thesubcommitteearchives: Exclusive Interview

Showing posts with label Exclusive Interview. Show all posts

Sunday, November 3, 2013

SOTG Exclusive Interview With Top Sambo Coach: Joe Neely

The third in our series of exclusive interviews with three of Americas top Sambo coaches: Joe Neely. As you'll learn Joe has had an incredible impact on the sport of Sambo here in the US. He was a national team coach and competitor, who now runs a very successful program in the Kentucky and Ohio areas, where he also organizes National level Sambo competitions. In this interview Joe makes some very good points and observations about Sambo, not the least of which is the name itself, the state of its organizing bodies and the resurgence of collaboration of its top coaches.-Greg

Photos top to bottom:1. Joe (back row-second from right) World Team 1987 Milan Italy. 2. Joe (second from right) with Gregg Humphreys at one of his SomboJoe locations. 3.Joe with some of his Sombo Joe Students.

SOTG: Joe can you tell us about your background: when did you start Sambo, what was your first impression of it, when did you know this is what you wanted to do. Any career highlights you’d like to share?

Joe: I started dabbling with Sombo while wrestling with the 1978 All Marine Wrestling Team (Greco-Roman). I was a young wrestler that thought Greco-Roman Wrestling was the toughest style of combative sport out there. After a long nine hour day workout, I would drag myself up into the bleachers and watch some of my team members (Wilfredo Levi, Jimmy Howard, Jack Beard, Greg Gibson, etc…) put on those funny looking jackets and go for another couple of hours of Sombo only practice. I heckled them quite a bit. One day Levi (105.5lbs) challenged me to come down on the mat (I was 180.5) so he could show me what it was all about. After they put a jacket on me, he proceeded to throw; arm lock, leg lock, and calf crush me to the point of embarrassment! I said that no one that small should be able to do that to me, so I wanted to learn what it was all about. I would venture to say that it was love at the first lock!

I received an honorable discharged in 1979, and came home to start a local summer wrestling program. Title 9 was in full swing back then, so wrestling programs were leaving colleges at an alarming pace. We practiced all styles of wrestling, including Sombo. I still did all the other styles of wrestling (Folk, Free, Greco), but Sombo had stolen my desire for the other styles. I taught what I knew to local kids, and to adult competitors. Around this time FILA had just given up control of Sombo to a newly formed organization, FIAS. We participated in Sombo through the USSA, under the AAU at that time. I won several National titles, USSA, AAU Grand Nationals, AAU Masters, USSA Masters, etc. In 1987 I was ask to coach the USA National Women’s Team, at the World Championships in PAU France. One of my students took second, and the Team took third. From that point in 1987 thru 1993 I travelled to many National, and International Championships, World Cups, and invitational tournaments. After a brief return from my retirement, I placed 4th in the Pan Am Championships in San Diego, CA. The first three were John Maschido, Greg Dixion, Rigan Machido. I have only coached since then. My competitive days are through. In 1999 I was inducted into the USSA Sombo Hall of Fame.

SOTG: Wow, that is an amazing resume and impressive accomplishments…but you've also grown a very successful program in a grassroots way: do you want to talk about your program a bit?

Joe: In 2006 the path of my Teaching/Coaching took a different turn. The Northern KY Wrestling Club changed to the “SOMBOJOE” Program. There was no longer a need for a summer program for the youth to participate in anymore (most schools had their own now). At this point, we focused primarily on Sombo in our club. The SOMBOEJOE program is set up as a Christian Outreach and we still compete in many different type of grappling/martial arts styles. We do what we need to supplement our need for diversity in styles.

SOTG: From what I've noticed I've seen more collaboration with You and some of the other top Sambo coaches Can you tell us more about your relationship with them ? How have those relationships grown and what’s next for Sambo? Also what in your opinion are the hurdles that Sambo has to overcome to progress here in the USA? Do you believe Sambo has to make any significant changes to be successful here?

Joe: The collaboration between myself and other coaches, and organization is an attempt to bring back some of the swagger that Sombo used to have here in the States. The largest tournament that I can remember, was three hundred plus in Billing, MT. I wish to see us surpass those numbers before I finish with all that I have left to do. I have met some new people during this continuing adventure, and I always stay in contact with my OLD friends. Recently I have seen many people put aside their egos for the good of the sport. What we seem to forget is, when people fight for titles, position, or status, it’s the local athlete that suffers the most. I am happy that for the first time in many years, it looks like people are finally starting to work together again.

