Sambo (martial art)

It originated in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union during the 1920s. The word sambo is an acronym of samozashchita bez oruzhiya (Russian: самозащита без оружия), which literally translates to 'self-defence without weapons'.^[6]

SAMBO is a martial art and combat sport developed and used by the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. The sport is somewhat similar in many ways to judo and jiu-jitsu but also incorporates different types of wrestling and various self-defence systems.

Soviet martial arts expert Vasili Oshchepkov is credited as one of the founding fathers. Born into a family of exiles in 1893, Oshchepkov also played a key role in introducing judo into the Soviet Union.

An intelligence officer during both Tsarist and Soviet periods, he was educated in Japan and later returned there to work in the 1920s.

He studied at the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo, founded by Jigoro Kano, and eventually became the first Russian to receive a second dan in the sport.

This led to him developing the SAMBO self-defence techniques which were developed and utilised by the Soviet Red Army and intelligence services.

Oshchepkov, despite his important legacy, ultimately died in prison aged just 45 as a result of the Stalinist political purges of 1937 after accusations of being a Japanese spy. He was posthumously "rehabilitated" and cleared of wrongdoing in 1957.

Viktor Spiridonov and Anatoly Kharlampiev, a student of Oshchepkov, are also considered pioneers of SAMBO.

Spiridonov and Oshchepkov independently developed two different styles, which eventually cross-pollinated and became what is known as SAMBO.

Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Red Army and other forces to improve hand-to-hand combat abilities of their servicemen.^[1] It was intended to merge the most effective techniques of other martial arts.

The pioneers of sambo were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. Oshchepkov spent several years living in Japan and training in Judo under its founder Kano Jigoro.^[7] Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the Great Purge after being accused of being a Japanese spy,^[8] and judo was banned in the USSR for decades until the 1964 Olympics, where Sambists won four bronze medals.^[9]

Spiridonov and Oshchepkov independently developed two different styles, which eventually cross-pollinated and became what is known as sambo. Compared to Oshchepkov's system, called "free wrestling" in Russia, Spiridonov's style was softer and less brutal. It was also less strength-dependent, which in large part was due to injuries Spiridonov sustained during World War I.^[10]

Anatoly Kharlampiev, a student of Vasili Oshchepkov, is also considered a founder of sambo. On 16th of November 1938, it was recognized as an official sport when the USSR All-Union Sports Committee issued resolution no. 633.^[8]

There are multiple competitive sport variations of sambo (though sambo techniques and principles can be applied to many other combat sports). Below are the main formats that are recognized by FIAS.^[11]

Sport sambo or Sambo wrestling (Russian: Борьбa Самбо, romanized: Borba Sambo, lit. 'Sambo Wrestling') is stylistically similar to old-time judo, and in a lot of ways influenced by it, but with some differences in rules, protocol, and uniform. Sambo allows various types of leg locks like old Judo before the ban of the Ashi Garami techniques, while not allowing chokeholds. It also focuses on throwing, groundwork, and submissions, with very few restrictions on gripping and holds.^[12] Sambo is an international style of amateur wrestling recognized by the FILA (now UWW) Congress in 1966.

Combat sambo (Russian: Боевое Самбо, romanized: Boyevoye Sambo). Used and developed for the military, combat sambo resembles modern mixed martial arts, including forms of striking and grappling. Combat sambo allows regular punches, kicks, elbows, and knees, as well as soccer kicks, headbutts and groin strikes, in addition to throws, holds, chokes and locks, except for a standing or flying wristbar.^[13] The chief distinction from Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), apart from striking techniques, is that combat sambo rules and regulations do not permit a one-sided resort to ground fighting without throws or other combative manoeuvres (i.e., by simply sitting down and continuing from the ground without touching his opponent that BJJ allows). In terms of aliveness, combat sambo surpasses ARB by design, though both were designed for combat situations only. Competitors wear jackets as in sport sambo, but also hand protection and sometimes shin protection and headgear. The first FIAS World Combat Sambo Championships were held in 2001. The World Combat Sambo Federation, based in Russia, also sanctions international combat sambo events. Combat sambo is designed to tackle certain tasks. The effectiveness of this martial art determined by its structure, namely by three components: boxing, sambo, and adapters. Adapters of combat sambo were developed by the academician G. S. Popov. The task of adapters is to ensure the safe transition from middle distance to close one, as well as the consistent usage of sambo and boxing techniques. The given configuration provides the fusion of two martial arts into a single system.

