| Developed in the former Soviet Union and recognized | | | | Judo, allows leg locks but choke holds are forbidden. |
| as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports | | | | Self-defense Sambo is much like jujitsu or Aikido and |
| Committee in 1938, Sambo is a modern martial art. It | | | | works on the basis of defense against attacks |
| is most definitely a combat sport and also a self | | | | armed and unarmed. Boyevoye Sambo or Combat |
| defense system. Sometimes referred to in the USA | | | | Sambo was developed for the military and included |
| as Sombo, Sambo literally means "self-defense | | | | the use of weapons and uses disarming techniques. |
| without a weapon" and has its roots in folk styles of | | | | Competition in these styles is like the older Judo |
| wrestling like Mongolian Khapsagay, Armenian Koch | | | | combined with mixed martial arts with grappling and |
| and Georgian Chidaoba. | | | | striking used extensively. The last style is Special |
| Although there is no real recognized founder of | | | | Sambo, which was developed for the Special Forces |
| Sambo, Anatoly Kharlampiev is often officially stated | | | | of the Army and the Rapid Reaction Police and |
| as being the founder. Vasili Oshchepkov, who was | | | | different branches of the service use different |
| shot during the political purges of 1933, and Viktor | | | | techniques. Those who participate in Sambo |
| Spiridonov, due to a shoulder injury during the | | | | competitions normally wear either a red or blue |
| Russo-Japanese war, used Sambo as a soft, | | | | jacket called a kurtka, a belt and shorts of the same |
| aikido-like system. | | | | color and Sambo shoes called sambovki. |
| Sambo is one of the four styles of amateur wrestling | | | | Russian martial arts differ from those of the east in |
| practiced today, the other three are Greco-Roman | | | | that they are not so much based on techniques but |
| wrestling, Freestyle wrestling and Judo. FILA | | | | are based on training concepts. In Eastern martial |
| accepted Sambo as the 3rd style of international | | | | arts, the instruction is through rehearsing moves and |
| wrestling in 1968. In 1985, the Federation International | | | | techniques where as in Sambo and other Russian |
| Amateur Sambo (FIAS) was formed. Sambo was a | | | | forms, they are taught to use improvisation but |
| demonstration sport at the 1980 Moscow Olympics | | | | within a certain structure. Students of this style are |
| but due to the large number of boycotts that | | | | taught that pain is a penalty for an incorrect move |
| affected the games, numbers were insufficient for | | | | and when you stop getting hurt, you are doing it |
| Sambo to be included in further games. | | | | right. |
| Originally a single system, there are now four | | | | Today there are Sambo schools and teachers |
| recognized styles of Sambo. Borba Sambo or Sport | | | | worldwide and the sports popularity has grown |
| Sambo is very similar to Judo or wrestling, but unlike | | | | immensely in recent years. |