Fedor: Judo or Sambo?

[Masakatsu Funaki #1]

The answer from the man himself:

Russian Prize Fighter Is Learning Tae Kwon Do


I am learning Tae Kwon Do to make myself stronger," says Emelianenko Fedor (30), aka the "Ice Fist," who has come to Korea for the first time. Pride FC's heavyweight champion said in a press conference at Seoul's Lotte Hotel, "Personally I think that Russian Sambo is the most powerful martial art, but to increase my kicking ability, I am focusing on Tae Kwon Do now." And he added, "In competitive fighting practice, Tae Kwon Do is indispensable". Fedor and his younger brother are in the midst of a five-day trip to the country to promote Sambo at the invitation of the Korean Sambo Alliance. An acronym of the Russian words "SAMozaschita Bez Orujiya", which means "Self-Defense Without Weapons", Sambo is Russia's unique martial art.

Fedor is expected to give a Sambo exhibition match with his brother Aleksander on Friday at the campus of Kyungnam University and attend a Sambo Festival in the weightlifting gymnasium in Seoul's Olympic Park on Saturday.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/h...0601180031.html

 

[Yozigi]

I thought we were through with this topic already Funaki. And before the the ignorant sambo fanboys with no real experience and with leglock fetish come to this thread I'd like to say that in Russia judo competitors train sambo and vice versa. There really aren't those who wouldn't train both of them. Sure, Fedor states that it's the most powerful ma in the world. Of course he says that, if I'd be him I'd say the same just out of national pride. That however doesn't change the fact that even though the rules are slightly different with sambo having more rules they are same stuff (and with sambo having smaller talent pool). "Sambo is Russia's unique martial art" my ass, as true as me inventing the wheel again.

I'm not dissing sambo here. Just stating that the differences between the two respective arts are minimal.

-peace

 

[Jaxx]

I thought we were through with this topic already Funaki. And before the the ignorant sambo fanboys with no real experience and with leglock fetish come to this thread I'd like to say that in Russia judo competitors train sambo and vice versa. There really aren't those who wouldn't train both of them. Sure, Fedor states that it's the most powerful ma in the world. Of course he says that, if I'd be him I'd say the same just out of national pride. That however doesn't change the fact that even though the rules are slightly different with sambo having more rules they are same stuff (and with sambo having smaller talent pool). "Sambo is Russia's unique martial art" my ass, as true as me inventing the wheel again.

I'm not dissing sambo here. Just stating that the differences between the two respective arts are minimal.

-peace

Hahahaha, sounds like you have been heel hooked by a Sambo guy then he stole your girlfriend!

 

[Masakatsu Funaki #1]

Looking back, I see this being very loserish. I dont know what I was thinking. Sort of like trying to 1up someone are something, which is lame :/ I love all the grappling sports! Wether it be Judo, Sambo,Wrestling, or whatever.

*runs back to Supplement board*

 

[Jaxx]

Looking back, I see this being very loserish. I dont know what I was thinking. Sort of like trying to 1up someone are something, which is lame :/ I love all the grappling sports! Wether it be Judo, Sambo,Wrestling, or whatever.

*runs back to Supplement board*

It is cool, just having a laugh mate.

 

[Yozigi]

I base my post on personal experience gathered from a visit to one of the biggest judo/sambo clubs in Russia, High Sports Mastership School in St. Petersburg. It is actually a boarding school with some open practices.

EDIT: No harm done Funaki, we all know you do love grappling ; )

 

[sha]

I'm not dissing sambo here. Just stating that the differences between the two respective arts are minimal.

I would say there are a few differences. For example Sambo has a military/self defense part, a combat part with punches..
Of course in Russia Sambo and Judo might be about the same, but I think if you go to a Sambo school and a Judo dojo elsewhere in the world you'll find a lot of differences.

Personally I really like Sambo's balance between standup/groundwork, self defense/sports

 

[colinm]

say no to style vs style threads

 

[Yozigi]

Yeah, and judo has striking too.

Combat sambo is only amateur MMA with throws having the possibility to end the match, nothing more. "Self-defence" is annoingly commercialized (is that a word?) consept anyway. It's not like any judo/sambo competitors would train any of that stuff in Russia or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

 

[sambosteve]

Combat sambo is only amateur MMA with throws having the possibility to end the match, nothing more

This is not exactly accurate. Combat sambo (the sport rules) is like MMA but, the rules have not been formalized yet in 5 years of having world championships. Outside of that, military folks (like my coach and others I know) have been practicing combat sambo for decades - including all the "self defense" aspects - strikes, weapons, etc. I have seen in house military events which do include combat sambo (with all the range of techniques), just sport sambo rules, and everything in between. There are even events which include military style obstacle courses, knife throwing, and H2H style fighting all in one event. This is a newer event as far as I know but, it is very cool to watch. I saw one of these events when I was out training in eastern Europe in 2004. The guy who won last year's was a spetnaz guy who also happened to be a sambo 70 student. All this is not to say that sambo or combat sambo is superior to any other art, just that the sport version of combat sambo is really very new and people in Russia and elsewhere train much more than just the sport sambo rules. Food for thought.

It's not like any judo/sambo competitors would train any of that stuff in Russia or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

To say that people do not practice combat sambo of this kind is completely wrong. I personally know many russians and others who do. They are not in the majority (unless they are military or LEO) just as here in the US most BJJ guys focus on the sport aspects of that art and not the full range of things done when Helio was doing it back in the day. Look at Putin for example, he advocates judo, combat sambo, sport sambo and does not claim one is better than the other. In fact he wrote judo book with a combat sambo section in it.

in Russia judo competitors train sambo and vice versa

This is true. Most large competative sport programs train students in both. The judo guys do sambo and visa versa. This is why I laugh when people assume sambo folks don't know chokes - just because they are not in the rules, does not mean we don't train them.

In the end, it is all just fighting and people train according to what they desire and need to train for. It is not really about which is better.