Both Sambo wrestling (left) and Combat sambo competitions require Sambovka jacket and shirts as a uniform, and held at a standard wrestling mat. However, Combat sambo competitions also require gloves, headgear, mouthpiece, groin, and shin protection equipment to minimize injuries.

Women participated in Combat Sambo for the first time in an official tournament in the Paris Grand Prix 2015. The first recognized instance of women competing in an international combat Sambo tournament was in the 2022 Asian and Oceania Sambo Championships.^[14][15] In 2022, Australia and New Zealand competed for the first time in the Asian sambo championship.^[16]

This type of Sambo was introduced by the American Sambo Association in 2004. Its purpose was to encourage non-Sambo practitioners such as Judo and Jiu-Jitsu to participate in Sambo. Freestyle Sambo allows the use of chokeholds and other submission techniques that are not used in Sambo wrestling.

This was developed in 2003 as a form of Sambo without competing in the traditional uniform of Kurtka (jacket), shorts and boots. Competitors just wear fight shorts and gloves. One competitor wears blue and the other red, the same as traditional Sambo. Matches are held on a traditional wrestling mat, not in a cage or ring like normal MMA fights. Techniques from all martial arts are used to defeat an opponent by knock out, submission or point victory.

This kind of Sambo is about defending oneself. In it, practitioners are taught to guard against weapons. Most of the moves that are taught include using the attacker's aggression against them, which is similar to what is done in both Jiu-Jitsu and Aikido. Spiridonov's influence is strong in this style of Sambo.

This type of Sambo was made for the Argentinian Army during the military dictatorship. It is similar to special sambo in terms of origin and uses.

This type of Sambo was made for Army Special Forces and other rapid response forces. It is only designed for the particular group that uses it. In that sense, it's similar to sambo combat, which is also designed for a specific purpose.

Sambo beach, as the name suggests, is held on soft beaches or strips of sand.

Systema (or System) is also known as "Combat Sambo Spetsnaz". This Russian martial art is the evolutionary form of Spiridonov's Samoz. Systema falls into the category of military Sambo. The evolution of Spiridonov's Samoz and Ochtchepkov's Sambo was maintained in parallel by the NKVD which itself became the KGB. It is out of the official path of the evolution of Military and Sports Sambo that Systema was created, even if the latter is based on similar bases to Sambo. The Systema design has been designed to be highly adaptable and practical. It uses breathing exercises, "drills" and "sparring" exercises to replace traditional kata. Because it is open and scalable in nature, Systema is very effective in many situations and against many fighting styles. This is also why the special units, the spetsnaz, are trained in Systema. There are two major streams of Systema; one more "flexible", the other more "hard"

Sambo's early development stemmed from the independent efforts of Vasili Oshchepkov and Viktor Spiridonov to integrate the techniques of Catch wrestling, Judo, Jujutsu, and other foreign martial arts into native Turkic wrestling styles, Armenian kokh, Romanian trântă, Mongolian khapsagay and Georgian chidaoba (ru:Чидаоба, ka:ქართული ჭიდაობა). Oschepkov taught judo to elite Red Army forces at the Central Red Army House.