One thing that I catch a lot of flak about is the spelling of Sambo with an O (Sombo). I think that our sport has enough to deal with without using a word that brings up racial discussions. I truly believe that if a sport is to make it in the world, it’s has to make it in America also. Television is the market that we need to bring on board. I don’t think that we would ever be accepted with the name using the SAMBO spelling.

SOTG: That is a GREAT point! Joe, considering your contributions, where do you see Sambo, sorry, Sombo, in the next 5 -10 years here in the US, where does it fit into the jiu-jitsu/grappling /mma scene in your opinion

Joe: Not just with my contributions, but with the hard work of everyone working together, Sombo could become the pinnacle of Combat Sports. It has everything you need to be a great fighter. It’s not just good on the ground, not just in the standing, not just with the striking, and not just good with the submissions, IT HAS IT ALL IN ONE PACKAGE! I can see Sombo really taking hold and growing with the people that we have involved now, maybe a new Sombo Fight League!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

SOTG Exclusive Interview: Head of the American Sambo Association: Stephen Koepfer

Like Gregg Humphreys said: "The three people who have done the most for Sambo are Steve, Steve and Steve" a reference to the man they call the Reaper "Sambo" Steve Koepfer. Steve was very open and thorough in his responses, they are detailed and show the depth of knowledge and history that this man has with the sport. A true martial artist, "Sambo" Steve not only talks the talk, he walks the walk, having a rich competition background and having trained many world class athletes across all facets of the Grappling and MMA universe. I hope you find his interview as enlightening as I did. We talk about his his gym and his American Sambo Association, his background, the state of Sambo and Combat sports and the future outlook for Sambo. I will hopfully be spending some time with Steve this weekend at the Reality Fighting show and hope to have a few follow-ups for you guys next week. Enjoy-Greg

SOTG: Steve can you tell us about your background: when did you start Sambo, what was your first impression of it and when did you know this is what you wanted to do?

Sambo Steve: I have studied martial arts most of my life (I am 45 years old); starting at age 7. Prior to Sambo I trained Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Grappling, and San Shou. During that time I competed in many different martial arts such as Grappling, Tae Kwon Do, San Shou and Shooto. In 1997 I was a Bronze medalist at the United World San Shou Championships. In 1998 I competed in what could be first ever international submission grappling tournament; the Gene LeBell World Grappler’s Challenge in Toronto, Canada.

I did not win that tournament but that is where I met UFC champ Oleg Taktarov and first experienced Sambo. That planted a seed in my head. It was quite a historic weekend and really changed the direction of my martial arts life. That event was a first of its kind (Grappler’s Quest founder Brian Cimins was also competing there; this event was actually the inspiration for Grappler’s Quest). Gene LeBell, Carlos Newton, Gokor Chivichyan, Mark Tripp, Rick McCoy, Dave Womack, Gary Goodrich, Lloyd Irvin, Mark Bocek, and Harute Terzyan were all in the house. Many of those guys went on to be noted people in the MMA & grappling community. Serge Gerlach (one of our ASA Vice Presidents) and Chris Herzog (of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu) also got their start at that event. It was a real evolutionary moment in North American martial arts. Looking back, I am so glad I was there.

Photo by Yvette Lincoln
By the following year I had found my Sambo coach, who was living in New York at the time; His name is Alexander Barakov. Alexander now lives and teaches in St. Petersburg, where I have also trained with him. After one training with Alexander I was addicted to Sambo. I fell in love with it. I have not stopped training Sambo since that time. I have also been training bi-annually with Igor Kurinnoy since 2007. I have trained with him and his team at Borec (Russian for “Warrior” –his academy) and the prestigious Sambo 70 in Moscow as well as Spartak Olympic Development Center in Ukraine.

SOTG: You run one of the largest (if not the largest) Sambo schools in the country- and just recently moved, tell me about the new space, what does it mean to your students to have a new space?

Sambo Steve: I don’t think we are the biggest US Sambo club at all. But, we are pretty well known! I started my club in April, 2003 when Alexander Barakov left New York and moved home to St. Petersburg. For the first five years I rented from other gyms until we had enough students to get our own space. The last five years I've had my own gym. This month, we actually moved into a larger space which is real exciting for the students and me. It is a new chapter for the club.

