Spiridonov Self-Defence (SAM System)
Самозащита без оружияSelf-defence system of Viktor Spiridonov, who from 1923 led a section in the Dynamo society. It is one of the sources of sambo, and the abbreviation sambo is attributed to him.
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About Spiridonov Self-Defence (SAM System)
The SAM system (the abbreviation of the Russian Samozashchita bez oruzhiya, unarmed self-defence) is a self-defence system built by Viktor Spiridonov in the Dynamo sports society. According to the Russian news site Life, Spiridonov founded a defence and attack section there in 1923, and the first group had fourteen people. He published manuals of unarmed self-defence in 1927, 1928 and 1933, the first of which refers in its title to the jiu-jitsu system.
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According to Life, Spiridonov did not put attack first: it was self-defence in clothing, controlling and disabling the attacker, and using objects at hand, such as a belt, a knife or an army boot, with techniques that at full force could be deadly, and he extended the system with elements of jiu-jitsu. During the Second World War he trained soldiers of the OMSBON unit deployed behind the front. According to Life, he died in 1944. The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World (Green 2001) ranks Spiridonov alongside Oshchepkov and Kharlampiev among the creators of sambo and writes that a dispute over which of them contributed most to the origin of sambo continues to this day. Both Green and Life attribute the abbreviation sambo to Spiridonov. The International SAMBO Federation (FIAS) regards 16 November 1938 as the birthday of sambo. We have not found the year the Spiridonov system arose in the sources, nor evidence of how exactly its techniques passed into combat sambo. We have not found grades in the system.
History
The Dynamo sports society came into being, according to a peer-reviewed article on hssb.elpub.ru, in August 1923 as the first Soviet sports society. According to the site Life, Viktor Spiridonov founded a defence and attack section in it the same year, which the first group of fourteen people joined. The Russian website proza.ru, a source without references, says that Spiridonov was a staff captain of the Tsarist army and that Japanese jiu-jitsu interested him in 1906. English Wikipedia places his birth on 20 December 1882 in the Vyatka Governorate.
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Spiridonov published three manuals: Rukovodstvo samozashchity bez oruzhiya po sisteme dzhiu-dzhitsu (Moscow 1927), Samozashchita bez oruzhiya. Trenirovka i sostyazaniye (1928) and Samozashchita bez oruzhiya. Osnovy samozashchity. Trenirovka. Metodika izucheniya (1933), as given by the bibliography of a scholarly article of the Southern Federal University. According to Life, his pupils won two of three bouts against German jiu-jitsu masters in 1928. Proza.ru says that the first Moscow Dynamo championship in the SAM system took place in 1929 and that the name of the system changed from self-defence through SAM and SAMOZ to sambo. The abbreviation sambo is attributed to Spiridonov by the encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World (Green 2001), which writes about him under the wrong first name Vladimir, and by Life. According to Green, Kharlampiev presented Soviet freestyle wrestling in November 1938, renamed sambo in 1946, and the Soviets played down Spiridonov's share because he was a Tsarist officer. FIAS gives 16 November 1938 as the birthday of sambo. Mikhail Lukashev writes in the book Sambo na sluzhbe Rodine that Spiridonov had to leave Dynamo after more than fifteen years of work and that he fought a cold war with Oshchepkov, although the two complemented each other. During the Second World War, according to Life, Spiridonov trained soldiers of the OMSBON unit deployed behind the front, and in 1944 he died of cancer. Wikipedia gives 7 September as the date of death, 9 September 1944 in the text, and proza.ru gives the year 1943.
How it differs
Sources describe the difference between Spiridonov's system and the other sources of sambo only generally. According to Life, Spiridonov's self-defence counted on wrestling in clothing and on objects at hand and arose from jiu-jitsu, which interested him already in 1906 according to proza.ru. The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World (Green 2001) writes that sambo took over elements of Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, Georgian jacket wrestling and, through Oshchepkov, Kodokan judo, that both Spiridonov and Oshchepkov knew Japanese strikes, and that strikes are applied in combat sambo, not in sport sambo. While Spiridonov built on self-defence for Dynamo, tied to the training of NKVD members, Green credits the sport form of sambo to Kharlampiev and his freestyle wrestling announced in November 1938. According to Green, a dispute still continues over which of the three, Kharlampiev, Spiridonov and Oshchepkov, had the greatest share in the origin of sambo.
