- SAMBO,
the English translation of the Russian acronym meaning "self-protection
without weapons" (SAMozashchitya Bez
Oruzhiya). Sambo is a curriculum of martial
techniques, covertly taught in the former Soviet Union to the
Soviet special forces (ÎSpetsnazÌ), since
the Communist Revolution in October of 1917. Sambo has
been the object of a voluminous amount of clandestine research,
experimentation, and propaganda. For this very reason, Sambo
was the Soviet attempt to suppress the patriotic nature and
emancipating tendencies of indigenous Slavic martial traditions,
entitled "Russian Martial Art".
 Sambo was
the Soviet hope to unify the State under one combat and one
sport. A composite of 25 variant Russian style hand-to-hand
combat systems, Sambo added complementary research from various
European, North African and Middle Eastern influences.
Weighing also upon the formulation of Sambo were some Asian
influences from Jujitsu, Aikido and Karate. Melding these
combat systems with the 25 national folk styles of wrestling,
Sambo came into being. Imagine, if you will, the entire political
engine of the former Soviet Union charged to research the full
spectrum of human combat. All of the StateÌs economic
mechanisms were mobilized to investigate the peculiarities and
characteristics of human confrontation. The vastness and
depth of such an endeavor is difficult for any one individual
to grasp. In the history of humankind, there has never
been such a deliberate, state-sanctioned investigation into
combat: the mandate to create a sovereign martial system
to be employed by the constituent military branches of the USSR.
In 1918, comrade V. I. Lenin created Vseobuch: the organization
responsible for training the Red Army. Joseph Stalin,
at the time a string aid to Lenin, personally ordered a high
ranking political official, named comrade Voroshilov, to organize
research into human combat. Voroshilov was a an inept
monster, personally responsible for hundreds of military blunders.
Although incompetent and inhumane, he accomplished one grand
measure, accidentally. Not wishing to toil over such a
"mediocre" endeavor, in 1923, he called together a
group of specialists, later to be called "Dynamo",
to do the research. Voroshilov assembled a retainer of combat-experienced
individuals to carry out this endeavor: A. A. Kharlampiev,
V. A.  Spiridinov
and V. S. Oschepkov. Each of these individuals were assigned
the vocation of combatives investigators and sent to travel
to various countries to study the endemic, native combatives
in order to gleen from them utility, but more importantly, to
understand how the neighbors of the USSR defend themselves.
Anatoly Kharlampiev traveled west then south absorbing the Euro-Asian
and Afro-Baltic combative systems. V.S. Oschepkov traveled to
Japan. V. A. Spiridinov traveled to Mongolia, China, and India
to study the Mongol-Vedic martial traditions. Although
returning sporadically to deposit information and engage in
political endeavors, the course of this investigation lasted
approximately ten years. To Asian styles such as, JuJitsu, Karate,
Judo, Kung-fu and Aikido, the men added their experience with
the native, Russian hand-to-hand combat, known as "Russian
Martial Art". This reservoir of information was to
be controlled by the State. Here is the origin of what
became a state-authorized falsification and distortion of technical
data on Soviet combatives. Voroshilov was ordered
to establish a secret, hierarchical structure to the information.
At the highest and most remote level, a Close Quarters Combat
system was to be devised for training by the elite forces of
the former Soviet Union Special Forces and Secret Police.
This Soviet Close Quarters Combat (CQC) training methods were
tested for effectiveness in the Russo-Japanese War and World
War I. The intent of close quarters combat was for silent
killing by covert forces, personal combatives by elite forces,
and torture methodologies by interrogative forces. Various
combative tools were employed. Unarmed tactics such as
debilitating strikes, dangerous captures, suffocation and strangulation
methods, and Armed tactics such as spade, saber, bayonet, knife,
baton, and pike usage were included in the curriculum.
The goal of CQC is the total destruction of the enemy in the
most expedient manner: a purely military doctrine.
A second tier of the system was to be employed by the general
Soviet Police. This form was to be the Soviet Police Subject
and Crowd Control Tactics (CCT). The CCT were fashioned
into a system of Balance Displacement measures, Pressure Point
Control Tactics, Joint Manipulation, and striking tactics aimed
at Motor Dysfunction and Pain Compliance, and mob control weaponry,
such as impact weapons and chemical agents. Finally, at the
basal level, the combatives information was to be intentionally
diluted into a competitive form which would become the training
regimen of the general military. In this manner, a system
of personal combatives would be issued to the military that
was deliberately fashioned for one purpose: information seepage
into other countries. In order for the deception to be
believable, not only must the new system be effective, but it
had to appear to be some revolutionary advancement in training.
This diluted sport form was easily trained in by the general
military, who did not require advanced skills training.
They had to be fit and healthy. They fought with great
spirit and Èlan, not because they were the best prepared
or best equipped, but because they were members of the ÎPeopleÌs
ArmyÌ. Such a schism between the training of the
grunt militia and the officer elite was purely a Soviet invention,
not an historical characteristic of ancient Russian martial
traditions.
