By Vestnik Kavkaza
Sambo is the only kind of sport in the world in which the Russian language is the official language of international communication. The traditions of sambo are rooted in the culture of the peoples of Russia and involve the best of national wrestling: fist-fighting, Russian, Georgian, Tatar, Armenian, Kazakh, Uzbek wrestling; Finnish-French, free American, Swiss, English wrestling, Japanese judo and sumo, and others. It is thought that sambo absorbed not only fighting elements, but also the moral principles of the peoples who gave sambo a part of their cultures.
The science of defense, rather than offense, matches the spirit of the First European Games in Baku on June 12-28.
Sergei Yeliseyev, the President of the All-Russian Sambo Federation, thinks that participation in the Games is an honorable mission: “Considering the fact that sambo is actively moving toward the Olympic family, holding such Games in Baku and participation of sambo will give us an opportunity to strengthen our request to sambo’s membership in the International Olympic Committee.”
Yeliseyev visited Baku six months ago at a session of the Organizational Committee of the Games. He expressed his impressions from the city: “Frankly speaking, I was surprised by such an attitude to sports by the authorities of the country and the way they have organized the city. I visited Baku in Soviet times; but now it is really fantastic. The city has a new look. The Olympic village for athletes resembles a complex of beautiful palaces. I have never seen such things at any Games. We felt hospitability everywhere – starting from the airport and ending with the hotel or people on the streets. People are all nice and welcoming. Everybody awaits guests.”
“Our guys will enjoy participating in the Games. Of course, everybody wants to win medals; but our task is to present sambo to the world. I hope our kind of sports will be presented beautifully, and the audience will like it. We are setting this goal for the Federation. All our athletes and judges will be equipped, all of them will have uniforms with the Russian emblem. We hope it will be a good picture for TV. I think this step should be done to promote our kind of sport,” Yeliseyev said.
