Vasily Oschepkov: biography, photos and interesting facts

On January 6, 1892, in the family of convicts, illegitimate son Oschepkov Vasily Sergeevich - future great athlete and founder of national judo was born in Southern Sakhalin. The boy was an outcast, and given that at the age of 11 he became an orphan, one can only guess what fate awaited the child in hard labor.

Life in hard labor and parents

The convicts had very different destinies, among them there were not only criminals, but also "political" figures. Could also refer to ordinary people who received such punishment for a minor crime.

But everything was not so harsh and monotonous in the intellectual and educational atmosphere at that time on Sakhalin, as it may seem. At the time of Nicholas II there was an opportunity to get a good education, it was on that hard labor that prominent figures and scientists grew up:

• Researcher of Antarctica Dmitry Girev;
• Narodovolets and explorer Ainu Bronislaw Pilsudski;
• "Hard labor" was given to Daniil Kharms.

Therefore, not everyone born in hard labor is doomed to a sad fate. In Japan, Vasily Oschepkin gets to the age of 13 at Archbishop Nikolai of Japan, here he is fully educated and begins to study judo.

Mother - Maria Semenovna - was born in 1851, she died in 1904. When my son was 8 years old, Maria was transferred to exile, she survived 18 years of hard labor and 60 lashes for escape from forced labor. Father - Sergei Zaharovich Plisak - carpenter, died in 1902. Parents Oschepkin lived in a civil marriage.

On New Year's Eve Vasily Oschepkov, a genius of sambo in the future, was baptized by the priest Alexander Uninsky. The godfather was the senior clerk of the Administrative Forces on Sakhalin Georgy Pavlov-Smirnov. The godmother is Pelageya Yakovlevna Ivanovna.

Biography briefly

Oschepkov Vasily Sergeevich - the most famous industrious graduate of the Tokyo Gymnasium. He came to Japan in August 1907. Then:

• He graduated from the Kodokan School successfully;
• Became the first Russian and fourth European graduate who managed to comprehend the secrets of Japanese hand-to-hand combat;
• In the USSR he founded a school of judo and promoted this sport;
• In 1917 the first judo competitions were held;
• In 1932, this sport was included in the TRP program;
• In 1937 Vasily Sergeevich was arrested and killed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the defensive doctrine of Russia needed skilled, trained employees. Emperor Nicholas II signed a decree in 1903 on the creation of a special contested service. For such purposes, Japanese specialists or graduates of judo schools in the country of the Rising Sun were brought to Europe. For Russia, such luxury was unacceptable only because Japan preferred to work with Western states.

Institutions for self-defense classes were created secretly so as not to attract attention. Lessons were held under the roofs of various institutions, one of which was a theological seminary, where the Russian boy Vasily Oschepkov got. The cadets could be teenagers whose parents died in the Russo-Japanese War.

Study and achievements

In 1911, on October 29, young Oschepkov entered the Kodokan school. He always had a craving for knowledge, he was hardworking and talented. The main requirement for the students was the memorization of every word spoken by the mentor Jigaro Kano. If someone was distracted and did not look at the doctor, he was not taken.

Each applicant was under the strict supervision of the teacher. It was very difficult for a boy from Russia to learn how to sit in Japanese. Vasya's legs were numb, but he did not get up, thereby showing respect to his mentor.

A year after the beginning of the training, Oschepkov received the first dan in judo and a little later - the second. He thoroughly studied the discipline, honed all the technique of owning it and got the right to tie up with a black belt. Vasily Oschepkov became the first Russian in history who received the qualification of a master. This was a moment of glory, he was respected, loved to be admired, called a Russian bear, who achieved his goal.

In addition to judo, in the gymnasium where the young athlete studied, classes were conducted on:

• History of Japan and the Far East;
• Literature;
• Grammar;
• Reading letters;
• Translation of newspaper articles;
• Memorizing theological disciplines;
• Russian language.

Vasily successfully completed his studies in 1913. His certificate was filled with grades and a few "good" grades.