Technique
We have only second-hand descriptions of the technique of Spiridonov's system. The news site Life writes that Spiridonov's self-defence in clothing did not put attack first but concentrated on confronting the attacker and disabling him, and counted on objects at hand, such as a belt, a knife or an army boot. According to Life, techniques performed at full force could be deadly. According to the same source, Spiridonov extended the system with elements of jiu-jitsu, to which the title of his first manual of 1927 already refers. The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World (Green 2001) states that both Spiridonov and Oshchepkov knew Japanese strikes (atemi-waza) and that strikes are used in combat sambo, not in sport sambo. We have not found the detailed technical content of the system in the available sources.
Training
Spiridonov taught his system in the Dynamo sports society, where from 1923 he led a defence and attack section, and according to Life the first group had fourteen people. A scholarly article of the Southern Federal University describes Dynamo as the main base of programmes of professional physical training for members of the NKVD. Mikhail Lukashev writes in the book Sambo na sluzhbe Rodine that Spiridonov organised competitions under special rules already in the twenties, and the website proza.ru gives the first Moscow Dynamo championship in the SAM system in 1929. According to Life, in 1928 his pupils won two of three bouts with German jiu-jitsu masters, and during the Second World War Spiridonov prepared soldiers of the OMSBON unit for deployment behind the front. He summed up his methods in manuals of 1927, 1928 and 1933, the last of which has training methodology in its title.
Today
We have not found separate competitions of Spiridonov's system today, and his legacy is remembered in sambo. The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World (Green 2001) states that sambo today exists as combat sambo, sport sambo and a set of self-defence techniques, and is used by Russian police units and armed forces. The International SAMBO Federation (FIAS) celebrates 16 November 1938 as the birthday of sambo and does not name Spiridonov in its history. Sergey Eliseev, president of the All-Russian Sambo Federation, according to the daily Vechernyaya Moskva regards Spiridonov, Oshchepkov and Kharlampiev as equally honoured teachers of sambo. English Wikipedia states that a monument to all three was unveiled in December 2020 near the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow. We have not found in the sources how exactly Spiridonov's techniques passed into combat sambo, and Life says only that Kharlampiev drew on the systems of Spiridonov and Oshchepkov.
Did you know
The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World (Green 2001) credits Spiridonov with authorship of the abbreviation sambo, but gives him under the wrong first name Vladimir. According to Green, the Soviets played down his share because he was a Tsarist officer. Proza.ru says that Spiridonov's personal file from the early forties was destroyed, so there are few reports of his work in those years. The year of his death differs in the sources (1943 or 1944), and English Wikipedia has two different dates in one article, 7 and 9 September 1944. The number of the decree of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture of 16 November 1938 (633) is given only by proza.ru, and we have not found the decree's text. Mikhail Lukashev writes that Spiridonov and Oshchepkov fought a cold war although they complemented each other, and Sergey Eliseev, president of the All-Russian Sambo Federation, considers all three equally respected teachers of sambo. According to the English Wikipedia, a monument to all three has stood since December 2020 near Luzhniki in Moscow.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Viktor Spiridonov?
Creator of the SAM self-defence system, who from 1923 led a defence and attack section in the Dynamo sports society and published manuals of unarmed self-defence in 1927, 1928 and 1933. The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World ranks him alongside Oshchepkov and Kharlampiev among the creators of sambo. He died in 1944.
Who coined the word sambo?
Both the encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World and the Russian site Life attribute the abbreviation sambo to Spiridonov. The International SAMBO Federation dates sambo's birth to 16 November 1938.
How did Spiridonov's system differ from sport sambo?
According to Life, it was self-defence in clothing aimed at disabling the attacker, using objects at hand and elements of jiu-jitsu. The encyclopedia Martial Arts of the World credits the sport form of sambo to Kharlampiev.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.