Combat Sambo = Striking & Submission Wrestling/Grappling
Fedor, Oleg Taktarov, Sergei Kharitnov, Volk Han, Khabib Nurmagomedov,
Ali Bagautinov, Rustam Khabilov, Rashid Magomedov, Alexey Olienik, Vyacheslav
Vasilevsky, Alexander Emelianenko, Blagoi Ivanov & most guys from the
Russian Federation
Sport Sambo = Submission Wrestling /Grappling
Vitaly Minakox, Andrei Arlovski... Not many Sport Sambo (no striking) submision wrestlers come to MMA
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bloody Elbow Open Mat: Why Have Sambo Fighters Been so Successful? featuring Reilly Bodycomb
bloodyelbow.com - Feb 6 2014 http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/2/6...o-fighters-been-so-successful-Reilly-Bodycomb
Recently American MMA promotions have really started bringing in fighters with Sambo and Combat Sambo backgrounds, and many of them are finding very high levels of success. American Sambo ace Reilly Bodycomb chimes in with the BE staff to examine what is behind that success.
American MMA has recently seen an influx of Russian and Dagestani fighters with Sambo backgrounds, among other arts. Many are finding success quickly in the cage, adapting their skills from Sambo and Combat Sambo very quickly. So we posed a simple, if a little broad, question: why have Sambo fighters been so successful? What does Sambo or Combat Sambo give a prospective MMA fighter that other backgrounds do not?
To start off the discussion we asked American Sambo ace Reilly Bodycomb that very question.
One of the U.S.'s premier Sambo practitioners, Reilly has won international Sambo tournaments and represented the United States at the Sambo World Championships in 2008. He is also very active in no gi grappling and has professional MMA experience.
Reilly currently runs a school in New Orleans, Rdojo, and I can speak from personal experience that he is an excellent instructor and that his seminars and videos are well worth their price.
Reilly Bodycomb: Sport Sambo and Combat Sambo are primarily throwing sports. Meaning most of the scoring is from takedowns, similar to Judo. However, attacking the legs with such things as double-leg takedowns, and fireman's carries are permitted without restrictions unlike judo. Because of this, someone with a competitive background in a Sambo sport would have lots of experience taking others down, and not being taken down. Even though there is no jacket (gi/kurtka) in MMA, the clinch is not dissimilar, as fighters tend to stay tight and upright to avoid knees when working for takedowns. So upper body throws (hip tosses, suplexes, laterals, etc) translate pretty well from Sambo to MMA.
Of course, like any combat sport, much cross training is needed to flesh out the rest of your game to make the transition from Sambo to MMA. The athletes coming from Combat Sambo obviously would have an easier transition in this sense, as striking is a part of that sport.
But to answer your question completely, In my experience, a real mixed martial artist makes stylistic choices that tend to cross the boundaries of being from one 'style' or another. If you have competed primarily in Sport Sambo, but have MMA training partners and coaches from a freestyle wrestling background, or BJJ background, then your grappling can not help but be augmented. You start picking the moves that work best for you, and they will be influenced by all of your training partners and coaches.
Iain Kidd: A veteran Sambo fighter and medalist (Vadim Kolganov) trains at the same gym I do, and he and my coach will regularly do full force sparring sessions in headgear with a face cage. I'm not aware of too many MMA gyms that do that, but it strikes me that doing so would give fighters much more practice in throwing punches full force in actual combat situations. From the little Sambo ground game I have learned by proxy, it seems to be not quite as technical as BJJ, but it is much more amenable to using your physical strength, especially in scrambles and reversals/sweeps; again, I didn't get the impression that training at slow speed was the standard for Sambo training.
I think in MMA we see a lot of fighters who fight in a technical way, but don't have a lifetime of training everything as hard and fast as possible. I think part of the reason we see a large number of wrestlers who are able to throw huge punches is the same reason Sambo fighters have such success; they don't have years of training at half or three quarter speed slowing down their instincts in a fight. As an example of this, a technique Vadim teaches involves using your elbow, or forearm, to blast through someone's guard, with an overhand following it to land on the now exposed head. That's something that's basically impossible to practice at anything other than full speed.
Lastly, the fact striking is a part of combat Sambo means the grappling takes that into account, even at a fundamental level. Much of BJJ seems to treat an opponent above you striking as a temporary issue that will go away when you pull off the next technique. From the little I've learned, Sambo techniques are always aware of the ability of your opponents fists to do damage. I think this really helps the ground game transition well into MMA.
T.P. Grant: I think Reilly hits one of the big factors on why Sambists are having success in standing grappling. The kurtka forces a slightly more upright posture than seen in Freestyle or American Folk Wrestling that fits MMA clinch grappling very well, but without the restrictions of Judo or Greco-Roman wrestling, which feature similar upright grappling stances. So Sambo fighters have a wide variety of throws, sweeps, takedowns, and trips that are legal in their sport that translate very well to MMA.
Then there are the Combat Sambists, who are learning to grapple while striking. As a result the successful Combat Sambo fighters in MMA tend to have fantastic timing on their strikes to fill grappling transitions. Think when Jose Aldo caught Chad Mendes with a knee just seconds after breaking a rear waist lock and as Mendes when to establish the clinch.That kind of timing is a skill unique to MMA and Combat Sambo, and not something training in wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, or Judo is likely to instill.