Creation of the first school of judo in Russia

In Russia, Vasily Oschepkov returned in 1914 after graduation. He was identified in the Zamursky Military District in Harbin as an interpreter in counterintelligence. Further, he is assigned to the intelligence department of the Amur district. At the same time, he created the first judo school in Russia.

This moment is a landmark in the history of Russian sport: the summer of 1914 is the date of birth of the national judo. Then the Japanese struggle was a real exotic, even for strong European sports powers. And in Russia in a small town there was a judo section, where Vasily Oschepkov, sambo and judo, could train anyone.

Young people could come to the section and deal with a professional coach, there were more than 50 people. Training took place in the task of the urban society "Sport" in Vladivostok, the construction has survived to this day and now here is the gym of the Pacific Fleet. Since 2012, the children's and youth school in the city of Alexandrovsk is named after the famous master. In the hall of the building there are photos of Vasily Oschepkov.

On the basis of the school there is a section of judo, with a strength of fifty people. In memory of the master, two regional Sambo tournaments were held here in 2014 and 2015.

In Moscow, Vasily Oschepkov judo trained Chekists, policemen and Red Army soldiers in martial arts.

During his professional career Vasily Sergeevich studied printed publications and monitored the trends in the development of single combat, he collected by 1937 a large library on various techniques of self-defense, martial arts and judo.

According to information from the World Encyclopedia, created in England, the first judo competition outside Japan was held in 1919. But in the domestic newspaper archives it is said about the Russian judo, competitions on which were held at least two years before the European debut.

In search of work, Vasily goes to Alexandrovsk, to Sakhalin where he was born and earns a living by demonstrating films. In September 1923, Vasily Sergeyevich began fruitful cooperation with the government in the ranks of the Soviet army - in intelligence. Oschepkov worked under the pseudonym "DD". In his films, he shared valuable intelligence, then he goes back to Japan.

Postwar years

Oschepkov Vasily Sergeevich Sambo trains instructors of physical culture of the USSR. Teaching geography of Basil expanded and since 1925, he worked in Novosibirsk in a police school. At the front, he received the profession of military interpreter, so he could afford frequent trips abroad. Oschepkov constantly improved in his hobby, studied and mastered new techniques, developed his technique of their execution. So gradually there was another discipline - sambo.

In the rules of the fight, a division into weight categories was made, the form of the participants changed:

• Instead of tatami was wrestling carpet;
• Japanese kimonos were replaced by narrow jackets;
• Sports shorts were used instead of judo trousers;
• The wrestlers went out in special shoes, not barefoot.

Significant changes suffered not only the rules of the struggle itself, but also its organizational moments, strict control was carried out over the health of participants. A handshake was an indispensable element of every competition. Opponents shook hands with each other before and after the bout.

Development of the system of single combat and pupils Oshchepkova

Oschepkovsky system developed and improved without the influence of foreign, including Japanese, schools of judo. Vasily Sergeevich had no higher sports education, but his desire and approach to his work became truly scientific. The master constantly developed his skills and made judo a unique sport, but he did not confine himself exclusively to this occupation.

Over time, the Japanese themselves appreciated the technique of single combative sambo, saying that it is more perfect than judo. The style of Oshchepkov's fight is taken into service in higher educational institutions and military units. The master takes an active part in the development of the complex "Ready for Labor and the Defense of the USSR". Among the pupils of Vasilii Sergeevich there were such masters as:

• V.G. Kuzovlev;
• V.V. Sidorov;
• N.M. Galkovsky;
• I.V. Vasiliev;
• R.A. Schoolchildren;
• A.A. Kharlampiev and many other masters.

In the 1930s, Oschepkov was summoned to Moscow, where he was able to teach Soviet soldiers a hand-to-hand combat based on judo.

Arrest and death

The end of the 1930s became a dark period for judo - this sport was banned as "an occupation foreign to the Soviet people". In the summer of 1937 Vasily Sergeevich opened a specialization in judo at the Higher School of Trainers.

The creator of combat sambo Vasily Oschepkov will be repressed for espionage in September 1937 and a month later he will die in prison. He became the founder of judo, but in favor of Sambo he refused it, was devoted to the interests of the Soviet secret services, but according to one version he was shot right after arrest, on the other - he died of a heart attack.