V. A. Spiridinov, an officer of the Russian Army participating
in the First World War, and V. S. Oschepkov, the first Russian
black belt in Judo, produced Sport Sambo. After the October
Revolution, Spiridinov became one of the training experts of
combat Sambo and aided in itÌs formulation. To
create Sport Sambo, he relied upon his background in free-style
wrestling, Pankration, Greco-Roman wrestling from the Baltic
States, Georgian "Chidaoba", Moldavian "Trinte",
Yakut "Khapsagay", Armenian "Kokh", Chuvash
"Akatuj", Turkish "Kuresh" belt-wrestling
from Azerbaijan,. Spiridinov was also a master of Japanese
JuJitsu. V.S. Oschepkov, reared in a Japan and training in the
Kodokan-judo institute was a master the Japanese combat art
of JuJitsu. While in Japan, he became a close personal friend
of JuJitsu master, Professor Jigora Kano, who later created
the fourth style of international wrestling: Judo. The
obvious sportive disparities between Judo and Sambo were a result
of agreements and observations made by Oschepkov and Kano.The
collaboration and friendship between Oschepkov and Kano is of
marked interest. Both men agreed that the most effective
method of mastery was through a methodic named: method
sequencing or ÎkataÌ.  These
men coordinated their efforts at cataloguing the most common
and frequent forms of attack. From that they codified
what would be the most expedient neutralization of the threat.
It is because of this work that many contemporary Judo and Sambo
practitioners are fragmented into two camps: those that
prepare for combat through sequence rehearsal, and those that
enjoin the competitive aspect to determine their prowess.
Kano was an extremely insightful man revolutionizing martial
art training with his expertise in education and physics.
Oschepkov was outfitted with a most powerful instructional
method, and carried it back to Russia, where he instructed studies
in combat at the Central Red Army House and the Moscow Institute
of Physical Culture. The nucleus of Sambo, eclectic in nature,
is as Spiridinov said, "While self-defencing, itÌs
impossible to use only one system... itÌs necessary to
use all useful methods from other systems, if it leads you to
victory." Method Sequencing should not be rigid,
it is only a guideline. Differing body types (both of
the defender and of potential attackers), differing terrain,
differing indoctrinations (civilian, military, police, sport)
dictate the sequences in which to be trained. Individuals
should not be told what to do, but educated in judgment, so
that they might assess proper training methodologies. Though
having little involvement with the technical and tactical formulation
of this system, Voroshilov had established the hermetic integrity
of the system by virtually offering the ÎsecretsÌ
of USSR combatives to the espionage of competitive nations.
Everyone would believe that they knew, or even trained in, the
Soviet  combatives
system; even the natives would be convinced by this official
version of Sambo. Here is the important part... Even today,
in the enlightened technological era, Russians, who have trained
in military Sambo, or athletes that were champion of this district
or that sector, are convinced that they know Sambo. However,
True Sambo, known as "Combat Sambo Spetsnaz" or "the
System" ("Russian Martial Art") was something
altogether different; it was the ancient Slavic martial traditions,
hidden from State observation. In actuality, at the highest
levels, Sambo is Russian Martial Art. By placing an impure form
of information for global consumption, the actual information
remained unexplored: an act of unadulterated, political genius.
To name the system, attempts were first made at "SAM,"
then "SAMOS", and finally the group agreed upon SAMBO,
an acronymic title meaning "SAMozaschityz Bez Oruzhiya"
or "Self-protection without weapons". Voroshilov
continued with his political maxim of ensconcing the truth by
supporting this title - SAMBO. The CQC and CCT system
of Sambo comprised not only unarmed tactics, but a wealth of
armed training. All the while, the deceptive name of "self-protection
without weapons" perpetuated the illusion that Sambo was
merely a grappling style and exclusively concerning unarmed
engagements. Training was held by a group of experts, who became
the progenitors of Sambo throughout the State and the world:
A. A. Kharlampiev, V. A. Spiridinov, V. S. Oschepkov, N. I.
Golkovsky, I. V. Vasiliev, A. I. Chumakov, S. V. Magirovsky,
V. I. Andreev, D. S. Damanin, V. F. Maslov, A. A. Budzinsky,
and the brothers Niniashvili. The group was given the
name, the "Dynamo," and was established in 1923.
Each of these individuals equally contributed to the extensive
research made into the psycho-physiological reactions to the
high-stress crisis of physical confrontation, the psychology
of combat survival skills, and the surveillance of the legal,
medical, and tactical acceptability of combat activity; as well
as, exploration of the technical considerations. In 1930,
Ssambo became the curriculum of the State Central Institute
of Physical Culture in Moscow. Prior to receiving recognition
for the masses of information he contributed to the formulation
of Sambo, V.S. Oschepkov was shot in the head during the political
purges of 1937. Ironically the following year, Spiridinov
completed the Sport section of Ssambo and, on November 16, 1938,
received recognition by the All-Union Committee on Physical
Culture and Sport that Sambo was the national grappling style
of the Soviet Union. In 1966, FILA, the International
Amateur Wrestling Federation,
recognized Sambo as the third style of international wrestling.