Vasili Oschepkov was one of the first foreigners to learn Judo in Japan and had earned his Nidan (second-degree black belt, out of then five) from judo's founder, Kano Jigoro. Spiridonov's background involved indigenous martial arts from various Soviet regions as well as an interest in Japanese jujutsu (though he never formally trained it). His reliance on movement over strength was in part because during World War I, he received a bayonet wound which would leave his left arm lame. Both Oschepkov and Spiridonov independently hoped that Soviet military hand-to-hand combat techniques could be improved with an infusion of the techniques distilled from other foreign martial arts. Contrary to common lore, Oschepkov and Spiridonov did not cooperate on the development of their hand-to-hand systems.^[17] Rather, their independent notions of hand-to-hand combat merged through cross-training between students and formulating efforts by their students and military staff. While Oschepkov and Spiridonov did have occasion to collaborate, their efforts were not completely united.

Each technique was carefully dissected and considered for its merits, and if found acceptable in unarmed combat, refined to reach sambo's ultimate goal: to stop an armed or unarmed adversary in the least time possible.^[18] Thus, many techniques from jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems joined with the indigenous fighting styles to form the sambo repertoire.^[19] When the techniques were perfected, they were woven into sambo applications for personal self-defence, police, crowd control, border guards, secret police, dignitary protection, psychiatric hospital staff, military, and commandos.^[20]

In 1918, Lenin created Vsevobuch (General Military Training) under the leadership of N. I. Podvoyskiy to train the Red Army. The task of developing and organizing Red Army military hand-to-hand combat training fell to K. Voroshilov, who in turn, created the NKVD physical training centre, Dynamo Sports Society.

Spiridonov was a combat veteran of World War I and one of the first wrestling and self-defence instructors hired for Dynamo. His background included Free wrestling (i.e. Catch wrestling), Graeco-Roman wrestling, many Turkic folk wrestling styles, and Japanese jujutsu. As a combative investigator for Dynamo, he travelled to Mongolia and China to observe their native fighting styles.

In 1923, Oschepkov and Spiridinov collaborated (independently) with a team of other experts on a grant from the Soviet government to improve the Red Army's hand-to-hand combat system. Spiridonov had envisioned integrating the most practical aspects of the world's fighting systems into one comprehensive style that could adapt to any threat. Oschepkov had observed Kano Jigoro's distillation of Tenjin Shinyo Ryu, Kito Ryu and Fusen-ryū jujutsu into judo, and he had developed the insight required to evaluate and integrate combative techniques into a new system. Their developments were supplemented by Anatoly Kharlampiyev and I. V. Vasiliev who also travelled the globe to study the native fighting arts of the world. Ten years in the making, their catalogue of techniques was instrumental in formulating the early framework of the art to be eventually referred to as sambo.

Kharlampiyev is often called the "father of sambo". This may be more legend than fact, since only he had the longevity and political connections to remain with the art while the new system was named "sambo". However, Kharlampiyev's political manoeuvring is single-handedly responsible for the USSR Committee of Sport's accepting sambo as the official combat sport of the Soviet Union in 1938 – decidedly the "birth" of sambo.^[21] So, more accurately, Kharlampiyev could be considered the father of "sport" sambo.

Spiridonov was the first to begin referring to the new system with a name similar to 'sambo'. He eventually developed a softer style called Samoz that could be used by smaller, weaker practitioners or even wounded soldiers and secret agents. Spiridonov's inspiration to develop 'Samoz' stemmed from his World War I bayonet injury, which greatly restricted his left arm and thus his ability to practise wrestling. Refined versions of sambo are still used today or fused with specific sambo applications to meet the needs of Russian commandos.

