Shukhrat Makhmudov: “Our ongoing mission is to spread sambo’s popularity”

In 2023, the country will celebrate the 85th anniversary of sambo. On the eve of this event, we talked to Shukhrat Makhmudov, the president of one of the leading sambo schools - Sambo Federation of Sverdlovsk region. Sambo as a type of martial arts, which literally means self-defense without weapons, came into being in the Soviet Union and has gained popularity around the world. Russian sambo wrestlers repeatedly became European and world champions. In 2021, sambo was recognized as an Olympic sport. "Profile" has found out how sambo developed in the Urals, why sambo should be promoted in schools and how combat sambo is related to MMA.  We're excited to share it with you.

– Mr. Makhmudov, how did such a sport as sambo appear in Sverdlovsk region?

– It was “Dynamo” club that got sambo to Sverdlovsk region. In 1949, Sergey Klyuchnikov opened a sambo club in Sverdlovsk Regional Council of "Dynamo". Klyuchnikov was not a sambo athlete, he was a famous circus wrestler, a Master of Sports in Greco-Roman wrestling. He was succeeded by Gennady Netsvetayev, a master of sports of the USSR, who was a student of Anatoly Kharlampiev. In the mid-1950s, Netsvetayev worked as a supervisor in the detention center in Kamyshlov and arranged an athletic class among his employees; he also came to Sverdlovsk to train the national team of “Dynamo” athletes. From the mid-1960s to 1980, under Anatoly Stolbov, the “Dynamo” club reached its peak. In 1972-1973, the Middle Urals gave our country its first European and world champion, the legendary Alexander Sergeyevich Fedorov.

– Let's speak about other famous sambists of Sverdlovsk school.

– These are Alexander Vyatkin, winner of the USSR Sambo Championship and international judo tournament, RSFSR sambo champion, Vladimir Shchukin, a three-time champion of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, prize-winner of RSFSR Championship, Vladimir Artsibashev and Alexander Kustov, prize-winners of RSFSR and USSR Championships, Alexey Fominykh and Talgat Gibadullin. Sergei Vorobyov became European champion in 1987. Nikolay Zuev and Sergey Danilik won the World Cup in 1984 and in 1996, correspondingly.

– How did sambo develop in the 1990s? It was a tough time for athletes…

“The turbulent 1990s” appeared to be troubled times for our entire country. With no financial support, the sport of sambo in Sverdlovsk region put all its hope in “Uralmash” and “Dynamo” as they, under such circumstances, found ways to help talented kids from all over the region.

In 1991-1992, when sambo in the region, indeed Russia’s sport had the hardest time, we actually started self-financing. Nearly all specialists left, except Konev and Kustov. Shortly afterwards, Alexey Retkozubov and Vyacheslav Lihachev became prize-winners of World Championship, Alexey Utkin won European and Asian championship, with Larisa Reprintseva becoming prize-winner of Asian Championship and being the first female athlete with Master of Sports title. In 1995, a trainee of “Dynamo” club Konstantin Makhnev won the Cup of Russia and became the national champion, and Bahretdin Jamolov was also among the winners of the Asian Championship.

The legendary sambo club "Uralmash" of the 1990s-2000s is remembered primarily for the performances delivered by Alexei Egorov, Aidos Yusupov, Marat Agzamov and Andrey Slobodchikov, which is mainly attributable to their coach Alexander Alexandrovich Kozlov. Throughout his coaching career, Kozlov trained more than 200 masters of sports in sambo and 10 world-class masters of sports. In 1986, Alexander Aleksandrovich was awarded the "Merited Coach of the USSR" title.

Today, these glorious victorious traditions of "Uralmash" sambo club continue under the auspices of the Sports School of Olympic Reserve (SSOR) for sambo and judo and the sports club "Rodina".

– You are talking about “Uralmash”. How did it happen that the sambo club is now based in Verkhnyaya Pyshma?