In 1981, the International Olympic Committee recognized Sambo
as an Olympic Sport. Rumor has it, that Oschepkov outright refused
to contaminate all of the work on Sambo for the benefit of political
propagnda. For treason, Oschepkov was sent to a Gulag
(prison camp) and summarily executed for his political crimes.
The remainder of the group trembled because of their association
with what Voroshilov claimed to be "convicted spies
from Japan and other imperialists - capitalists."
They wished to live, so they acquiesced to the yoke of VoroshilovÌs
cut-throat diplomacy. Kharlampiev wrote many manuals on
Sambo and became the greatest voice in communicating the "official"
version of Sambo. Others remained pensively obedient until
the time came when the truth could be told. Although a handful
of individuals that engaged in Soviet Sambo training have migrated
to the United States of America, these xUSSR military personnel,
in their filtered understanding of the origin and purpose of
Sambo, have been as deceived to the true nature of Sambo, just
as other nations have been. Remember, Voroshilov intentionally
submitted Sport Sambo training to the general military; this
was the "official" version. In addition to this,
the field combatives taught to the Soviet military were labeled
as Sambo. In this manner, only the special and elite forces
trained in the true 'system'. As these low-level military
operatives enter into the United States claiming Sambo training,
the illusion created by Voroshilov is perpetuated into the American
martial art community.Only one man in North America is trained
in Russia in "Combat Sambo Spetsnaz" also known as
Russian Martial Art, to represent the ancient Slavic martial
traditions in North America. As the yoke of the oppressive Soviet
regime lifted, the information and the truth concerning its
intentional covert nature and the wealth of research and experimentation
became available to rest of the world. With the veil of
deception removed, Sambo is recognizable in its ultimate origin:
Russian Martial Art. Although Russian Martial Art is the mother
of Sambo, due to the influence of foreign "tricks",
Sambo soon became a mere curriculum of techniques lacking any
high degree of depth and substance. To avoid Soviet attention,
Russian Martial Art remained in practice under the concealed
title of "Combat Sambo Spetsnaz" at higher levels
within the military, among the elite combat subdivisions of
Spetsnaz. Classified with the label of "absolute
secrecy", the training was often referred to merely as
"The System". 
Sambo continues to be confused with Russian Martial Art because
of the state-fashioned falsification and distortion of historical
and technical data, as well as the vanguard protection of Russian
Martial Art heritage under the guise of the title, "Combat
Sambo Spetsnaz". The contemporary training of ancient Slavic
martial traditions, culminating from 1,500 years of practice
and development, is known as ROSS - "All-Russian Native
Self-Defense System". ROSS is the national training
system of Russian Martial Art, approved and recognized by the
National Olympic Committee of Russia as the only representative
of Russian Martial Art, within Russia and abroad. The original
royal family lines of pre-Soviet Russia, during the century
of Soviet oppression, were not without alternatives for their
sons. Entering their sons into the most grueling and dangerous
military units of the USSR allowed them to hide their ancient
Slavic martial traditions under the deceptive title of "Combat
Sambo Spetsnaz." The sons of the royal families continued
their training among the special operations units of Spetsnaz
in order to select elite, trustworthy individuals with which
to share the truth about the origin, nature and characteristics
of Russian Martial Art. The difference between Sambo and its
mother, Russian Martial Art, becomes easily distinguishable
to the experienced practitioner. One family, the Golitsin
family, survived the entire lifetime of the Soviet Union.
Prince Boris Vassilievich Golitsin, in particular, trained few
individuals including the Founder of ROSS, Golitsin's student
prodigy, Commander Alexander Ivanovich Retuinskih. Prince
Golitsin
(on far right of photograph) attended the induction ceremony
of the founding members of the American Academy for Russian
Martial Art and Combat Skill, Scott Sonnon, to give special
insight and training to the American, and to offer his personal
blessings to Commander Retuinskih's decision to induct Sonnon
as a student of Russian Martial Art, in the hopes of rejuvenating,
throughout the world, the truth of the nature and heritage of
Combat Sambo - Spetsnaz: Russian Martial Art. The fourth
period of influence in the development of Russian Martial Art
("Global Period") dealt with the nature of combat
during this century (for more information on the history of
Russian Martial Art, visit here).
Therefore, weapons adopted by the Russian Martial Artist included
bayonet-equipped AK47 machine gun, the earlier SKS rifle, even
earlier carbine, the spetsnozh (special forces knife/bayonet),
entrenching tools, throwing knives, batons, military belts (used
as whips and immobilizing shackles), pistols, sword (Eastern
European sabre and Cossack shashqa), axe, and a wealth of non-standard
weapons. The many wars and battles of this century are
a horrific testimony to the effectiveness and longevity of the
Russian Martial Art; its vanguards, the trainers and elite operatives
of the Russian Special Forces, waged campaign after campaign
with epochal success. This period of influence eventually
evolved, once again, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union
into a form of civilian empowerment and rejuvenated cultural
heritage and pride.
Written
and copyrighted in 1997 by Scott Sonnon, Executive Director.
Published
and approved by American Academy for Russian Martial Art and
Combat Skill.
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