Zane Simon: Just going off what I've seen it seems that the Russian Sambo culture, and it's combination of Judo and Karate stylings lend itself as a much more combat ready system and not nearly as dependent on a specific clothing article or rule structure. Obviously there are more "point" oriented competitions and more "fight" oriented competitions, but I would assume that many Sambo practitioners train at least somewhat regularly for both. There's not really a lot of "combat judo" or "combat" wrestling that I'm aware of. Most other grappling forms have moved to a less fight and more sport oriented culture. Even Jiu Jitsu seems to have slowly moved toward a more point based system (at least if I'm to believe everything that Royce Gracie tells me). Sambo seems to have deep competitive roots in combat sports and as such it seems to place a lot more value on the tools of timing, distance, and a "catch as catch can" mentality. It only makes sense that that would translate well to MMA.
Connor Reubusch: In short, the success of Sambists in MMA comes down to one thing, and that is experience. Despite its differences (points, the jacket, the rules) Combat Sambo is basically amateur MMA. Sambists have the opportunity to compete against other skilled practitioners of their sport in serious, respected tournaments, without the risk of incurring losses on a professional MMA record. The results of having a fully established amateur system are clear--in boxing, we have finely tuned athletes making their professional debuts. In MMA, we have Eastern European fighters with the remarkable ability to take the fight wherever they want it to go, and to hurt their opponents in even the smallest windows of opportunity.
I'm reminded of the blending of offense and defense that marks a truly seasoned boxer. Of all the skills a boxer can learn, the inseparability of offensive and defensive movements seems to take the longest to perfect. Young fighters will switch from one to the other, but for truly skilled veterans, like Bernard Hopkins, there is no difference whatsoever. Defense and offense are both part of the same activity--fighting. In MMA, the blending of defense and offense is still a difficult-to-obtain skill, but the highest goal for most fighters seems to be transitional fighting--the ability to catch the opponent in those brief moments when he is completely unprepared for an attack. Whether it's grabbing a triangle as he posts to keep from being swept, or blasting him with an uppercut as he stands up from sprawling, transitional fighting is another one of those skills that just requires a depth of experience to do consistently. That experience is something that Sambists have that fighters from other backgrounds do not.
As an aside, Combat Sambo might be the best way to get MMA accepted as an Olympic sport. Rule changes would be worrying, but the value of an established amateur fight system might be worth the risk. We all want to see better fighters, right?
Fedor, Oleg Taktarov, Sergei Kharitnov, Volk Han, Khabib Nurmagomedov,
Ali Bagautinov, Rustam Khabilov, Rashid Magomedov, Alexey Olienik, Vyacheslav
Vasilevsky, Alexander Emelianenko, Blagoi Ivanov & most guys from the
Russian Federation
Sport Sambo = Submission Wrestling /Grappling
Vitaly Minakox, Andrei Arlovski... Not many Sport Sambo (no striking) submision wrestlers come to MMA
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bloody Elbow Open Mat: Why Have Sambo Fighters Been so Successful? featuring Reilly Bodycomb
bloodyelbow.com - Feb 6 2014 http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/2/6...o-fighters-been-so-successful-Reilly-Bodycomb
Recently American MMA promotions have really started bringing in fighters with Sambo and Combat Sambo backgrounds, and many of them are finding very high levels of success. American Sambo ace Reilly Bodycomb chimes in with the BE staff to examine what is behind that success.
American MMA has recently seen an influx of Russian and Dagestani fighters with Sambo backgrounds, among other arts. Many are finding success quickly in the cage, adapting their skills from Sambo and Combat Sambo very quickly. So we posed a simple, if a little broad, question: why have Sambo fighters been so successful? What does Sambo or Combat Sambo give a prospective MMA fighter that other backgrounds do not?
To start off the discussion we asked American Sambo ace Reilly Bodycomb that very question.
One of the U.S.'s premier Sambo practitioners, Reilly has won international Sambo tournaments and represented the United States at the Sambo World Championships in 2008. He is also very active in no gi grappling and has professional MMA experience.
Reilly currently runs a school in New Orleans, Rdojo, and I can speak from personal experience that he is an excellent instructor and that his seminars and videos are well worth their price.
Reilly Bodycomb: Sport Sambo and Combat Sambo are primarily throwing sports. Meaning most of the scoring is from takedowns, similar to Judo. However, attacking the legs with such things as double-leg takedowns, and fireman's carries are permitted without restrictions unlike judo. Because of this, someone with a competitive background in a Sambo sport would have lots of experience taking others down, and not being taken down. Even though there is no jacket (gi/kurtka) in MMA, the clinch is not dissimilar, as fighters tend to stay tight and upright to avoid knees when working for takedowns. So upper body throws (hip tosses, suplexes, laterals, etc) translate pretty well from Sambo to MMA.
Of course, like any combat sport, much cross training is needed to flesh out the rest of your game to make the transition from Sambo to MMA. The athletes coming from Combat Sambo obviously would have an easier transition in this sense, as striking is a part of that sport.