During the last 10 years, we have become known for training Sambo, grappling and MMA. We are located in midtown Manhattan, which is a perfect spot for accessibility, but, it is also a very competitive location with many other clubs in the area. So, if you do not offer the solid services, you will not succeed. We have had many amateur and professionals fighters and grapplers during the past 10 years. Our club has become quite popular because of this. We have many people who come to train with us from across the United States as well as internationally. Students have visited from Japan, Russia, Sweden, France, Germany, Canada and Brazil (as well as a few others). The past 10 years have been a blessing to me - a dream come true. I love my club and my students. Not too many people can say they earn a living doing what they love every day. I feel very fortunate.

In the end, our club would not be what it is without the team of coaches behind it. Currently, our coaching staff includes Tyga Maclin, Alexius Phoenix, Anthony Pipola and Bradley Desir. Until he moved to Louisiana, Reilly Bodycomb also was a resident coach. Their cumulative experience is literally world class. I am proud to have all these guys as friends, students, and now coaches at my club.

SOTG: Steve you also run the American Sambo Association: can you talk to us about your associations goals and growth?

Sambo Steve: The American Sambo Association was founded in 2003 by me and Alexander Barakov. Since that time the Association has been committed to becoming the premier association dedicated to the advancement of Sambo in the United States. Through tournaments, training camps, seminars, demonstrations, coach and team development, marketing, and cross-discipline affiliations, the American Sambo Association strives to introduce and educate the American public to the benefits of Sambo. Through memberships for schools and individuals, the American Sambo Association strives to monitor and make available Sambo training of the highest quality. The American Sambo Association supports and promotes bridge-building across martial art disciplines. The American Sambo Association does not promote any particular ranking system. Recognizing the moral responsibilities of all martial arts, the American Sambo Association also offer its services to local and global community building and human service efforts. Most importantly, like Sambo itself, the American Sambo Association promises to grow and evolve with the needs of its members and students.

Since our founding we have grown to have an incredible Executive Board including many noted international members of the martial arts and Sambo community. We now have clubs in 27 states as well as many other individual members. We are the largest US Sambo organization as well as the oldest organization currently in operation.

SOTG: That is very impressive! You were also recently featured on the Budovideos.com produced show “Rolled Up”. Can you discuss that experience and its impact on Sambo here in the US? (For those that don’t know “Rolled Up” is an extremely popular and well respected show dedicated mainly to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) Sambo

Steve: I had a blast with Budo Jake on Rolled up! He has been extremely supportive of the ASA and Sambo in general over the years. He offers a tremendous service to our grappling community. I don’t think his contributions can be overstated. We all owe him. He has certainly helped me, as well as Sambo in general, get on the radar of the non-Sambo grappling community in ways we could not have done on our own. He opened doors for us.

SOTG: Steve, last one so we’ll make it count: considering your contributions, where do you see Sambo in the next 5 to 10 years here in the US, where does it fit into the Jiu-Jitsu/grappling /MMA scene in your opinion and do you have any current in the works we might not know about?

Sambo Steve: The United States has seen a great growth of interest in Sambo in the past few years. 2014 will be an exciting year as some of the sports unfortunate political divisions have been put to rest and many Sambo oriented fighters are competing in the UFC and Bellator such as: Adlan Amagov, Khabib Nuragomedov, Rustam Khabilov, Mikhail Zayats, Blagoi Ivanov, Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev and more. These men are following the footsteps of Oleg Taktarov and Fedor Emilianenko. They are making waves and bringing Sambo into the mainstream. But, the United States does have a rich history in Sambo dating back to the first word championships in 1973. Politics really suppressed Sambo in the 1990’s, but we are coming back strong!

Combat Sambo fighters also have an easier transition to MMA because they are used to fighting in all ranges in a match: striking, throwing, wrestling, and grappling. I also believe the training methodology used in Sambo is very beneficial for MMA. I personally prefer it to a more traditional approach like BJJ. (I feel) Sambo training is more scientific, practical and utilitarian. But, in the end, what makes a fighter great is how well he can use what he knows: There are very good BJJ fighters and very good Sambo fighters but the best fighters will train everything they can. Isn’t that how Sambo was created? Take what works from any style and use it. This is the real key to success in MMA. The critical word in MMA is “Mixed.”

