Mixed martial arts (MMA), as it is known today, has different variants and origins. Maybe that’s him pancratius from Ancient Greece the farthest antecedent of a controlled competition that combined different fighting disciplines. The obvious thing is it’s always fascinating to see two warriors face to face, an instinct of “spectator” that is still maintained although to many it seems like a violent or extremely rough sport.
It also happens that this young sport (or old, as it is said) has spawned other viral disciplines. In Russia, for several years there has been “modern fight club which includes improvised rings and an idea guide, which can fit a famous phrase from the animated film Ratatouille: “anyone can resist“.
We are talking about Strelka, outdoor street fighting (originally on sand, but spread on snow, grass, etc.), where anyone who dares can sign up for combat. Money only sees the winner.
Various Russian portals and media, such as RussianLover or Russia Beyond, provide the name and surname of the brand creator: Greg Appinyan. They said this character worked with the legend of Russian sambo and MMA, Fedor Emelianenko.
He then opened a sportswear store and had an idea: promote clothing in a battle. There he set up an improvised ring and the unexpected success forced him to rethink the business, local media explained.
The man now runs an event company in nearly 50 cities in Russia, registered the brand “Strelka” and is associated with various companies, including, TronMMA (USA.). On the latter’s website, he confirmed that “STRELKA street fights are battles under the naked sky that take place all over the world”.
“Our project was founded in 2011 in St. Petersburg. Strelka is the largest fight club in the world, with more than 10,000 participants across Russia. We are second on YouTube after the UFC in terms of visits, “he said. The most -watched video of that social network page has over 47 million clicks.
Ad for Strelka in Italy. Photo on Instagram.
At the end of April, a “new‘ Kimbo Fights’-style combat format was announced on Tron’s Instagram in Italy (with a photo of the Roman Colosseum and everything), ”this last detail mentions Kimbo Slice, who was a pioneer of street. fought in Miami, died in 2016, and sponsored Jorge Masvidal on the streets, now a UFC star. This is the sign that everyone can piece together in the world of hand-to-hand combat.
“The funny thing about Strelka is the titles. They introduced them to fighters like ‘the baker against the super-ninja ‘, etc. Actually, you realize when you see a fight that they are all kids doing something (contact sports). Even their clothes: MMA shirt, sambo pants … It’s not that anything improvised is going, “he clarified in Jorge “RusticMaidana MurArgentine fighter sambo -the national sport of Russia-.
“Rústico”, as a colleague called him because it was difficult for him to hook the remarkable combinations he taught him, studied with Juan Pablo Melo, instructor and president of the Argentine Sambo Federation in the country . He has represented the country in three Pan American and four World Cup disciplines, and the last competition was in 2019.
Jorge “Rústico” Maidana Mur (center) and Juan Pablo Melo (d), the president of the Argentine Sambo Federation.
He traveled to Russia in one of those championships, and made sure there were some competitions like Strelka, but this one stood out more than the others. “There are some of these expressions in the world. If one starts to dive into video platforms, in Poland, for example, someone was fighting on the lawnin Lithuania another and another, ”he explained.
According to her, these competitions have been seen since the late 90’s, but a few years ago it became more popular. “The same networks fired for that and he became famous later. In addition, there are cool knockouts and they throw ‘magic'”, he explained about the blows or unorthodox techniques. “There are in professional battles, see if there are no attractive knockouts at that level,” he said.
Regarding the number of Russian fighters he identified, he considered that it was due to a “Soviet conception” that still existed. “They are good at what they do because whatever they do, they do it wholeheartedly. The Soviet school had a lot of physical education, gymnastics and derivatives, and combat sports. But the base of gymnastics was from elementary school. Any republic of Soviet or Eastern Europe has a good physical base, “said the expert.
Strelka, the Russian “fight club”. Video photography.
The crack of the Argentine sambo
Although she retired from competitions, Maidana Mur continues to train at the Sambo Federation (the new headquarters are in Kame House Training & Fighting Center, and Avenida Juan de Garay 3,046). According to him, he started making sambo at the age of 28, and exploded in competition between 33 and 37: “I started late“, be honest.
In addition, he explained that the trips of the Argentine delegation are usually directly funded by Russia. “Being affiliated with the Sambo Federation there, he sent you tickets. It depends a lot on how it went in the Pan American. If you get a champion, they might send more. They’re forcing you to have travel insurance, “He assured about the experience.
Rústico Maiana (d) when he became champion of the Combat Sambo team in the Pan American.
“In all the world championships of sambo, the Russian team is crowded, everywhere. Now I don’t know what it will look like after the war, but a strong team is from Ukraine. Poland has no sambo, for example. The visceral hostility of the Russians is that they did not send representatives, ”he explained.
In the midst of this context it is impossible not to ask him about his colleagues, who are Russians and Ukrainians, who live in the country.
“Now there is a crack there. They got along pretty normally, they weren’t close friends nor did they hate each other, and now there was a crack in the relationship, “he said.” They come to train for a logical thing that they remember their land, they get together and talking about their stuff. When we travel, relatives send things … They know us. There is tension now because they are very nationalistic“, he continued.
Finally, the Rustic he said he had some sambo training group and that “we are not talking about war“.” It’s complicated. These are things we cannot understand, because they are historical, even ethnic. And here, luckily, we don’t have the old problems. We’re trying to avoid the subject. “
Source: Clarin