– The sambo club in Verkhnyaya Pyshma was set up by Vasily Kuzhnikov in the early 1960s, with Mikhail Mashkov (a worker at the Pyshma Copper Electrolytic Plant) continuing Kuzhnikov’s legacy as a coach. A tiny hall at the local stadium was home to the club. At the time, there were at most 20 people wishing to be trained.

In the mid-1970s, Gennadiy Oleynikov, Master of Sports of the USSR, came to work at the plant and took the club into his own hands. Sambo became popular in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, the number of those wishing to take up this sport exceeded 150 people, and the sports club moved to a more spacious room in the “Metallurg” Culture Center.

In the mid-1990s, Andrey Kozitsyn headed JSC “Uralelektromed”, and that was the moment when people came to realize that sambo is not only sport, but also a chance to raise healthy generation physically and spiritually. In 2000, qualified coaches were found, who kicked UMMC Sambo Club in Verkhnyaya Pyshma up a notch.

Club Coaches in brief. Valeriy Stennikov is a head coach of the Sverdlovsk region sambo team, Merited Coach of Russia, Honored Worker of Physical Culture of Russia, he was awarded the 1^st and 2^nd class medals of the Order of Merit for the Motherland and the Order of Friendship. Mikhail Sukhanov is a head coach of Verkhnyaya Pyshma Sambo Club, Ilya Khlybov is one of the most decorated sambo wrestlers of our time, now he pursues a successful career as a coach. In November 2021, Alexander Melnikov, Merited Coach of Russia, passed away. Since the early 2000s, he and Valery Stennikov had successfully been creating a multilevel training system in the region, from children's sports clubs to high performance sport.

In just two years, UMMC Sambo Club has become the strongest in the whole Sverdlovsk region. What’s more, it was only the beginning for the sports club.

- More victories to come?

- The club was a success not only in Russia but also in the international arena. Since the early 2000s, Verkhnyaya Pyshma sambo fighters have taken part in 46 World Championships and 36 European Championships. In total, they have won 23 World Championship titles, 15 Continental Championship titles and 18 World Cups. Alsim Chernoskulov is a six-time world champion, Ilya Khlybov is a five-time world champion and Timur Galliamov and Stanislav Skryabin are two-time world champions. Vladimir Gladkin has won four European Championships and Dmitriy Lebedev has won three.

– You have told us mostly about sports sambo. Tell us about combat sambo. Are there any remarkable achievements of the athletes of Sverdlovsk region in it?

– Russian sambists competing in combat sambo are undisputable leaders at the international level. It is notable that they often win gold medals at other MMA styles tournaments, such as “Rings”, “Pride”, “M-1”.

Arsen Temirkhanov is the first athlete of combat sambo in Sverdlovsk region. In 2006 and 2007, he won a silver medal at the National Championship and a gold medal at the European Championship. Later on, Arsen participated in MMA tournaments and became a six-time winner of the “Tournament of Real Men”, a winner of K-1 Hero's Lithuania while representing the Russian Top Team 2006 and a winner of M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge fights.

Having finished competing for the Soviet national sambo team, Andrey Kopylov and Nikolai Zuev of “Uralmash” Sambo School participated in the “Rings” professional league for several years, impressing fans with their fighting styles of Russian martial arts.

It is worth saying that MMA in the USSR evolved from combat sambo as a synthesis of many fighting styles. Currently, it is sambo that most closely resembles MMA in terms of the range of the used skills. In combat sambo, the primary task is to overcome the opponent’s resistance as quickly and effectively as possible. The most prominent Russian sambists are Oleg Taktarov, Fedor Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov, Magomedkhan Gamzatkhanov and Mikhail Ilyukhin. Ivan Shtyrkov, a bronze medalist of the Russian Sambo Championships, made his sports career at the “Uralmash” Sambo School, then continued his career in MMA, and quite successfully.

