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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
*Winners need not be members of the American Sambo Association. “PIONEERS OF AMERICAN SAMBO” HONOREES: 2010 RON TRIPP Notable Achievements in US Sambo Ron Tripp (born April 1953) Battle Creek, Michigan, is a World Sambo and Judo champion and the current general secretary of USA Judo. He is also a member of the board of directors of the United States Olympic Committee. His name is well-known in the MMA world, especially among jujutsu and submission grappling enthusiasts, as he is the only person to hold an official victory in competition over veteran Brazilian fighter Rickson Gracie. Tripp was awarded Distinguished Master of Sport (Sambo) in 1996. He was promoted to 6th dan by USA Judo in November 2006. A native of Lake Orion, Michigan, and graduate of Hillsdale College and Palmer College of Chiropractic, the 6 foot, 205 pound Tripp excelled in both the sports of Judo and Sambo. Trained by Pat Burris, 2 time Judo Olympian and Olympic Judo Coach, Tripp's fight career in judo lasted from 1982 to 1995. He is also a Doctor of Chiropractic. Tripp trained in Japan for six years, and during that time trained under Sensei Takagi at NichiDai University, home of MMA star Makoto Takimoto and 2 Time All Japan Judo Champion Jun Konno. In 2006 he founded C3Fights, a professional MMA company, and still personally trains C3Fighters at the USA Stars Training Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as well as Joe "Daddy" Stevenson and Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard of the UFC. Some Career Highlights:
Awards and titles include:
2009 James "Chico" Hernandez Notable Achievements in US Sambo Born April 14, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, James "Chico" Hernandez has been competing in wrestling, sambo, and grappling since 1968. Chico was the first (and only) sambist ever to be featured on the box of Wheaties. Being selected to be on the Wheaties box as an "Everyday Champion" is considered by many to be akin to "America's Hall of Fame". Over 15 Million boxes with Chico's image were sold. James "Chico" Hernandez was the second and last sambist to appear in Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd" in October 1997 (the first was Greg Gibson in 1981). At the time, Sport Illustrated readership numbered near 23 million per week, not including web viewers. However, at the time of Chico's listing, Sports Illustrated had teamed up with CNN, making Chico the first known Sambist covered on CNN. Hernandez was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame and is the oldest known active competitive sambist in the USA today. He has been named to five different halls of fame and has been featured in numerous magazines including Ultimate Grappling Magazine, Black Belt Magazine, Inside Ku-Fu, Army Reserves Magazine, Combat Warrior Magazine, WIN Magazine, Amateur Wrestling News, Wrestling USA "National Honor Roll of Champions" and Discover Maine Magazine. Hernandez was recently honored with the "The Civic Hospitality Achievement Award" during the 2010 FIAS Scottish Sambo Championships by the Dumfries and Galloway Council. He was also honored by the Scottish Sombo Federation with the Scottish Sambo Federation Appreciation Award for "Fighting Spirit" and his Contributions to Scottish Sambo. During Hernandez' long competative career he has stepped on the sambo, wrestling, judo and grappling mat many times. His resume is far too extensive to list in its entirety. However, here are some of his sambo accomplishments:
Between 1987 and 2003, Chico has achieved AAU All American status as a wrestler 31 times. He has won Gold at the NAGA Nationals 4 times. To this day, at the age of 56, Chico still steps on the sambo, judo, and grappling mat regularly. 2008 DAYN DeROSE Notable Achievements in US Sambo Dayn was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1955. He began martial arts training in Judo, at the age of 10, under Sensei Mamoru Shimamoto. He began Karate training in 1973 under Teruhiku Uto, and Jujitsu under Alexander Vongries, in 1978. In 1984, he began to compete in Russian Sambo tournaments, at the national and Pan - American level, where he eventually earned an Honorable Master of Sport. His Sambo mentor was Alexander Kheyfets, a former Russian Champion. Dayn was a founding member of both the American Amateur Sambo Federation and the American Sambo Academy in the early 1990’s. In addition, Dayn is an active member of the American Sambo Association. He has been a fixture in the US Sambo scene for over 20 years participating in nearly all events, regardless of political affiliation. He has trained many Sambo and Combat Sambo notables. In addition to his club in New Jersey, Dayn teaches a course in Sambo at Drew University. There are few more passionate about Sambo than Dayn as he has published, taught, organized, and actively promoted Sambo since starting in the sport over 20 years ago. Dayn began fencing in High school, by training informally with the Newark Academy fencing team. He later received personal training from Dr. John Tobey, a former University of Pennsylvania Saber Team captain, while fencing for the Columbia High School fencing program, headed by Lawrence Lubkin. Dayn continued fencing at Clark University, coached by former Olympic Bronze medalist Henrietta Bayer, and her assistant Francois, a native born and trained Hungarian saber fencer. Dayn became coach for the Millburn High school boy's and girl's fencing teams, while in Graduate school, in 1984. Eventually, Dayn was responsible for coaching freshman, junior varsity, and varsity boy's and girl's teams (at the cost of all days off and much of his sleep). Millburn captured its first state Epee championship in 1989 and produced a number of national level fencers in the under 20 age division, notably 1996 Olympian and Pan - Am champion Tamir Bloom. In 1995 Dayn became Head Fencing Coach at Drew University, and a member of the U.S. Fencing Coach's Association. He taught Judo and Karate for Sensei Mamoru Shimamoto, at his school in South Orange, New Jersey, for almost 20 years. He is now Chief instructor at South Mountain Martial Arts, in Madison New Jersey, which holds classes in Judo, Karate, Sambo and Jujitsu. He is ranked to teaching levels of Black Belt in Judo, Jujitsu, Karate, and the equivalent in 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:
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.  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.  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. We are now accepting nominations for the 2009 American Sambo Association Pioneers of American Sambo Award. The award process takes place as follows: The ASA will receive nominations through July 2009. 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, 2009 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
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 2009 winner will be presented his/her award at the 2009 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 |
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