Sambo (an acronym from samozashchita bez oruzhia, Russian for "self defense without a weapon") was an early Soviet martial art, a direct descendant of Judo, developed in the 1920s by Viktor Spiridonov, the Dynamo Sports Society Jujutsu instructor, and Russo-Japanese War veteran.
As it was developed largely for police purposes, a special emphasis in Samoz was placed on the standing armlocks and grappling-counters in order to free oneself from hold, apprehend and escort a suspect without taking him down, Samoz utilized throws mainly as a defensive counter in case of a surprise attack from behind.
Instead of takedowns, it used shakedowns to outbalance the opponent without actually dropping him down, while self still maintaining a steady balance.
It was in essence a standing arm-wrestling, armlock mastery-type of martial art, which utilized a variety of different types of armlocks, knots and compression-holds (and counters to protect oneself from them) applied to the opponent's fingers, thumbs, wrist, forearm, elbow, biceps, shoulder, and neck, coupled with finger pressure on various trigger points of human body, particularly sensitive to painful pressure, as well as manipulating the opponent's sleeve and collar to immobilize his upper body, extremities, and subdue him.
Samoz encompassed Jujutsu with wrestling, boxing, and savate techniques for extreme street situations.
Later, in the late 1930s it was methodized by Spiridonov's trainee Vladislav Volkov to be taught at military and police academies, and eventually combined with the Judo-based wrestling technique developed by Vasili Oshchepkov, who was the third foreigner to learn Judo in Japan and earned a second-degree black belt awarded by Kanō Jigorō himself, encompassing traditional Central Asian styles of folk wrestling researched by Oshchepkov's disciple Anatoly Kharlampiyev to create Sambo.
As Spiridonov and Oshchepkov disliked each other very much, and both opposed vehemently to unify their effort, it took their disciples to settle the differences and produce a combined system.
Modern sports Sambo is similar to sport Judo or sport Brazilian jiu-jitsu with differences including use of a Sambovka jacket and shorts rather than a full Keikogi, and a special emphasis on leglocks and holds, but with much less emphasis on guard and chokes (banned in competition).
Sambo (an acronym from samozashchita bez oruzhia, Russian for "self defense without a weapon") was an early Soviet martial art, a direct descendant of Judo, developed in the 1920s by Viktor Spiridonov, the Dynamo Sports Society Jujutsu instructor, and Russo-Japanese War veteran. As it was developed largely for police purposes, a special emphasis in Samoz was placed on the standing armlocks and grappling-counters in order to free oneself from hold, apprehend and escort a suspect without taking him down, Samoz utilized throws mainly as a defensive counter in case of a surprise attack from behind. Instead of takedowns, it used shakedowns to outbalance the opponent without actually dropping him down, while self still maintaining a steady balance. It was in essence a standing arm-wrestling, armlock mastery-type of martial art, which utilized a variety of different types of armlocks, knots and compression-holds (and counters to protect oneself from them) applied to the opponent's fingers, thumbs, wrist, forearm, elbow, biceps, shoulder, and neck, coupled with finger pressure on various trigger points of human body, particularly sensitive to painful pressure, as well as manipulating the opponent's sleeve and collar to immobilize his upper body, extremities, and subdue him. Samoz encompassed Jujutsu with wrestling, boxing, and savate techniques for extreme street situations. Later, in the late 1930s it was methodized by Spiridonov's trainee Vladislav Volkov to be taught at military and police academies, and eventually combined with the Judo-based wrestling technique developed by Vasili Oshchepkov, who was the third foreigner to learn Judo in Japan and earned a second-degree black belt awarded by Kanō Jigorō himself, encompassing traditional Central Asian styles of folk wrestling researched by Oshchepkov's disciple Anatoly Kharlampiyev to create Sambo. As Spiridonov and Oshchepkov disliked each other very much, and both opposed vehemently to unify their effort, it took their disciples to settle the differences and produce a combined system. Modern sports Sambo is similar to sport Judo or sport Brazilian jiu-jitsu with differences including use of a Sambovka jacket and shorts rather than a full Keikogi, and a special emphasis on leglocks and holds, but with much less emphasis on guard and chokes (banned in competition).
Jujutsu