After being recognized by FILA (known since September 2014 as United World Wrestling) in 1968, by the U.S. National Amateur Athletic Union in 1972, and after being included to the programme of the 1973 World Wrestling Championships along with Graeco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling (which are indeed Olympic sports,) Sambo was rapidly making its way to become an Olympic sport.^[22]

The first World Cup was contested in 1969. Don Curtis, a member of the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Committee, had predicted in 1975, that the Russians would introduce Sambo wrestling in the 1980 Olympics programme in Moscow.^[23] In 1975 the first United States National Sambo Championships were held in Mesa, Arizona, in 1977. It was contested along with G.R. and Freestyle at the first Pan American Wrestling Championships in Mexico City, and included in the schedule of the upcoming 1983 U.S. Olympic Festival^[24][25] and the 1983 Pan American Games (the 1983 Pan American event in Caracas became the first and subsequently the last edition of Sambo at the Pan Am Games.) In 1979 the National AAU Sambo Committee established several annual awards to honour outstanding persons in the sport of Sambo wrestling.^[26] By the 1980s it has been included to Pan American Games, National Sports Festival and AAU Junior Olympics programme.^[27]

But as a result of political complications of the 1980 Olympic boycott which arose after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Sambo was at first reduced to a demonstration sport at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. But later, because of the sport's strong association with the Soviet Union, it was removed from demonstration sport status. It is true that youth sambo was demonstrated in the Games' opening ceremonies; however, sambo was never formally recognized as a demonstration sport. This common error in history books is noted in several sources including From SAMOZ to SAMBO by Anatoly Makovetskii and Lukashev's History of Hand-to-Hand Combat in the First Half of the 20th Century: Founders and Authors.^[28] Furthermore, the official documents of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee do not mention sambo as a participating sport in the Games.^[29] Nevertheless, Jerry Matsumoto, Head of the U.S. Sambo Association, saw in 1990 Sambo becoming an Olympic sport, at least at the demonstration level, within the next eight years.^[30]

In 1968, FILA accepted sambo as the third style of international wrestling. In 1985, the sambo community formed its own organization, Federation International Amateur Sambo (FIAS). In 1993, FIAS split into two organizations, both of which used the same name and logo, and the two groups were often referred to as FIAS "East" (under Russian control) and FIAS "West" (under US and Western European control). This split mirrored the last days of Cold War politics of the time as well as the recent break-up of the Soviet Union. In the U.S., disagreements between the sport's organizers and the rise of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the 1990s slowed down the growth of sambo before the success of several sambo fighters increased its popularity a decade later.^[31] In 2005, FILA reached an agreement with FIAS "West" and re-assumed sanctioning over sport sambo.^[32] However, in 2008, FILA again discontinued sanctioning sambo and sambo is now notably missing from the UWW website.^[33] At present, only FIAS sanctions international competition in sport sambo. In 2014 FIAS and FILA signed a cooperative agreement.^[34] While this does not place sambo back on UWW's recognized list, it does move towards unity and prevents future 'turf wars' regarding the sport's promotion. A similar agreement was signed by FIAS and the International Judo Federation in 2014 as well.^[35] Both FIAS and the World Combat Sambo Federation host international combat sambo competition. The American Sambo Association has continued to host freestyle sambo tournaments in the US and Canada since 2004. These events are unrecognized by UWW. Rumours rising in 2012 stating that sambo will be included as a demonstration sport in the 2016 Olympics are therefore not supported by any facts, and thus sambo is still a very long way from maturing into an Olympic sport, notwithstanding the effort that is being put into the matter. Indeed, given the intention of the Olympic Committee to remove classic wrestling from the Olympic roster, there are rumours that sambo is highly unlikely to ever make it to the Olympics. However, sambo has been included in the 27th Annual Summer Universiade for the first time in history.^[36] FIAS submitted an application to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider sambo for the 2020 Games and has devoted 2010–2013 to creating a sambo commission in the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). As of 30 November 2018, sambo has indeed received temporary recognition by the IOC.^[37] This close relationship is reestablishing the global popularity and media emphasis on sambo.

Similar to wrestling, a sambo practitioner normally wears either a red or a blue competition outfit. The kurtka (Russian: куртка), also called a sambovka (Russian: самбовка), similar to the keikogi in style and function, although it is tighter fitting and has epaulettes and belt loops.^[38] as well as shoulder straps, wrestling-style shorts, and special protective shoes called Bortsovki and match the uniform's colour. The sambo uniform does not reflect rank or competitive rating. Sport rules require an athlete to have both red and blue sets to visually distinguish competitors on the mat.

