In 2006 the American Sambo Association launched the annual Pioneers of American Sambo award to be given at the annual North American Freestyle Sambo Championships. This award is intended to recognize individuals who have made great strides towards supporting Sambo in the United States. In 2006 three awards were given to mirror our first three years of existence as an Association. Subsequently, we will give one award annually.

Nominations for this annual award are based on any one
(or combination) of the following possible criteria:

1. Competition history;
2. Promotion of Sambo in the US;
3. Literature contributions;
4. Popularization of Sambo in the US;
5. Character attributes that represent the best of our sport;
6. Notable achievements in US Sambo;
7. Any other honorable contributions you may feel appropriate.

*Winners need not be members of the American Sambo Association.

 

“PIONEERS OF AMERICAN SAMBO” HONOREES:

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2007 STEPHEN KOEPFER Popularization of Sambo
in the US

Stephen Koepfer is President of the ASA; head coach of New York Combat Sambo; and teaches Combat Sambo for MMA at Miletich New York. He has coached his team to wins in national and international Sport, Freestyle and Combat Sambo, Grappling, and Mixed Martial Arts. Additionally, Stephen is a regular contributor to Ultimate Grappling Magazine, Inside Martial Arts, Fight Fix, and has written for Bodyguard Magazine. In 2003, during a time of major decline and political infighting for Sambo in the US, Alexander Barakov and Stephen Koepfer created the American Sambo Association, which Stephen has presided over since that time. The goal of the ASA was to serve as a political-free guild for Sambo enthusiasts while hoping to mend fissures in the existing Sambo community and promote Sambo to new audiences. In a short number of years the ASA has grown greatly under Stephen’s direction and has experienced the following successes:

• Built working relationships with the USSA, AASF, FIAS, Canadian Combat Sambo Federation


• Built working relationships with non-sambo organizations including the Garden State Games, USKBA, Dixie Showdown, Combat in the Cage Series, Battle at the Boardwalk, Mas Oyama Karate, and Black Mark


• Presented Sambo seminars and training camps in New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Montreal (Canada), Belgrade (Serbia)


• In 2007, assisted in the development of a Combat Sambo training group at Ali Air Force base in Iraq


• Established in tandem with the Canadian Combat Sambo Federation the first North American Combat Sambo Tournament series


• Created a national monthly newsletter with over 800 subscribers


• Began Kurkta and DVD production and sales in 2004


• Regular tournament and fightcard promotion including the North American Freestyle Sambo Championships, the first joint ASA/USSA Unity Classic Tournament (2005), the Battle of Brooklyn, and the ASA Freestyle Sambo league


• In 2006, established the Pioneers of American Sambo Award


• ASA memberships in 12 states and 4 countries outside the US


• Maintains an active and regularly updated website – including free instructional videos, photo galleries, member databases, extensive resource pages, press pages, an on-line forum, updated news, North American rankings, and ASA/non-ASA event listings


• Launched SamboCast radio podcast show (2006)


• Established presence on all the major internet martial arts forums and databases


• Built established relationships with martial art media and organizations outside the scope of the Sambo community including the History Channel, Sherdog, Inside Martial Arts, MMA Today, and Expert Village


• Supervised the creation a new unique Sambo rule set called “Freestyle Sambo” intended to encourage increased tournament participation by non-sambo practitioners


• Made annual charitable donations to several worthy non-profit charities including PBS, International Brain Research Foundation, Kids Kicking Cancer, International Committee for the Children of Chechnya, and Doctors Without Borders

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2006 SANDY NORTH
Competition History

This is a name that few people outside the Judo and Sambo circles know. But to those who know him, he is legendary in his athletic achievements. We should all know who this man is! This is man for whom the competition never stops! His resume is VERY long and distinguished. Some of his more recent accomplishments include a Gold medal at the 2006 USA Judo International Masters Championships; a Gold medal at the 2006 World Masters held in Japan; and a Bronze Medal at the 2003 FIAS World Sambo Masters in France.

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2005 KHASSAN BAIEV, MD Charachter Attributes Best Representing Sambo

Khassan is one of the few Sambo players in the US who knows how to put politics aside. Khassan is the Athlete’s Representative for the USSA and has also been an AASF board member as well.  Like few others, Khassan will compete in any Sambo event no matter who hosts it.

Most notable is Khassan’s humanitarian work through the international Committee for the Children of Chechnya, which he founded. After growing up in Chechnya, attending medical school in Russia, training and competing in Sambo since the age of 13, and surviving both Russo-Chechen wars as a trauma physician and surgeon, Khassan came to the US in 2000. The ICCC has done incredible apolitical humanitarian work with Khassan at he helm.

Khassan’s biography, The Oath: Surgeon Under Fire, promotes Sambo like no other text.  His tale of survival is knuckle biting and his constant mention of how Sambo training gave him the strength to face inhuman circumstance is incredible. Khassan lectures around the US and world on book tours and everywhere he goes, Sambo is discussed and promoted.

In October 2006, Khassan was only the second person in 30 years to receive the prestigious Physicians for Human Rights award.  Dr. Baiev is also a past recipient of the Human Rights Watch Award.

Vladislav Koulikov received his Pioneer of American Sambo Award Nomination Certificate along side Award Winner Khassan Baiev. Visit our Photo Gallery (Groups & Personalities, photo 48)

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2004 OLEG TAKTAROV Popularization of Sambo in the US

This award is self-explanatory. Were it not for Oleg Taktarov, the general American public outside the relatively small Sambo community would not know what Sambo is. Since his UFC victory, Oleg Taktarov has continued to support Sambo in many ways nationally through seminars, instructionals, and many other endeavors.  Any popularity of Sambo we enjoy today in the mainstream martial art community has followed the road paved by Oleg Taktarov.

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We are now accepting nominations for the 2008 American Sambo Association Pioneers of American Sambo Award.

The award process takes place as follows:

The ASA will receive nominations through July 2008. Once nominations are received, the ASA Board will review/compile submitted nominations and create a ballot to be overseen by the ASA Election Chair, Aaron Fields. The ballot will be distributed to all current ASA members in August, 2008 for voting. While anyone may submit a nomination, only current ASA members will be eligible to vote in the Award election.

Nominations MUST INCLUDE the following information
to be accepted for review:

1) Name of nominee

2) Address, phone, and e-mail of nominee. If the nomination is posthumous, contact information for the person who may accept the award on the recipient's behalf must be provided.

3) A clearly written document outlining the nominee's history in Sambo and their contributions to the sport's growth in the United States.

4) Name, address, phone, and e-mail of the person submitting the nomination.
The 2008 winner will be presented his/her award at the 2008 North American Freestyle Sambo Championships in October and will be honored on the awards page of our website.

Please submit nominations by mail or to the e-mail address below.

Nominations may also be sent via e-mail.

American Sambo Association
PO Box 5773
Long Island City, New York 11105
Attn: Election Chair