An exhibition on the history of the development of SAMBO for the Blind and Visually Impaired will be held at the World SAMBO Championships

The exhibition "SAMBO for the Blind and Visually Impaired: from the first training sessions to the World Championship" will be held at the 2024 World Championship arena in Astana. Visitors will be able not only to view the exhibition, but also to receive consultations on the development of this discipline in their clubs and countries.

As the head of the FIAS Commission for Athletes with Disabilities Roman Novikov said, qualified trainers and teachers of the blind will work at the exhibition, who will share all the necessary information with visitors.

"Consultations will also include training in ways of effectively interacting with a blind person, a demonstration of photo, video and information material with commentary," said Roman Novikov.

According to him, the information in the video and on the stands reflects the history and experience of the development of Blind SAMBO, methods of teaching the Blind SAMBO techniques.

"In addition to informing about the new discipline of SAMBO, it is also important to increase the motivation of the blind and visually impaired sambists themselves. So that they want to share their experience with the community, take a more active position in the development of SAMBO, and, if necessary, take on organizational work," Novikov added.

The exhibition will also feature tactile models that will allow the blind and visually impaired to receive information about what is happening on the mat during a SAMBO bout – this is the first experience of making such aids.

The 2024 World SAMBO Championships will be held in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan on November 8-10. The tournament will feature 31 sets of medals in Sport SAMBO among men and women, Combat SAMBO among men and women, and Blind SAMBO among men in the SVI-1 class (totally blind athletes). The disciplines of Combat SAMBO among women and Blind SAMBO were included in the program of the World Sambo Championships for the first time in history.