The World Martial Arts Video

The European Sambo Championships attract a record 32 participating nations. Aleksandr Konakov, sambo coach (speaking Russian): “To win in sambo you have to throw your opponent to the ground and, depending on how clinical the attempt is, you get points awarded to you. In the case of combat sambo, there you can also get points for hitting your opponent, for knock-outs and knock-downs.” Tatyana Zenchenko, 2012 European Champion (speaking Russian): “Every year, the popularity of both sport sambo and combat sambo is growing and with it there are more and more people and countries getting involved.” Sergey Eliseev, Russian Sambo Federation Vice President (speaking Russian): “Sambo is so popular nowadays that it's surpassed many Olympic events by the number of participants already. We have over 80 federations around the world, more than a lot of the Olympic disciplines. So it's only a matter of time before it is seriously considered as an Olympic event.” Story Organizer...

Yoga for Mixed Martial Arts is a Russian project uniting yoga techniques with jujitsu and could soon be used to help professional competitors. Igor Lunyakov, Y4MMA founder (speaking Russian): “This is the Y4MMA project, Yoga for Mixed Martial Arts. It was created to help people who do martial arts – sambo, judo, jujitsu, boxing or karate – to help them get a better feel for their body, make it more mobile.”  Alexander Dida Brazilian jujitsu trainer (speaking English): “Actually in Brazil we don’t hear much about sambo. Of course we’ve heard something but we don’t have much access to video or information about sambo, just like some people here do not know about Brazilian jujitsu.” Tatiana Illarionova, yoga trainer (speaking Russian): “There are not just two poles – plus and minus, no. A sportsman is ready when he is calm. He can be tumultuous on the outside but quiet inside. This is what we’re working on, on the calmness inside. In this case adrenalin doesn’t get going wit...