo trainers use their experience rather than a scientific approach in sambo instruction. "I believe" the writer Voronin states, "that the time has come to equip the samboists with a well-planned scientific theory for our kind of sport; a theory based on the joint achievements of Soviet theorists of physical education, based on the mathematical theory of games, and based on the experimental possibilities of modern physics" (!!) What is more astonishing, the author derives at the conclusion that sambo enhances over 107 different types of grips and actions. Small wonder that comrade Voronin holds a candidacy for research in physics and mathematics!
Voronin writes: "Most frequent questions on the combat methods /of sambo/ are asked by comrades who are members of brigades for the protection of order" These so-called druzhinniki (organized brigades to fight the rising hooliganism in the Soviet Union, but themselves often involved in lawlessness) are cautioned by the author to use persuasion rather than their sambo skill in "enforcing the law" "It is important to preserve the correct proportions" Voronin exclaims. "For every ten classes of moral, political and aesthetic order, only one training period in sambo must be included" And this political, moral, and aesthetic indoctrination prevails throughout Soviet sports—sambo included. This is the reason sambo instruction booklets imminently quote comrade K's apophthegrns on the necessity of sports and how well the Soviet regime provides the Soviet citizen in this respect.
With the inclusion of judo in the forthcoming Olympic Games of 1964 to be held in Tokyo, the Russians are casting more than one surreptitious eye at the prospect of an official sambo-judo meet. It is even quite possible that the All-Union Federation of Sambo will meet the International Federation and Organizational Committee for the XVIII Olympic Games to negotiate over rules of bastardation to be adopted for a sambo-judo vinaigrette. Quite possible. But who knows? Their negotiations may turn out to be of the Geneva type! ]
It is an old Russian method, it seems, to kick with the tip of your right foot the left foot of your opponent, knocking him thus to the ground. This "Moscovite method" is just one of a score of styles employed in sambo, and it is again said to go far back in Russian history. Indeed, even recently, if one had the misfortune to tour Moscow by night one could easily observe this ingenious kick from a great many a hooligan and stilyaga who line the not-so-safe-after-dark avenue of Arbat.
Although sambo bears striking similarities to the sport of judo, the Soviets disclaim any plagiaristic tendencies, what more, laud it as superior to judo...
Throughout pre-revolutionary Russia a great variety of national types of wrestling existed with the people of Central Asia, of the Caucasus, and of the Far (Siberian) East. However, apparently these types were neither widespread nor systematized during that period. The study of these national matches bore a fortuitous character. It is only after the October Revolution, the Soviets boast, that a "genuine interest for this type of sport arose."
What more, sambo's originator, Anatoly Arkadevich Kharlampiev, decided to study and collect the diversified arsenal of the aforementioned national games and to utilize the experience of the many nationalities of the U.S.S.R. such as the Tartars, Georgians, Azherbeydzhani, Central Asians, and others. In total he studied some 23 types of wrestling and its allied categories of the nations of the Soviet Union; and some 15 foreign types. And finally, this Soviet "scholar-sportsman" was able to piece together his own "system" which on June 9, 1938, was recognized as a sport on an all-union level. Somewhat later it was called sambo.
Sambo is divided into two categories: a) sport and b) combat (a series of vital grips of self-defense against an armed attack). The latter category is highly recommended by a little instruction booklet published by the Ministry of Defense of the U.S.S.R., and in this pamphlet it is stated that "the sport category enforced by these elements /combat techniques/ becomes a powerful means in the hands of the sportsman for the defense of his homeland as well as for his own personal protection."
In general, a sambo match consists of such basic traits as throws, throws with falls, tumbles, turning over, holding position, and the vital grips. The rules for sambo are:
1 ) A throw from a standing position with the opponent landing on his back—scores a complete victory.
2) A vital (painful) grip from which the opponent surrenders—a complete victory.
3) A hold with over 20 second duration—scores one point.
4) A throw leading to a suppine, even if momentary, condition of the opponent—one point.
5) Less worthy throws—score half a point.
6) If the encounter should end in a draw one's points are counted and the winner is one with the largest accumulation of points.
The sambo contestants, or samboists as they are often called, are presently categorized into eight weight classes, and they have appeared in team matches since 1949. Individual matches, however, were started some ten years prior to that. In 1957 Soviet samboists are said to have met a Hungarian judo team and won all 24 matches. (The Hungarian Revolution had its demoralizing effect even here!) Two years later, in 1959, the sambo team "Dynamo" engaged the East German judo team "Vorwaerts" and— won all the three matches.
