SAMBO vs Judo

[Hex]

I attended a tournament recently that had both Judo and Sambo. Most of the guys there participated in both sports without any difficulty. (There were even a couple of guys who trained in neither but got by on their wrestling ability.) The main difference in appearance was that the Sambo guys stayed on the ground for most of their matches.

My Judo instructor used to compete nationally in both Judo and Sambo and his point of view is that they're basically the same except trading chokes for leg locks in Sambo. Of course, when he competed in Judo, they actually allowed newaza for longer than a few seconds.

I have seen some Sambo throws that look more like body slams than typical Judo throws.

[ChickenBeakFist]

I have seen some Sambo throws that look more like body slams than typical Judo throws.

From my observation they're big fans of the "pick-up" (te guruma)

YouTube - Sambo Technique - Simple Pickup Takedown

Many variations on kata guruma and ura nage seem to be popular as well in SAMBO.

[Lu Tze]

Hmmm so in theory the Russian Judo team could really be all Sambo guys but just "playing by the rules" of Judo?

Definitely maybe.

I think there's a **** ton of crossover between Judo and SAMBO in Russia, so much so that if you train and compete in one, you more than likely train and compete in the other as well.

[sambosteve]

I didnt know there was more than one Sambo. Heck I don't know anything about Sambo except that Fedor participates. Just out of curiosity, could a Sabo practitioner compete in the Olympics under the guise of beign a Judoka, or are they that different?

Absolutely. In Russia, most sport sambo folks are also judo folks. There is often little distinction other than the rules one trains for. There is much more distinction with combat sambo. All that other stuff..."special sambo", "self defense sambo". Nobody really uses those terms in Russia. It is all sambo or combat sambo. Those terms were created by others who seem to need to classify things like that. I had never heard the term "special Sambo" until a year or two ago when it was added to wikipedia and used by a certain person here in the US.

Regarding cross over of sport sambo and judo, when I was in Moscow last year I trained with Vera Koval at Borec. She was on the Olympic team in Beijing this year


When I was training at sambo 70, there were many national, international, and olympic level judoka there.

[Aaron Fields]

As a guy that has Japanese grappling background, but has spent time doing both sombo and judo in the former Eastern Block, I can add a few things.

Sambo/Sombo is a combination of many different Eurasian wrestling styles, with judo/ju jitsu heavily borrowed from. It is not just "Russian Judo," but in fact has strategies etc that separate it from judo.

That is not to say they don't cross over, in fact I would argue that most grappling sports have skills that should be exchanged, as rules dictate specialties.

In the Eastern Block sombo and judo guys are often one in the same, not only will the teams practice together, but many players are the same folks.

In truth over the last 13-ish years become way more of a "Sombo guy" than anything else. Though truth be told, I am not sure any longer where one starts and the other ends, I just grapple. (Though my roots seven years prior to sombo were jujutsu and judo, I much prefer to wear kurtka. Mostly because the shorts show off my legs....right Steve:icon_roll In addition if you talk to folks that know me, they will tell you I am a sombo guy or that I move like a Russian, no matter what I am wearing.)

As to Sombo being unorthodox in grips, angles etc, I would say unorthodox to who? They seem standard to sombo players.

What I would say that separates sombo more than anything is not technique. The body is finite; you can only gain mechanical advantage over another guy in so many ways. Instead, it is a way of training which is movement, not technique based. Is founded in a circular learning model, rather than a linear, and is willing to beg, borrow, or steal good stuff from anything it bumps into.

Finally, my only advice is not to fall into stylistic dogma. Work with everyone you can, don't worry about labels and marketing, pay attention to what it is you are doing, and sweat more talk less.

Finally, I'll take this opportunity to push the Cambo Summit this year. Last I heard we are nearly full.

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...ighlight=cambo


Regards,
Aaron Fields
Seattle Jujutsu Club,
Sea-Town Sombo
www.seattle-jujutsu.org

[Beorn]

so i am going to feel retarded for asking this, but i thought sambo had chokes?

EDIT:confused threads for a second

[Omega Supreme]

Sport SAMBO chokes are not done, just because they're not done doesn't mean they're not taught.

[ChickenBeakFist]

so i am going to feel retarded for asking this, but i thought sambo had chokes?

It's not that they don't exist. It has more to do with the ruleset. Sport Sambo doesn't allow chokes. Combat Sambo does. Kind of like how Judo and BJJ have leglocks but don't allow them in competition.

I've always wondered why Sport Sambo doesn't allow chokes but does allow leglocks. I think you could argue very persuasively that leglocks are far more dangerous. Perhaps someone more knowledgable can elaborate?

[Omega Supreme]

There's a weird tale on the non choke thing.
1. They were thought impractical as it takes time to choke a person out with a lot of gear.
2. It was theorize if you disable a person's leg it would take 1 or 2 people to carry them off the battle field thus taking out 3 potential assailants. Choking a person out would just piss off the comrades and they'd be back in the fight in a minute anyway.

[Gezere]

Chicken beak basically answered the questions but you technically missed two.

Freestyle gi and no gi sambo.

самбо doesn't use GIs they use kurtka, NOOB!!!:icon_mrgr :evil7: :icon_mrgr :evil7:
*vanishes before Omega starts his rampage!"