SAMBO in Israel

Within a framework of development of SAMBO worldwide and its promotion to the international Olympic movement, representatives of the FIAS Masters Commission under the guidance of Yury Trufanov and with the support of the President of the All-Sports Association "Maccabi" Vadim Polyansky took part in the International Congress of Maccabi Sports Society in Jerusalem in June. «Maccabi» is a worldwide sports society. The organization is named after the historical hero of the Jewish people, Judas Maccabee. The main goal of the worldwide «Maccabi» sports society is strengthening physical health of the Jewish people, which is also a guarantee of the spiritual power of the nation. The motto of «Maccabi» is «A sound mind in a sound body», its greetings — «Be strong and courageous!» Since 1932 every four years «Maccabi» organizes in Israel the international sports games modeled after the Olympic Games, the Maccabiah Games. «Maccabi» society is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a sports federation of Olympic standings and is a member of the General Association of International Sports Federations. «Maccabi» motto echoes the basic ideas of SAMBO: upbringing of healthy society members, capable of defending itself and its relatives. Therefore it was easy for the FIAS to forge understanding and find common ground for cooperation with «Maccabi». Members of the FIAS Masters Commission met «Maccabi» representatives and discussed with them questions of development of SAMBO in Israel. There were also meetings with the head of the Israeli Sambo Federation Stolyar Solomon. The FIAS organized numerous master classes, which were held both indoors and outdoors, right at the Dead Sea shore. The FIAS Commission representatives visited the Israeli Olympic Committee and met its head Mr. Zvi Varshaviak. An agreement has been reached to organize a meeting between Mr. Zvi Varshaviak and the FIAS President Vasily Shestakov in Moscow this autumn. There are plans to discuss the recognition of the Israeli Sambo Federation by the National Olympic Committee. Meetings have also been held with the representatives of police divisions in the Israeli Interpol office. A SAMBO presentation had been held that mostly focused on the moves that are successfully used in law-enforcing agencies: handling of knives and guns technique, ability to defend against an attacker. Preliminary agreements have been reached about cooperation in implementation of SAMBO as a system of physical upbringing in the Israeli police structures. The FIAS hopes that the visit was only the first of many steps in development of SAMBO, both in Israel and worldwide.