In 1937, judo was expelled from the curriculum of higher educational institutions of physical education. In September of the same year, a decree was issued to bring citizen Oshepkov to criminal liability for espionage in favor of Japan. At that time, nightly arrests were common throughout the country. Suspicion fell primarily to those who were abroad. Oschepkov, unfortunately, belonged to this category of people.

Such a tragic to overtake many authoritative and ingenious people of that time. After 20 years the case of the arrest will be reviewed and it is clarified that Vasily Oschepkov was taken into custody and charged on illegal grounds. He understood that judo in this form, as it is, does not solve all questions of self-defense.

Over time, a strict, mature style of struggle acquired the features of "free combat", where all the techniques were perfected and taken from other international schools. So a new sport was born - sambo. And Vasily Oschepkov began to teach combat sambo.

Personal life

The founder of sambo Vasily Oschepkov was married three times. After the divorce with his first wife, Ekaterina Zhuravleva, the heart of our hero was struck by a 17-year-old girl from Harbin. Masha finished then the last grade of the gymnasium. It was mutual love at first sight, but Maria died of tuberculosis. His third wife - Anna Ivanovna Kazembek, Vasily found in Moscow.

Despite the fact that Oshchepkov's life was closely connected with sports, he did not differ in health. He never even took shirts and T-shirts in training, the students said that he was overcome by a skin disease. Even as a teenager he had problems with his hair, he shaved, because he was bald.

Revival of Judo

In the Soviet Union, the revival of judo occurred in the sixties, at the same time, discipline was included in the Olympic Games. Restored the fight on the basis of single combat Sambo.

In the biography of Oschepkov and the history of the development of sambo there is one interesting point. In most of the domestic sources, it is called the founder of this discipline. Certainly, to realize that one of the creators of such a popular sport is our compatriot, it is very pleasant. However, for the sake of justice, it must be said that there are opponents of this statement.

In this dispute, another person appears and quite thoroughly - Spiridonov Victor Afanasievich, who is also considered a sambo-pioneer. By the way, he used the term "Sambo" first. There were still some people who claimed to be a pioneer in judo and sambo. Oschepkov also earned such a title by recycling unique martial arts, creating his own style.

The judo development system is based on the Japanese single combat Kodokan judo. This art was technically reworked and enriched with new techniques taken from many international systems of self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, wrestling, boxing. Over time, this discipline has become an ideal independent system.

The Oshepkov Judo system was fully formed by the beginning of the 30s. To improve it helped the leading experts of the USSR in various martial arts, students and assistants.

Memory of Sambo genius

In memory of the founder of the national judo in the 2000s, sambo tournaments across Russia were organized. In the fall of 2012 a monument to the master-sambo was opened in Vladivostok. "Sports Judo Federation" is engaged in Sakhalin popularizing the heritage of Oschepkov. The regional authorities supported the proposal to name one of the new streets of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on behalf of V.S. Oschepkov.

Oschepkov created a unique, new martial art based on judo. Much attention was paid to shock equipment, and work without clothes, techniques taken from Chinese martial arts.

Summing up

It is hardly possible to overestimate the contribution to the domestic sport of Vasily Sergeevich, a scout of the USSR, who worked for many years in Japan. The history of his life is surrounded by legends today, one can say for sure: a unique personality - Vasily Oschepkov. His biography does not leave indifferent researchers - enthusiasts, who gravely gather information about his life.

The whole life of the master as the execution of an unusual verdict: he was born in a convict family, he survived where everyone dies. Miraculously he was in Japan under the supervision of Nicholas of Japan, studied at the Lyceum and excelled in diligence. He became a disciple of the founder of judo Kano Jigoro.

Civil war, endless riots in Primorye - through all this passed Oschepkov Vasily. He was a scout on Sakhalin, worked in Japan, returned to the Soviet Union, fully surrendered to sports, opened a section of judo and developed this discipline.

He served in the Japanese army, collaborated with the tsarist counterintelligence and lived for a long time in the country of the Rising Sun.

This outstanding sportsman died at the age of 44, at the peak of his creative abilities, he did not realize many of his bold plans.