Also similar to the wrestling ranking system used in Russia, a competitive rating system is used (rather than the belt colour ranking system used in judo and gendai jujutsu). Various sport organizations distribute these ranks for high levels of competition achievement or in some cases coaching merits. People who have earned these ranks are known as 'Masters of Sport.' Institutions that grant a sambo 'Master of Sport' in Russia include FIAS,^[39] FKE,^[40] and the International Combat Sambo Federation. Other nations have governing bodies that award 'Masters of Sport' as well, including the American Sambo Association in the United States. ^[41]

Number	Year	Dates	Host	Champion	Events	Participating countries
1	1973	6–11 September	Tehran, Iran	Soviet Union	10	11
2	1974	26–28 July	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia	Soviet Union	10	5
3	1979	11–14 December	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union	10	11
4	1980	30–31 May	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union	10	11
5	1981	28 February – 1 March	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union	10	12
6	1982	3–4 July	Paris, France	Soviet Union	10	11
7	1983	30 September – 1 October	Kyiv, Soviet Union	Soviet Union	10	8
8	1984	14–15 June	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union	10	10
9	1985	19–21 September	San Sebastián, Spain	Soviet Union	10	11
10	1986	21–24 November	Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France	Soviet Union	10	8
11	1987	November	Milan, Italy	Soviet Union	10	9
12	1988	1–5 December	Montreal, Canada	Soviet Union	10	11
13	1989	8–11 November	West Orange, United States	Soviet Union	10	9
14	1990	7–10 December	Moscow, Soviet Union	Soviet Union	10	18
15	1991	28–29 December	Montreal, Canada	Soviet Union	10	8
16	1992	6–10 November	Herne Bay, England	Russia	10	14
17	1993	9–15 November	Kstovo, Russia	Russia	10	28
18	1994	7–9 October	Novi Sad, Yugoslavia	Russia	10	20
19	1995	1–3 September	Sofia, Bulgaria	Russia	9	23
20	1996	1–3 November	Tokyo, Japan	Russia	18	23
21	1997	10–12 October	Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia	18	20
22	1998	16–18 October	Kaliningrad, Russia	Russia	18	20
23	1999	12–14 November	Gijón, Spain	Russia	18	20
24	2000	25 November	Kyiv, Ukraine	Russia	18	21
25	2001	20–21 October	Krasnoyarsk, Russia	Russia	18	26
26	2002	26–29 November	Panama City, Panama	Russia	18	19
27	2003	18 October 6–10 November	Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Combat Sambo)   St. Petersburg, Russia	Russia	27	32
28	2004	16–21 June 25–26 September	Prague, Czech Republic (Combat Sambo)   Chișinău, Moldova	Russia	27	23
29	2005	21–23 October 11–14 November	Prague, Czech Republic (Combat Sambo)   Astana, Kazakhstan	Russia	27	27
30	2006	30 September – 2 October 3–5 November	Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Combat Sambo)   Sofia, Bulgaria	Russia	27	33
31	2007	7–11 November	Prague, Czech Republic	Russia	27	43
32	2008	13–17 November	St. Petersburg, Russia	Russia	27	48
33	2009	5–9 November	Thessaloniki, Greece	Russia	27	46
34	2010	4–8 November	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Russia	27	26
35	2011	10–14 November	Vilnius, Lithuania	Russia	27	65
36	2012	8–12 November	Minsk, Belarus	Russia	27	64
37	2013	7–11 November	St. Petersburg, Russia	Russia	27	70
38	2014	20–24 November	Narita, Japan	Russia	27	82
39	2015	12–16 November	Casablanca, Morocco	Russia	27	80
40	2016	10–14 November	Sofia, Bulgaria	Russia	27	77
41	2017	9–13 November	Sochi, Russia	Russia	27	90
42	2018	8–12 November	Bucharest, Romania	Russia	27	80
43	2019	7–11 November	Cheongju, South Korea	Russia	27	80
44	2020	4–8 November	Novi Sad, Serbia	Russia	27	30
45	2021	12–14 November	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Russia	27	50

Sambo World Cup and Supercup have been contested since 1969, initially held by FILA, and since 1985 by FIAS.

