Sambo: The Russian's Judo
By Igor G. Kozak Whenever we hear of mambo, rhumba,
sambo, or limbo we usually associate these with a vivacious swirl, a
fiery senorita in one's arms, and the rousing sounds of a latin band. No
so with the Russians! When the Russian Ivan says
"sambo"—better be on your guard!—he doesn't intend to step
out on the dance floor but will rather display his virtuosity on a mat
or possibly even on the city street.   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.
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.
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!
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!
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