Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Sambo: Flat Out
Sambo: Flat Out
by
Dr Andrey Moshanov
I was recently reading an
article by the celebrated anthropologist Wade Davis. In it he stated, “Cultural
survival is not about preservation. Change itself does not destroy a culture.
Indeed a culture survives when it has enough confidence in its past and enough
say in its future to maintain its spirit and essence through all the changes it
will inevitably undergo.”
There is recognition
throughout the sport of Sambo that the martial arts space is crowded with
competing disciplines trying to win participants, audiences and sponsors. In
order to stay relevant and grow our sport, it is important to continually
evolve our offering to ensure that all stakeholders have their needs met.
This year has seen the
introduction of a number of changes to the rules of Sambo in an effort to keep
the action fast paced and reward decisive technical efforts from fighters. It
is believed that by encouraging shorter and faster fights, audiences will be
more richly rewarded and TV audiences will get more action for their time
investment.
Traditionally, a Sambo
fight could be concluded, before the allocated five minutes has elapsed, in one
of three ways. The most accomplished method would be to throw an opponent onto
his back whilst remaining standing, demonstrating total technical dominance
over your rival. The second method would be to force a submission either by an
arm-lock or leg-lock. Finally, a victory could be gained by the accrual of 12
points, achieved through various throwing and pinning manoeuvres. Hence, a fight
could be ultimately won by either a moment of technical brilliance or by a
sustained effort of strong fighting spirit and getting the better of your rival
consistently over five minutes.
In reality, the majority of
fights under this system would “go the distance” on the clock and it is this
fact that has spurred the changes. The new rules now proclaim victory for the
first fighter who can amass 8 points in a contest. The hope is that this will
shorten fights and fewer contests will last the full five minutes.
However, there is some
concern that this may be an oversimplification of the decision making process
that dictates how fights are played out. It is inevitable that as the risk /
reward ratio gets altered, fighters will change their strategies. At the
moment, it is possible to make an attack, suffer a counter manoeuvre that puts
you on your back (4 points) which leads immediately into being pinned down (4
points). Under the traditional rules, a fighter would still have a chance to
turn the fight around (having conceded 8 points, or even as many as 11) and
gain victory with a submission, a standing throw or grind his way back into the
points via grappling moves.
Under the new scoring
system, the aforementioned throw-and-pin combination, that would previously put
the fighter on the back foot, will now see him defeated. Inevitably this means
that an all-out attack becomes a more risky endeavour. The risk of exposing
oneself with too much aggression could immediately see the fight ended in your
opponent’s favour. Sambo has always been a sport that embodies the fighting
spirit and whilst all the current changes are trying to encapsulate and
encourage this, it remains to be seen whether or not they are successful in
their aims.
These changes have come at
an exciting time for the sport. The 1st European Games has been organised
by the European Olympic Committees and is being held in Baku from 12th
June – 28th June 2015. The games will feature the best Sambo
fighters in Europe and puts the sport firmly in the spotlight in front of 49
National Olympic Committees.
On 26th
September 2015, the British President’s Cup, International Sambo Tournament, is
being staged at Event City in Manchester. Last year’s event in London was
deemed a huge success with 1,000 spectators attending over the course of the
day and some of the best Sambo fighting seen on British soil in recent years.
The Great Britain team fought like lions and were roared on by a home crowd to
reach the finals before finally falling to the dominant Russian team. All
attendees commented on the great spirit of hospitality and friendly rivalry
that imbued the event and it seems sure to go from strength to strength.
This year’s event will see
a similar format of 8 Nations sending their best fighters to compete for the
glorious trophy, but the organisers have added a supplementary attraction where
Combat Sambo will be run as a stand alone invitational event for 8 top fighters
who will go toe-to-toe for a substantial cash prize and the President’s Cup
Combat Sambo Belt. More information can be found at www.presidentscup.co.uk
With an increasing presence
on the Olympic scene, strong growth in participation and interest, and new
sponsors on the scene, there has never been a more exciting time to be involved
with the sport of Sambo. Competitors, sponsors, viewers and sport officials are
all hugely excited about the recent developments within the sport and are
determined to capitalise on these opportunities.
# posted by IBFBCSA @ 1:38 AM 