– Are Taktarov and Emelianenko sambo wrestlers?

- Sure, Emelianenko is a four-time combat sambo world champion, Honored Master of Sports in Sambo. Taktarov is a Master of Sports in Sambo. Khabib Nurmagomedov is world-class Master of Sports in Sambo, a two-time combat sambo world champion.

– This information will be valuable for those who are pondering which martial art style is the best for them. Let's get back to the sports sambo. Tell us about the current accomplishments achieved by citizens of Sverdlovsk region in this sport.

– In November 2022, Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) hosted the World Sambo Championship, which was attended by representatives of 52 countries. Athletes competed for 21 sets of medals: seven in male sports sambo category, seven in female sports sambo category and seven in combat sambo category. The Russian sambo team won 19 medals (13 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze). National teams of Kyrgyzstan and Belarus came second (2-1-3) and third (1-3-4), correspondingly.

The team from Sverdlovsk region was on the crest of the wave by winning three gold and two bronze medals. Stanislav Skryabin, Merited Master of Sports and representative of UMMC Sambo Club, won the gold and became a double world champion at this Сhampionship. Daria Rechkalova and Olesya Posylkina, Masters of Sports in Sambo, also took gold.

At the 2021 World Championship in Tashkent, the Russian team got 18 medals, of which eight were gold. Uali Kurzhev, the representative of Sverdlovsk region and a four-time world champion, won gold.

Sverdlovsk Region is affluent with decorated sambists. Alsim Chernoskulov is a six-time world champion, two-time World Cup winner and eight-time Russian champion. Uali Kurzhev's brother Ali is a three-time World Cup winner, World Championship bronze medallist and European champion. Vladimir Balykov is a 2017 World Cup champion, Russian champion. Anna Balashova is a three-time world champion, two-time European champion. Denis Sukhanov is a World Cup winner. Vladimir Gladkikh is a world champion and four-time European champion. The list of our athletes is too long - they are all worth mentioning.

– I heard sambo was declared Olympic, is that right?

– Yes, on July 20, 2021, the long-awaited event happened – sambo was declared as an Olympic sport! In 2003, the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Physical Culture and Sport recognized sambo as a national and high-priority sport in Russia, which was a very crucial decision. In 2009, the intention to make sambo an official Olympic sport was first announced. In 2018, sambo was granted provisional recognition, and over the next three years we had been waiting for an official recognition. Currently, the program of the 2024 Olympics has already been approved, and it does not include sambo competitions. But in 2028, the Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles, and we will do our best to make sambo an Olympic sport, not only in words, but in deeds!

– What are your goals and objectives right now?

– In 2003, sambo was officially recognized in the Russian Federation as a national and high-priority sport. I do emphasize the words “national” and “high-priority”. Our main mission is to get it done. Increasing sambo’s popularity is one of the overriding priorities. There are several large-scale projects aimed at implementing this challenge. For example, “Sambo integration into Schools” project that is aimed at promoting sambo in schools, physical development of school children as well as their leadership qualities and high moral principles. This is the largest educational and sports project in Russia. In Sverdlovsk region, 10 schools have got involved in this project. Generally, based on the preliminary data, about 10 thousand children in Sverdlovsk region are going in for sambo now, which is a very high rate, growing from year to year.

The “Sambo for Students” project is some kind of continuation of “Sambo integration into Schools” project, but implemented on the basis of colleges and institutes of higher education.

Besides, we established a special commission to work with athletes who are visually impaired. We hold sambo tournaments, which not only strengthens children's health, but also helps them get socialized.

Not long ago, we made up a comparative table to see how many sambo wrestlers from Sverdlovsk region won prizes between 2018 and 2022. It appeared that for the last four years the athletes from Sverdlovsk region have improved their performance by 2.5 times, i.e. from 40 team medals up to 105! So, the work is coming along well, but what's most important is to stay strong in the pursuit of our goals and not to rest on our laurels.