Sambo Summit Texas - October 16-18, 2009

**sambosteve** · Posted On: 10/01/2009 7:19pm

Some footage from last year:

YouTube - November 08 Monthly technique

YouTube - October 2008 Monthly Technique

YouTube - 2008 Sambo Summit Secret Techniques

**sambosteve** · Posted On: 10/12/2009 12:27pm

Head count time! What bullies are coming this year?

**Naszir** · Posted On: 10/13/2009 7:32am

I'll be there.

***jnp*** · Posted On: 10/13/2009 7:35am

This is the weekend of my kid's birthday. We've had plans in place for months for both Sat. and Sun. I realized this about three weeks ago.

I'm convinced it's a conspiracy to prevent me from training.

**sambosteve** · Posted On: 10/13/2009 9:29am

Originally Posted by jnp

This is the weekend of my kid's birthday. We've had plans in place for months for both Sat. and Sun. I realized this about three weeks ago.

I'm convinced it's a conspiracy to prevent me from training.

Oh well. Enjoy the cake :)

**Zapruder** · Posted On: 10/13/2009 9:35am

I will get to swing by for a bit and say hi, but I wont be able to train...I am so sad. I am a sambo player stuck in a bjj world

**sambosteve** · Posted On: 10/13/2009 2:01pm

Originally Posted by Zapruder

I will get to swing by for a bit and say hi, but I wont be able to train...I am so sad. I am a sambo player stuck in a bjj world

Hey, If you want to register for a single day, let me know. We can work that out for you.

**Naszir** · Posted On: 10/18/2009 4:39pm

Wow. Three days and a ton of work later, I can only say what a great experience this was. The coaching was absolutely top notch. The pacing was fast enough to keep most distraction away but not so fast that you couldn't process it. Let me start off by talking about the coaching.

Let me say this, there is a ton of knowledge and experience between these four coaches. Gregg Humphries can help me throw a guy bigger than even I am with a throw that technically shouldn't work. His entries are smooth as all get out and his kuzushi is devastating. His variations on the seoinage, hip throws and otoshis are some things I will definitely be adding to my judo/bjj/sambo.

Aaron Fields is hilarious. His breakdowns of technique and more importantly, the underlying principle of movement are insightful and absolutely on time. His hammering home of the point of SAMBO not being a collection of techniques but a method of movement gives an insight to the way the whole camp was structured as well as the spirit of SAMBO. His knowledge of Mongolia and Mongolian culture is incredible. Also the guy plays bagpipes, for real, respect that. Brian Boru pipes at that.

Steve Koepfer is a coach's coach. He kept things moving and made sure we more than got our money's worth! Steve, much like Aaron, is a very funny guy. American SAMBO has a great ambassador with Steve as he made sure he knew who everyone was and no one felt like a stranger, his technical breakdowns are solid and he seems to be able to fit the technique to the player like a tailor.

Dayn DeRose is a scholar. This isn't to say that the others aren't but Dayn used the word "recalcitrant" appropriately in the seminar. Seriously. The man used the Japanese term for people who adopt an overly defensive stance. "Cowardly hips", I kid you not.

All four of these men teaching at the same time are like musicians playing together. They take off from the riff the last one was playing. Some while Gregg was teaching, Steve, Dayn or Aaron would offer their insights into the technique or a variation that worked for them.

The throwing was based on movement and going where you want the opponent to land preferably in a position that you can work from and your opponent can't. Ruleset changes tactics. In judo, throw for Ippon, SAMBO throw for control and your easiest transition.

The grips were intuitive but crazy for someone used to gripping a judo gi due to the cloth and the fact that the lapels are held in place by the belt loops. The epaulet/shoulder cuff was a great grip and the over the back/belt grip was incredibly strong feeling.

The top game and turtle mindsets are incredibly mobile and very aggressive/offensive. As Steve said, one of his teacher's favorite phrases was "To be still is to be dead.". The offensive rolling is an incredibly useful tool. Rather than relying on strength to generate force, body mechanics generate it for you. You bring the force of your entire body into a technique.

Mongolian wrestling is a great art with an extremely limited ruleset. Only the hand or foot can touch the ground and the jacket is basically a pair of tight sleeves with a small open chest vest and belt just above the navel. The throws are powerful and low. All in in all, there are some great ideas that I pulled from this, namely, total commitment to the throw.

The lockflows encouraged the idea of seamless transitions from throw to ground and submission. All these elements are part of the same end and as such the transition is the most neglected yet most important time.

All in all, I think my grappling improved tremendously form this camp. My judo hopefully will improve from the throwing work, and my bjj will improve by the way we looked at groundwork and above all the seamless flow from the feet to the ground will improve as I try to stay in motion and never stop attacking.

I also think that I located some additional training partners to go over this material and I could not have asked for better hosts and attendees. We had partners come in from Washington, Oregon, California, NY, NJ, Iowa, Puerto Rico, New Mexico and Dallas. Our hosts at ECS were incredibly friendly and very skilled as well. My thanks to Grant and his crew for providing such a great place and group to work with. I can't wait to do more with the ASA!

**sambosteve** · Posted On: 10/18/2009 10:29pm

Thanks for all the kind words! It was great to meet you in person :) You are a blast man.

We all had a great time and I benefited from struggling through with my cold.

Still in Texas...leaving in the morning.

BTW, we also had a dude from Arizona.

**Naszir** · Posted On: 10/19/2009 11:26am

Sorry about that, man. Also I forgot to mention "No gaps". It is a quality control principle. No gaps in transitions, no gaps in the ranges, feet to throw to ground work. No gaps in skill. SAMBO seems to be very much about teaching a principle that is universally applicable so you only have to teach it once and it covers all aspects of the game. Like Aaron talked about when throwing to draw the bow, maintain tension between the grips so there isn't slack between your hands, this translated on the ground to controls and to submissions with isolation of attacked limb. All in all everything seems to be a multitasker in SAMBO.

Zap and JNP, I hate that y'all missed this. A good time was definitely had.