A. REQUIRED UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT:

Freestyle Sambo competition uniform must consist of:
- A red or blue Sambo Kurtka (please contact the event coordinator if you can not obtain a kurtka)
- Matching shorts, wrestling singlet, or strapless trunks
- A red AND blue belt
- Wrestling shoes or sambofski
- Groin protector
- Mouth piece
- Knee pads are optional
- No t-shirts are to be worn beneath one’s Kurtka or Gi in men’s division


B. AGE DIVISIONS:

Men’s/Women’s Division: Ages 18 – 35 yrs.
Senior Men’s/Women’s Division: 36+ yrs.


C. OPEN and ELITE DIVISIONS:

Division B rules are used for all open tournaments.

Division A rules are for invitational elite tournaments, super fights, and fight card shows.


D. WEIGHT DIVISIONS:

55kg (121lbs)
60kg (132lbs)
66kg (145.2lbs)
74kg (162.8lbs)
84kg (184.8lbs)
96kg (211.2lbs)
+96kg (+211.2lbs)

Women’s weight divisions will be based on tournament registrations at each event.


E. DURATION OF THE MATCH AND OTHER TIMING GUIDELINES:

B Division: 6 minutes (stop time)
A Division: 10 minutes (stop time)

Competitors will be given 60 seconds on the ground to execute a submission subsequent to any takedown. If no submission is acquired, competitors will be stood up and re-started in the center of the mat. The time clock will be stopped during any repositioning of competitors.

In the event of a tie, a sudden-death overtime will be enacted. The winner will be determined by the first point scored.


F. WINNING THE MATCH:

Freestyle Sambo matches can be won by four possible outcomes:

- Submission – A player must clearly tap multiple times or yell “STOP” in the event of a submission. Single, soft taps will not stop a match.
- Unlike International Sport Sambo or Judo there is NO Total Victory by throw
- Point differential at the end of match time or 15 point differential.
- When the referee stops the match.
- Judges decision in the event of a tie (after one-minute overtime)


G. ILLEGAL HOLD/TECHNIQUES

Illegal in B division:

- Neck cranks (forearm/knee cross face to control a supine opponent on the ground is legal if no direct pressure is on the nose)
- Direct pressure to the nose
- Heel hooks or twisting knee locks (toe holds, straight ankle/knee locks are legal)
- Striking of any kind (Slamming to the back is not considered striking and is legal from the guard only and only from a position below waist height)
- Disengaging after a throw to play points. After a throw or takedown, a player MUST engage grappling.
- Eye gouging/fish-hooking
- Finger or direct pressure to the windpipe
- Pulling or grabbing ears
- Pulling hair
- Finger or small joint manipulation
- Biting
- Scratching
- Pinching
- Use of Vaseline or other similar substances on body
- Throws or spikes onto the head
- Throws against any joint
- Standing submissions – any submission in which one player is standing (submissions may be set up while standing but, must be executed on the mat)
- Gripping inside your opponent’s sleeve (a player may grip inside his/her own sleeve to secure a choke or submission)
- Wrist locks

Illegal in A Division:

- Direct pressure to the nose
- Striking of any kind (Slamming to the back is not considered striking and is legal from the guard and only from a position below waist height)
- Eye gouging/fish-hooking
- Finger or direct pressure to the windpipe
- Disengaging after a throw to play points. After a throw or takedown, a player MUST engage grappling.
- Pulling or grabbing ears
- Pulling hair
- Finger or small joint manipulation
- Biting
- Scratching
- Pinching
- Use of Vaseline or other similar substances on body
- Throws or spikes onto the head
- Throws against any joint
- Standing submissions – any submission in which one player is standing (submissions may be set up while standing but, must be executed on the mat)
- Gripping inside your opponent’s sleeve (a player may grip inside his/her own sleeve to secure a choke or submission)
- Wrist locks


H. LEGAL TECHNIQUES:

- All chokes using or not using the Kurtka/Gi except those mentioned in the Illegal Techniques section
- All throws or takedowns not mentioned in the Illegal Techniques section


I. REFEREE INTERVENTION GUIDELINES:

- The referee IS REQUIRED to stop any match at any time if he/she feels any fighter is in danger of serious injury.
- The referee is at liberty to pause the match at any time and request examination of any competitor by the event EMT or Doctor. If the match is paused for a medical concern about a player, the maximum time allowed will be three minutes for the doctor to examine the player or for the player to recover from an injury. If after three minutes the doctor/EMT is not finished, the injured player can't continue, and the injury did not occur as a result of a flagrant illegal technique; the uninjured player will be declared winner.
- The referee WILL stop the match and reposition the competitors standing in the center of the ring when one or both competitors are considered out-of-bounds – No Exceptions:
> Out-of-bounds for standing competitors is when ANY two feet are outside the identified boundaries.
> Out-of-bounds for grappling competitors is when more than half of their COLLECTIVE BODY is outside the identified boundaries.
- The referee will stop the match and re-position the competitors standing in the event one of the following escapes occur:
> A player stands completely erect and completely lifts his/her opponent of the ground during an armbar or triangle attempt.
> A player stands in an erect, balanced position of control over his/her opponent during an ankle lock attempt.
- If jumping guard, flying arm bar, flying triangle does not result in bringing the defender to his knees, action will be stopped and both players will be repositioned standing.
- The referee is at liberty to eject belligerent coaches or teammates from the mat area or arena.
- The referee is at liberty to stop grappling and reposition the competitors standing in the event of inactivity or stalling.
- The referee is required to enforce all point awards in accordance with the rules.


J. POINT SCORING

In the event a match is not won by submission, the following point system has been designed to award to competitors for standing and ground Dominance.

Dominance is defined as: The ability to use technical skill and movement, standing and on the ground, in order to manipulate and control the opponent’s actions for the goal of acquiring a throw or submission.

The following points will be awarded for throws/takedowns:

- 3 points: Any throws/takedowns in which the attacker remains on both feet during the execution of the throw. An attacker may land on the mat with his opponent. (hip throw, shoulder throw, fireman carry, pick ups, sweeps where attacker remains standing, etc).
- 2 points: Any throw/takedown in which the attacker drops to one or both knees in order to execute the throw (drop shoulder throws, single legs from the knee, kneeling hooks/trips, etc).
- 1 point: Any sacrificial throw/takedown in which the attacker intentionally lands on his back (sacrifice throw, pancakes, trips and sweeps which involve sacrificial falls, etc). No points are awarded for pulling guard.
- 1 point: Awarded to any defender who clearly reverses a throw landing in a sustained top position upon the attacker.

The following points will be awarded for ground performance and can only be scored once per match: Points are not awarded in correlation to any particular ground position or submission attempt – only for maintenance of dominance.

- 3 points: Awarded to any competitor who maintains an active top or side position of dominance for the majority of ground time. Positional changes during a period of dominance are not awarded with additional points however, one can change positions and maintain dominance. The dominant competitor MUST be clearly working toward a submission in order to be awarded points.


K. WARNINGS

- Competitors will only be allowed 2 warnings (not three). After the SECOND warning, 2 points will be deducted.
- Warnings will be issued for any behavior conflicting with the above stated rules.
- Warnings for stalling may include inactivity during grappling (for example - maintaining guard or turtle without attempting to reverse to a position of dominance for 20 seconds or more), intentionally evacuating the mat, or any behavior which the referee determines an intentional delay of action.
- A fighter CAN receive warnings for the belligerent behavior of his or her coach.

View ASA Combat Sambo Rules [PDF]