Japanese SAMBO Perspectives for the Blind and Visually Impaired

SAMBO for the blind and visually impaired continues its development in the international arena. One of the new countries that in the near future may be actively involved in this process is Japan. Recently, a member of the FIAS Commission on Athletes with Different Abilities Roman Novikov held a series of meetings on this issue.

“In mid-February, I met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Russia Toyohisa Kozuka and spoke about the discipline that is gaining momentum at the international level – SAMBO for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Mr. Ambassador expressed genuine interest in this area of ​​SAMBO development. I expressed hope that Japanese blind and visually impaired athletes will take part in international SAMBO competitions in the future, and that they will compete with participants from other countries,” Roman Novikov said.

A few days later, another important meeting was held with the representative of Japan. Roman Novikom discussed the development of SAMBO for the blind and visually impaired in the Land of the Rising Sun with member of the FIAS Executive Committee, Vice-President of Japan SAMBO Federation Nobuyuki Asai.

“Together, we have outlined the steps that need to be taken in this direction. For his part, Nobuyuki Asai expressed his sincere interest in the fact that Japanese blind and visually impaired athletes actively took part in international SAMBO competitions. As a result, we reached an agreement on joint coordination of the development of SAMBO for the blind and visually impaired in Japan,” Roman Novikov summarized.

It should be noted that in June of this year, the FIAS calendar has scheduled an International SAMBO tournament among the blind and visually impaired, which will be held in Moscow (Russia). Blind and visually impaired athletes from all over the world are invited to participate in these competitions.