The same goes for the grappling scene. Sambo is making itself known there as well and it is great to see. But, it is a two way street; BJJ and other styles like Catch Wrestling are also influencing Sambo. For example: this year Kyrgyzstan sent a team to the NAGA worlds for the first time. They trained at our gym while in the US. Though they were mainly wrestlers and Sambists, it is clear that they have been working their guard game as well as other aspects unique to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu scene. Similarly, Sambo 70, perhaps the best known Russian Sambo training center, now has a fully integrated MMA division. Everyone is evolving; which makes all of us better at what we do. As Reilly Bodycomb recently said “Training BJJ makes my Sambo better. Training Sambo makes my BJJ better.” This is what it is all about.

Regarding current projects, now that the documentary I produced (New York MMA on Hulu) is distributed and settled, I am just in the beginning stages of a new TV project, but I can't say much about it yet. Keep a lookout though, it will be cool!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

SOTG Exclusive Interview with Top Sambo Coach: Gregg Humphreys

Gregg Humphreys is one of the top Judo and Sambo coaches here in the United Sates. Having been an international competitor, coach for Miletich Fighting Systems during its championship days, trip leader to Russia for training camps with his best friend: multi-time world champ Igor Kurinnoy, he has been at the forefront of developing the sport of Sambo here in the US. Gregg was kind enough to grant us this exclusive interview and he didn't hold back. Having been an active user of the Sambo For Professional program since its creation and release, I have had the opportunity to get to know Gregg personally and I consider him a true inspiration and role model. I hope that you all enjoy this interview, gain some insight into the sport of Sambo and, maybe, give it a try!-Happy Rolling, Greg

Gregg coaching at "The Sambo Summit"

Be on the lookout for more exclusive interviews with Stephen Koepfer and Joe Neely in upcoming posts.

SOTG:Gregg, Tell us about your background: when did you start Sambo, what was your first impression of it, when did you know this is what you wanted to do?

GH: "I started Judo in the seventies. I always had a fascination for the Soviet Union. It was those fascinations that lead me to learn about Sambo. I was living in the Chicago area at the time and I found a Sambo coach named Bill Maxey. That's when I began supplementing my Judo training with Sambo. I competed in several National Champions and got to join a group of Judo players and wrestlers that went to the Soviet Union. It was then my enthusiasm for Sambo sky rocketed."

SOTG: You've had an amazing career working with Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) and leading trips to Russia to train with multiple times World Champ Igor kurinnoy: do you want to discuss your career highlights?

GH: "It's been great coaching and training at MFS. Taking teams to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus for training has been the peak of my career. Igor Kurinnoy is one of my best friends and I've never met a better athlete. Other coaches who I've trained with such as Steve Koepfer, Vlad Koulikov, Serge Gerlach and Aaron Fields have influenced me greatly. My son Corey has always been my most honest critic and has been my best training partner. He has been to Russia and Ukraine multiple times. Also Joe Neely was a pioneer in U.S. Sambo and he continues to be a force. He deserves huge thanks."

SOTG: Gregg can you you tell us more about your relationship with Igor and the "Sambo For Professionals" (SFP) program?

GH: "Igor's Sambo for Professionals (SFP) was a ground breaking approach to sambo coaching and training. I'm Igor's North American Representative and editor. Igor has a Doctorate in Physical Conditioning for Grapplers, the guy is a genius."

Gregg Leading a Trip To Russia To Train With Igor Kurinnoy

SOTG: Gregg, what in your opinion are the hurdles that Sambo has to overcome to progress here in the United States?

GH: "One word-- POLITICS. The recent changes in FIAS and in the United States hold promise but only time will tell. Steve Koepfer's efforts in the American Sambo Association have been nothing but amazing. If I had to pick the top three proponents of Sambo in the United States it would be Steve, Steve and Steve. I'm not joking here; he has been unselfish and tenacious in his efforts to put U.S. Sambo on the international map."

SOTG: Gregg, considering your contributions, where do you see Sambo in the next 5 -10 years here in the US, where does it fit into the jiu-jitsu/grappling /mma scene in your opinion?

GH: "If we can get around the political issues and work together, I see a bright future for U.S. Sambo in terms of growth and international success.

Regarding it fitting into the Jiu-Jitsu/Grappling/MMA scene, I think it has already begun and will explode largely to the efforts of the Bellator organization importing former Soviet Bloc athletes into the MMA scene."