MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. The International Sambo Federation (FIAS) has offered free training to actors who will star in the next James Bond movie, 25th in the marathon series, its president Vasily Shestakov told TASS on Monday.
Shestakov said the Russian martial arts technique will make 007 combat scenes more realistic, adding that correspondence detailing this proposal had been sent to English actor Daniel Craig who has appeared as the secret agent in the last four films.
Letters had also gone to Sam Mendes, who directed the last two films, Skyfall and Spectre, as well as to Columbia Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer film studios.
"Each Bond movie premiere is a global event. Bond, no matter who plays his role, is viewed as an example of masculinity and a martial arts expert," Shestakov said.
"Sambo will help filmmakers make the saga more impressive and professional, and its combat scenes would become more spectacular. Sambo techniques are so rich that they can satisfy any filmmaker's demands," he added.
The federation, based in Switzerland’s Lausanne and uniting 86 national sambo associations, is ready to provide free training for actors in any part of the world, Shestakov said.
Sambo, which literally translates from Russian as "self-defence without weapons," was officially recognised as a sport in the Soviet Union in 1938. The first European sambo championship took place in 1972 in Riga, Latvia.
The FIAS body, whose honorary president is Vladimir Putin, is seeking to make sambo an Olympic sport.