How was it possible to match sambo with judo, a fly with a bee? Certain "amendments" had to be made to be able to stage this sambo-judo meet. The already bastardized game of judo, namely sambo, had to be revised, just as judo had to be revised to "accommodate" sambo. The samboists, for example, did not use their vital grips on the opponents' leg-joints; the judo players did not engage their strangle holds.
A Sambo player applies an arm-lock which is legal and mostly used technique. Although the rules are different from judo, Sambo players have been pretty successful against judo-men. They even took the European Judo Team title.
But basically the differences between sambo and judo are insignificant. In the matter of clothing, for example, samboists wear trunks and sneakers, and their belted jackets have lapels. Judo players, on the other hand, are barefooted, and they wear special pants. In sambo the vital grips are allowed on the opponent's arms and legs (only in a Iying position); in judo they are permitted only on the arms. Strangle holds are not permitted in sambo because "they are not sportsmanlike,' groin-kicks seem to be o.k. An encounter in sambo lasts 10 minutes. During this period one can accumulate points, and even if one loses this round one can "catch-up" in the playoff. A judo-round fluctuates between 3-7 minutes (according to a country's given set of rules), and the judo player can't "catch-up" in his points. Throws are also judged slightly differently. In judo throws are awarded points only if they are accomplished by a snatch off the mat and are "in flight" and one may fall with the opponent. All throws count in sambo, but the contestant must remain standing. Judo has the basic "three-second rule" whereby the contestant must release his grip intended to topple his opponent after this period. In sambo one can hold the grip to one's heart delight.
Of all the differences, slight as they may be, between judo and sambo, the Soviets admit one major difference— that of weight classes in sambo. "This makes the contest more interesting and accessible to a larger number of participants,' they admit in self-praise. Only we must note that since the judo championship playoffs in 1961, three categories of weight classes have been instituted. The "absolute category" also exists; all weights may participate with one another!
IS THIS JUDO? Nope, the Russian claimed that it is not a judo throw. But it certainly looks like Circle Throw (Tomoe Nage).
And in the Soviet sports mag Fizkul'tura i Sport, No. 5,1962, two authors lament in this manner: "This is precisely the irony of fate that the Japanese national game of judo is popular in several countries; but sambo—truly an international game—is cultivated only in the U.S.S.R" Not only do sports writers voice their lament, Russian hipsters (many of the Arbar type, no doubt), also bemoan the fact that only few qualified instructors are available to impart on them the mysteries and techniques of sambo. To discourage haphazard attempts at self-instruction by these individuals, another author, Yuri Voronin, states in the same mag (No. 7, 1961) that "to learn sambo by self-instruction is most difficult" and he suggests further that one contact the chairman of the All-Union Federation of Sambo, a comrade S. Rozhdestvensky.
Now it seems that comrade Kharlampiev, the "father of sambo" didn't do a thorough job, for it is noted that sambo trainers use their experience rather than a scientific approach in sambo instruction. "I believe" the writer Voronin states, "that the time has come to equip the samboists with a well-planned scientific theory for our kind of sport; a theory based on the joint achievements of Soviet theorists of physical education, based on the mathematical theory of games, and based on the experimental possibilities of modern physics" (!!) What is more astonishing, the author derives at the conclusion that sambo enhances over 107 different types of grips and actions. Small wonder that comrade Voronin holds a candidacy for research in physics and mathematics!
Voronin writes: "Most frequent questions on the combat methods /of sambo/ are asked by comrades who are members of brigades for the protection of order" These so-called druzhinniki (organized brigades to fight the rising hooliganism in the Soviet Union, but themselves often involved in lawlessness) are cautioned by the author to use persuasion rather than their sambo skill in "enforcing the law" "It is important to preserve the correct proportions" Voronin exclaims. "For every ten classes of moral, political and aesthetic order, only one training period in sambo must be included" And this political, moral, and aesthetic indoctrination prevails throughout Soviet sports—sambo included. This is the reason sambo instruction booklets imminently quote comrade K's apophthegrns on the necessity of sports and how well the Soviet regime provides the Soviet citizen in this respect.
With the inclusion of judo in the forthcoming Olympic Games of 1964 to be held in Tokyo, the Russians are casting more than one surreptitious eye at the prospect of an official sambo-judo meet. It is even quite possible that the All-Union Federation of Sambo will meet the International Federation and Organizational Committee for the XVIII Olympic Games to negotiate over rules of bastardation to be adopted for a sambo-judo vinaigrette. Quite possible. But who knows? Their negotiations may turn out to be of the Geneva type! ]