But to answer your question completely, In my experience, a real mixed martial artist makes stylistic choices that tend to cross the boundaries of being from one 'style' or another. If you have competed primarily in Sport Sambo, but have MMA training partners and coaches from a freestyle wrestling background, or BJJ background, then your grappling can not help but be augmented. You start picking the moves that work best for you, and they will be influenced by all of your training partners and coaches.
Iain Kidd: A veteran Sambo fighter and medalist (Vadim Kolganov) trains at the same gym I do, and he and my coach will regularly do full force sparring sessions in headgear with a face cage. I'm not aware of too many MMA gyms that do that, but it strikes me that doing so would give fighters much more practice in throwing punches full force in actual combat situations. From the little Sambo ground game I have learned by proxy, it seems to be not quite as technical as BJJ, but it is much more amenable to using your physical strength, especially in scrambles and reversals/sweeps; again, I didn't get the impression that training at slow speed was the standard for Sambo training.
I think in MMA we see a lot of fighters who fight in a technical way, but don't have a lifetime of training everything as hard and fast as possible. I think part of the reason we see a large number of wrestlers who are able to throw huge punches is the same reason Sambo fighters have such success; they don't have years of training at half or three quarter speed slowing down their instincts in a fight. As an example of this, a technique Vadim teaches involves using your elbow, or forearm, to blast through someone's guard, with an overhand following it to land on the now exposed head. That's something that's basically impossible to practice at anything other than full speed.
Lastly, the fact striking is a part of combat Sambo means the grappling takes that into account, even at a fundamental level. Much of BJJ seems to treat an opponent above you striking as a temporary issue that will go away when you pull off the next technique. From the little I've learned, Sambo techniques are always aware of the ability of your opponents fists to do damage. I think this really helps the ground game transition well into MMA.
T.P. Grant: I think Reilly hits one of the big factors on why Sambists are having success in standing grappling. The kurtka forces a slightly more upright posture than seen in Freestyle or American Folk Wrestling that fits MMA clinch grappling very well, but without the restrictions of Judo or Greco-Roman wrestling, which feature similar upright grappling stances. So Sambo fighters have a wide variety of throws, sweeps, takedowns, and trips that are legal in their sport that translate very well to MMA.
Then there are the Combat Sambists, who are learning to grapple while striking. As a result the successful Combat Sambo fighters in MMA tend to have fantastic timing on their strikes to fill grappling transitions. Think when Jose Aldo caught Chad Mendes with a knee just seconds after breaking a rear waist lock and as Mendes when to establish the clinch.That kind of timing is a skill unique to MMA and Combat Sambo, and not something training in wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, or Judo is likely to instill.
Zane Simon: Just going off what I've seen it seems that the Russian Sambo culture, and it's combination of Judo and Karate stylings lend itself as a much more combat ready system and not nearly as dependent on a specific clothing article or rule structure. Obviously there are more "point" oriented competitions and more "fight" oriented competitions, but I would assume that many Sambo practitioners train at least somewhat regularly for both. There's not really a lot of "combat judo" or "combat" wrestling that I'm aware of. Most other grappling forms have moved to a less fight and more sport oriented culture. Even Jiu Jitsu seems to have slowly moved toward a more point based system (at least if I'm to believe everything that Royce Gracie tells me). Sambo seems to have deep competitive roots in combat sports and as such it seems to place a lot more value on the tools of timing, distance, and a "catch as catch can" mentality. It only makes sense that that would translate well to MMA.
Connor Reubusch: In short, the success of Sambists in MMA comes down to one thing, and that is experience. Despite its differences (points, the jacket, the rules) Combat Sambo is basically amateur MMA. Sambists have the opportunity to compete against other skilled practitioners of their sport in serious, respected tournaments, without the risk of incurring losses on a professional MMA record. The results of having a fully established amateur system are clear--in boxing, we have finely tuned athletes making their professional debuts. In MMA, we have Eastern European fighters with the remarkable ability to take the fight wherever they want it to go, and to hurt their opponents in even the smallest windows of opportunity.
I'm reminded of the blending of offense and defense that marks a truly seasoned boxer. Of all the skills a boxer can learn, the inseparability of offensive and defensive movements seems to take the longest to perfect. Young fighters will switch from one to the other, but for truly skilled veterans, like Bernard Hopkins, there is no difference whatsoever. Defense and offense are both part of the same activity--fighting. In MMA, the blending of defense and offense is still a difficult-to-obtain skill, but the highest goal for most fighters seems to be transitional fighting--the ability to catch the opponent in those brief moments when he is completely unprepared for an attack. Whether it's grabbing a triangle as he posts to keep from being swept, or blasting him with an uppercut as he stands up from sprawling, transitional fighting is another one of those skills that just requires a depth of experience to do consistently. That experience is something that Sambists have that fighters from other backgrounds do not.
As an aside, Combat Sambo might be the best way to get MMA accepted as an Olympic sport. Rule changes would be worrying, but the value of an established amateur fight system might be worth the risk. We all want to see better fighters, right?
