Sambo in Mixed Martial Arts

Sambo is generally acclaimed as a combat sport. It emerged in the former Soviet Union era as a form of self-defense system, but gradually took a place in the "modern martial art" arena. As a consequence, in 1938, the USSR All-Union Sports Committee recognized Sambo as part of martial art. In recent times, Sambo is considered as a form of proletarian competitive wrestling and is practiced across the globe by different communities in different regions. Other than Sambo, there are three types of proletarian competitive wrestling; which are Greco-Roman wrestling, Freestyle wrestling and Judo.

Mixed Martial artists train in a range of styles that have been demonstrated effective in the ring, so that they can be helpful in all the phases of combat. Even though fighters will try to play to their particular specialties, they will without doubt encounter all kinds of situations; a stand up fighting specialist will probably get taken down at some point and a submission point might need to fight standing-up for a while before he can complete a takedown. A mixed martial art artist might train in a particular style to improve his or her skills in the stage of combat that the style encompasses. Classic styles, known for their success, that have been trained prior to the mixed martial art career, and that are taught independently to improve a particular phase of combat, are: Stand - up which consist of Boxing, kickboxing, and other forms of full contact karate. Clinch which is Freestyle and Grego-Roman wrestling as well as Sambo.

The actual meaning of Sambo is to prepare self-defense techniques without using a weapon. Sambo has five accepted versions. These versions are:- Sport Sambo, also known as Borba Sambo; Self-defense Sambo, Combat Sambo, known as Boyevoye Sambo; Special Sambo and Freestyle Sambo. Sport Sambo is quite similar to Judo and amateur wrestling. Most features are common in Sport Sambo competition and Judo competition. Combat Sambo was developed and nurtured specially for the military and other Armed force divisions. Martial Art experts consider this type as the root of Sambo, though many disagree with the claim as well. Combat Sambo competitions are similar to modern mixed martial arts and judo as it includes widespread forms of striking and wrestling. Self-defense Sambo, as the name speaks for itself, focuses on self-defense applications including protection against any armed or unarmed attackers. Self-defense Sambo is very similar to Aikijutsu and Jujitsu. Special Sambo is fairly a new type in the arena. It refers to a particular version of Combat Sambo. Army Special Forces & Rapid Reaction Police and their experts developed this type of Sambo to protect themselves from enemy attacks. Freestyle Sambo is purely an American Set of Sambo.

In 2004, American Sambo Association created rules and regulations for popularizing Sambo in the states; this form of the art is now known as Freestyle Sambo. Rules of Freestyle Sambo differ from conventional Sambo; it allows participants to use choke hold methods along with other submissions. This type of Sambo is based on fast ground work and on throwing skills.