Sambo World Cup editions

Year	Dates	Location
1969		Riga
1970		Sochi
1975		Moscow
1976		Tokyo
1977	9–12 June	Oviedo[42]
1980		Madrid
1981	18–20 September	Pontevedra
1982	11 June	Bilbao
1983		Lyon
1984	12–14 October	Puerto la Cruz
1985	22 September	San Sebastián
1986		Tokyo
1987	4–5 April	Casablanca
1988	June	Moscow
1990		Caracas
1992		Spain
1993		Nizhny Novgorod
1994	May	Kstovo
1999	28 November	Nice
2000	27–29 November	Nice
2001		Moscow
2006	26 November	Nice
2012		Kazan

United States National Sambo Championships known initially as the National AAU Sambo Wrestling Championships are the annual championships held in the United States. American enthusiasts of martial arts took up Sambo shortly before it was contested at the 1973 World Wrestling Championships and was rapidly making its way to become an Olympic sport in 1980.^[22]

Note: (t) stands for team events.

The national Sambo competition also was held along with Graeco-Roman and Freestyle events at the 1987 and 1988 AAU/USA Grand National Wrestling Championships on July 1, 1987, and July 6, 1988, respectively, both held at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana.^[45] The next year it was contested at the 1989 AAU/Carrier Grand National Wrestling Championships on July 5 at Metra in Billings, Montana.^[46] 1990 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships also hosted a national Sambo competition at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 10.^[47] 1992 AAU Grand National edition hosted a national Sambo competition in July in Amarillo, Texas. 1994 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships also hosted a national Sambo competition at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Michigan, on July 13.^[48] 1995 AAU Grand National edition hosted a national Sambo competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 1999 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships also offered Sambo to competitors on June 30 at Metra in Billings, Montana.^[49] The 2002 AAU Grand National Wrestling Championships saw Sambo competition on June 19 at Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.^[50]

USA Wrestling has added Sambo as a style since the 2007 U.S. National Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[51]

Fedor Emilianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov

Although sambo is a Russian acronym, exponents of the sport in the English-speaking world have faced problems concerning the linguistically unrelated racist term. Sambo representatives have opted to use the alternative spelling Sombo to avoid offence.^[52] FIAS references the sport with its acronym spelling: SAMBO.^[53]

• Judo
• Legends of Sambo, a 2023 biographical film about the creation of Sambo

• FILA Sombo Rules Archived 9 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine – May 2006
• Sombo – A Style of Wrestling
• Creation of Sambo – by Michail Lukashev, first published in Physical Culture and Sport magazine N9-10/91.
• Classical SAMBO – with many examples and pictures.
• About Sombo – sambo overview at AnyMartialArt.org
• CST Magazine Interview with Steve Koepfer from the American Sambo Association – information about combat and Freestyle sambo.
• New York Times Article and Video covering the history of sambo – published 19 July 2008.
• LA Talk Radio's Kip Brown discusses sambo on In The Can – Aired 13 September 2008.
• G4 Network's Attack of the Show covers sambo Archived 1 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Aired 1 October 2008.
• Russia Today covers the 70th Anniversary of Sambo on YouTube – Aired 22 October 2008
• Slate.com covers sambo training in Russia, the 2008 FIAS World Championships, and Fedor Emilianenko – published 23–27 February 2009
• Injury shake up unearths political controversy at USA SAMBO Open Archived 4 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine Published 3 May 2010
• https://olympics.com/ioc/recognised-international-federations

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sambo.

• International SAMBO Federation
• Asian SAMBO Federation (Wayback Machine copy)
• European Sambo Federation