TOKYO, January 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Sambo World Championship and the arrival in Moscow of Budokan Martial Arts athletes will be key events of Year of Russian-Japanese Martial Arts Exchanges, said Grigory Kabelsky, head of the Department for Developing Summer Sports and Coordinating Preparation for the FIFA World Cup of the Ministry of Sport.

“In November, about 200 Budokan athletes will arrive in Russia to show the exhibition performance. About 5,000 Russian people will be able to watch them,” Kabelsky said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass on Monday.

“In general, it is our national sports that we rivet much attention to. We want them to develop round the world and to be included in the Olympic Games,” the Russian official said.

Year of Russian-Japanese Exchanges “will give an impetus to the developing of martial arts in both countries”. “I believe that the Year will give much to Russia and our Japanese colleagues,” he said.

In his view, Japanese martial arts are very popular in Russia because they “have deep philosophy. This is the training of the strength of mind and young people show much interest in them. Thus, there are schools of East Martial Arts practically in all regions of our country”.

Commenting on the opening ceremony of the Year of Russian-Japanese Exchanges, Kabelsky said Russian representatives wore a Japanese suit of armor “to feel themselves a real Samurai. It is very pleasant. This is rather difficult because the suit of armor required good physical training”.