Sambo and service

The story of sambo in the Philippines is one of serendipity and service. The last 13 years have seen the combat sport springboard from Singapore to Davao to Metro Manila and to the rest of the country. It all began when long-time national judo athlete Paolo Tancontian was hired to teach for a private company in Singapore. He came upon a sambo competition but was wary of entering his 12-year-old daughter, Sydney.

“They did a study, which showed that boys and girls at that age had the same strength,” Paolo recalls. “So I let Sydney compete. Luckily, she was able to beat the Russian boy she was matched with.”

The versatility and flexibility of both combat sambo and sport sambo led Paolo to first organize the sport in his hometown of Davao. With the support of Sen. Bong Go, sambo began to flourish. Eventually, Philippine Sambo was born, which inevitably necessitated the transfer to Manila first of his offspring Sydney and Chino, then later of Paolo himself. Recognition from the international federation followed, and with it, more requests to host world events. 

“They keep asking us to hold events in the Philippines,” Paolo reveals. The Russians really love the beach; so they want to have events here, maybe in Bohol or Palawan, so that we can also showcase our sports tourism aside from hosting international events.”

Beyond his duties for Philippine Sambo, Paolo is also a pillar of the Philippine Olympic Committee under Tagaytay City Mayor Bambol Tolentino. Behind the scenes, he works tirelessly to support our athletes in international competitions from the Olympics down. Paolo makes sure that there are no problems with billeting, food, inland transportation and other concerns. This allows our athletes to focus purely on their events. Paolo does this with no fanfare or any other kind of compensation.

“As long as I can help our athletes, I am ready to do it,” Tancontian said. “Anytime they call, I will be there to help. That’s my way of helping the country through our athletes. Even with our sambo community, any time there’s a problem, we talk it over right away.”

That humility and service redounds to the sport of sambo, as well, which has grown by leaps and bounds in just a little over a decade, just like its founder: quietly, tirelessly, building bridges with constituencies.