Sombo-Judo-MMA and so on
The years have not been to good for those interested in
Grappling Arts especially the more traditional ones like Judo, Olympic
Wrestling and Sombo participation in these sports seem to be declining well
that is true to a point. So why has this happened obviously the Public as a
whole no longer want to train hard to achieve anything, the computer age has
made us locked on the quick fix. People want instant fame, instant
gratification and instant success; programmes like the XFactor, Big Brother
convince people there is some instant source for all those things I have
mentioned. Also we have the upsurge of interest in Cage Fighting, this has
taken over from Pro Wrestling as the most popular Ring based spectator sport
but it has not increased participation in any of the grappling /striking arts.
I hear you say what about MMA? Well what of MMA can anyone tell me what that
is? Some say it Strike/Grapple with no GI, some say it is an extension of
Submission Wrestling and even some striking styles say it is just a mixture of
different styles of Karate, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do. Both these fighting style
are not even recognised as sports by the UKSport mind you neither is BJJ, which
I find surprising, as it is a very popular Jacket Wrestling style. With in my
own Club we do Amateur MMA this is a recognised format of the International
Wrestling Federation (FILA) although not recognised as a sport by UKSport, they
do recognise the British Wrestling Association as the governing body for
various wrestling styles. So if those of you claiming to do MMA you should
contact the BWA and join and least you will get some legitimacy.
What I have noticed is that many grapplers are prepared to
try other styles, which I believe is a good thing. In my younger days back in
the 1970’s I was International Judoka to get a better edge to my Judo I tried
Sombo and Freestyle Wrestling and how I was criticised by the Judo
Fundamentalist. They were convinced that my Judo would be ruined by doing these
other Grappling styles, they would say how would you cope with the different
rules, it would be confusing. What a load of rubbish as I said at the time if I
played Rugby and Football would I pick up a ball in a Football game NO, if I
played Rugby and Cricket would I tackle a batsman going for a run NO. My
experiences with all 3 Grappling disciplines enhanced all of them, plus I met a
lot of new people and travelled to different parts of the Country. My
introduction to Sombo in the 1970’s led me to where I am now 40 years on. When
I was selected for the BJA Olympic Judo Squad I could not compete in the other
sports purely for the fact I did not have the time. Judo in the past had an arrogant attitude in
that Judo was superior to all other forms of Martial Arts instead of accepting
Judo was just different.
I have
notice in the World of Sombo in GB more and more players are coming from all
sorts of grappling background and by doing this many Sombo players have tried
other forms of grappling. When asked why they tried Sombo/Sambo most have said
the rules are very easy to understand, this was especially the cases with
Judoka who felt the recent International Rules changes in Judo had complicated
the sport, some of the older Coaches said that Sombo/Sambo was nearer to what
they were taught in Judo back in the 1970’s. Combat Sambo the Strike/Grapple
section the Sport has encouraged a lot of MMA Strike/Grapple players to have a
go mainly because of the most successful Cage Fighter Fedor Emelianenko
who started his Career in Sambo and Combat Sambo. Although a lot do not like
fighting with a Jacket most agree that the rules are easy to follow and they
have access to compete for GB in respectable World Championship.
So let all the
Grappling Discipline support each other No one style is better then another
they are “Just Different”
Martin Clarke
8th Dan Judo
6th Dan Jiu Jitsu
FIAS Grandmaster
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