One of the British Sombo Federation International Sambo Combat players Darren Richardson posed the question what has happened to Combat Sambo? What of the future of Sambo Combat?
First of all let me say that my style is CombatSombo not Combat Sambo in fact I was the first one to link the words together and registered the name in the UK. Until the Soviet Union collapsed every thing in the USSR was called Sambo they copied my lead by using the name Combat Sambo or Sambo Combat before that they used the name Military Sambo. There system and mine do differ in that theirs is a pragmatic self defence system based on the military, designed for military personal. There is still an obsession in the Eastern Block Countries with the Military especially in respect to Combat Training mine is based on the needs of an ordinary person to defend themselves plus it is a method of keeping fit. At the bottom of this article you will see my “CombatSombo Philosophy” my system can be taught to anyone including young children that can not be said of Combat Sambo.
CombatSombo is not big but I do have several clubs in the UK and USA training in my style. 30 years ago when I started CombatSombo I would run "Transition Courses” these were sessions organised for those Martial Artist who were already Black Belts and were doing a similar system to mine, they would attend a course and have there grade converted to CombatSombo. The idea was that they would see the benefits of my system and go out teach and promote CombatSombo; sadly I was rather naive in thinking this would work, the majority attended purely to add another Black Belt to their CV some even used it to promote new styles of their own. I have always said that you should not advertise your grade if you no longer practise that style, to maintain your Black Belt in CombatSombo you must be a member and be involved in the discipline. Some of those who were graded went away and started clubs outside the control of the BCSA, this is one thing I had foreseen hence the reason I registered the name” CombatSombo” as a Service Mark with the Trades Marks Registry. This was to protect my style and its beliefs and on more then one occasion I have had to back this up with Solicitors letters and threats of court action, CombatSombo is very dear to me.
CombatSombo continues to flourish last year two students graded to 1st Degree Black Belt at the Summer Camp and I continue to do Camcorder Grading’s all over the World, with Hip and Knee replaced I hope to be able to do more courses myself something I have not been able to do for 6 years.
Darren has a lot of interest in Sambo Combat this is a sport very popular in the Eastern Block Countries and is an extension to Sambo Wrestling. You wear Sambo attire plus headgear, Mitts and shin and instep, the scoring is the same as Sambo but you are allowed to kick and punch to get knockouts. As I said it very popular in the eastern block countries and the World Championships in liked with the Sambo, it is certainly spectacular and exciting. Mainly like Cage Fighting it is very violent as it allows full Contact Kicks, Punches to the head and the groin, on the floor it also allows punches to the head as of yet no UK fighter has won a an International Match although a few have tried. Some of our UK competitors asked if I could start arranging matches in the UK, so my first thing was to organise insurance, the rules of the International Body were not acceptable to any UK based Insurance companies, so I had to develop a watered down version of the rules and this took years before an insurance company would consider them. Eventually I came up with a set of rules that were acceptable i.e. Strikes to head gear and body only, no strikes to joints or groin area, no strikes to head while on the ground and I had to change the name to distance myself from Sambo Combat and I now use the name Sport CombatSombo, sadly after all that work there is no demand.
Darren asked the question is there a future for CombatSombo? Most certainly, once I return you will see a massive growth, Future for Sport CombatSombo this I am not to sure about I believe it will be used as a training tool to improve CombatSombo Students technique but as Competitive sport only time will tell. Combat Sambo or Sambo Combat I doubt it has any future as an amateur sport for several reason 1) It will be very hard to get insurance cover 2) Because of its extreme dangerous nature I do not think will appeal to those who have regular work 3) I also believe that unless you are extremely fit you could be faced with extreme injuries 4) Vigorous Doctors checks will be needed to prevent potential fatality. If Sambo Combat accepted my rules it may have a chance as an amateur sport. As a professional sport Sambo Combat could become a spectator sport like Cage Fighting but how many would want train full time?
I do realise there is a need for Grappling and Striking to become one and I believe I have found the answer in Pankration they have several styles and the one that interests me is the Semi Contact version, this where you score points for kicks, punches and throws yet only touch contact to the head with a kick to finish you go for a submission. Pankration is a well respected Combat Discipline from ancient Greece and if any Striking/Grappling is to make Olympic Status it will be this. Out of all the grappling sports Sambo is the one I prefer as for Sambo Combat I will enjoy watching that is all.
Martin Clarke
CombatSombo Philosophy
As you can see by my cv which is enclosed I have been involved in the Martial Arts/Combat Disciplines since the age of 5 (1955) 55 years all told. I have always enjoyed the competitive side of Combat and I have won medals at international and national level at Judo, Sombo, Jiu Jitsu and Free Style Wrestling. I have also been a keen advocate of the Founder of Judo Jigaro Kano, in one of books he made the following statement “Judo is more than just a sport or Martial Art, it is a means of Physical and Cultural Attainment” in other words “it is a way of producing better human beings” I apply this philosophy to all my Martial Arts and Combat Disciplines. Grappling sports I feel help you achieve this by teaching us such simple things as:
Respect (all grapplers have respect for there opponent, note I use the word opponent not enemy, they may not always realise it)
Duty of care (this is a must as if some of the techniques are very dangerous that we could damage our opponent. This is not we trying to do we are trying to win but not at the expense of an injury).
To abide by the rules (competitions have rules not only to keep the activity as safe as possible but to make contest equal)
Comradeship.
In my CombatSombo system I try and introduce people to a Self Defence system that has a set of morals. Unlike other systems I advocate control and restraint. My aim is not to turn people into Barbaric Animals with no consideration for others. After saying all this I am a practical man, I realise that self-defence has different degrees. Dealing with a drunk is different to dealing with several assailants with weapons. Although my system teaches techniques that can maim, they are only to be used in extreme cases. Remember no one has the right to cause life long disablement to another human being.
To do CombatSombo you need to be healthy and fit, we encourage our members to take regular excise and grapple on a regular basis. To understand any self-defence you need to practise in as near real situation as you get. To advise any one to get involved in a Pub fight to test their techniques would be immoral and irresponsible, so the nearest I can offer is some sort of controlled fighting, i.e. CombatSombo Wrestling, Boxing, Kickboxing. Remember there is no easy route to becoming a proficient CombatSombo Practitioner.
CombatSombo is a Self Defence system with a HEART
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