Sambo (martial art)

Sambo, Russian: Cамбо

International Federation of Amateur Sambo
Also known as	Sombo (in English-speaking countries)
Focus	Eclectic
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Famous practitioners	Fedor Emelianenko, Alexander Pushnitsa, Oleg Taktarov, Nick Diaz, Vitaly Minakov, Volk Han, Andrei Kopylov, Chris Dolman, Gokor Chivichyan, Oleg Stepanov, Genrikh Shults, David Rudman, Andrei Arlovski, Blagoi Ivanov, Alexander Emelianenko, Vladimir Putin, Khaltmaa Battulga, Sergei Kharitonov, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rasul Mirzaev, Amir Sadollah, Rustam Khabilov, Dean Lister, Islam Makhachev, Ali Bagautinov, Omari Akhmedov
Parenthood	Judo, Jujutsu, Russian boxing, Savate, Kurash, Alysh, Greco-Roman wrestling
Olympic sport	No
Official website	sambo-fias.org//

Sambo (Russian: са́мбо; IPA: [ˈsambə]; САМозащита Без Оружия) is a Soviet martial art and combat sport.^[1][2] The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities.^[1] It was intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts.

The pioneers of sambo were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the Great Purge after being accused of being a Japanese spy.^[3] Oshchepkov spent several years living in Japan and training in judo under its founder Jigoro Kano.

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 (known in the West as Catch as Catch Can wrestling or simply Catch wrestling), Spiridonov's style was softer and less strength-dependent. This was in large part due to injuries Spiridonov sustained during World War I.^[4]

Anatoly Kharlampiev, a student of Vasili Oshchepkov, is also considered a founder of sambo. In 1938, it was recognized as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee.^[3]

Styles

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.^[5]

• Sport Sambo (Russian: Борьбa Самбо, Bor'ba Sambo, Sambo Wrestling (eng)) is stylistically similar to old time Catch wrestling and Judo, but with some differences in rules, protocol, and uniform. More akin to Catch wrestling, and in contrast with judo, sambo allows various types of leg locks, while not allowing chokeholds. It also focuses on throwing, ground work and submissions, with very few restrictions on gripping and holds.^[6]
• Combat Sambo (Russian: Боевое Самбо, Boyevoye Sambo). Utilized and developed for the military, combat sambo resembles modern mixed martial arts, including extensive forms of striking and grappling. Combat sambo allows punches, kicks, elbows, knees, headbutts and groin strikes.^[7] Competitors wear jackets as in sport sambo, but also hand protection and sometimes shin and head protection. 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.
• Freestyle Sambo – Created and debuted by the American Sambo Association (ASA) in 2004. These rules differ from traditional sport sambo in that they allow choke holds and other submissions that are not permitted in sport sambo such as certain neck cranks and twisting foot locks. Freestyle sambo, like all sambo, focuses on throwing skills and fast ground work. No strikes are permitted in Freestyle Sambo. The ASA created this rule set in order to encourage non-sambo practitioners from judo and jujutsu to participate in sambo events.^[8]

History

Origins and influences

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. 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 based on the fact that he received a bayonet wound during World War I which left 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.^[9] Rather, their independent notions of hand-to-hand combat merged through cross-training between students and formulative 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.^[10] Thus, many techniques from jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems joined with the indigenous fighting styles to form the sambo repertoire.^[11] When the techniques were perfected, they were woven into sambo applications for personal self-defense, police, crowd control, border guards, secret police, dignitary protection, psychiatric hospital staff, military, and commandos.^[12]

Development

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 center Dinamo.

Spiridonov was a combat veteran of World War I and one of the first wrestling and self-defense instructors hired for Dinamo. His background included Free wrestling (i.e Catch wrestling), Greco-Roman wrestling, many Turkic folk wrestling styles, and Japanese jujutsu. As a combatives investigator for Dinamo, he traveled 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's distillation of Tenjin Shin’yo Ryu jujutsu, Kito Ryu jujutsu and Fusen Ryu 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 traveled 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 largely semantics, 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 maneuvering 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.^[13] 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 practice wrestle. Refined versions of sambo are still used today or fused with specific sambo applications to meet the needs of Russian commandos today.

As an Olympic sport

It is often incorrectly stated that sambo was a demonstration sport at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. It is true that youth sambo was demonstrated in the Games' opening ceremonies; however, sambo was never formally recognised 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.^[14] Furthermore, the official documents of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee do not mention sambo as a participating sport in the Games.^[15] As a side note, demonstration sports were suspended after the 1992 Summer Olympics. With the changes in Olympics Judo in for 2013 and the proposed removal of Freestyle Wrestling from the Olympics, there has been a great migration of wrestlers to SAMBO because of its all-encompassing techniques and dynamic yet consistent rules.

Today

In 1968, the 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.^[16] In 2005, FILA reached an agreement with FIAS "West" and re-assumed sanctioning over sport sambo.^[17] However, in 2008, FILA again discontinued sanctioning sambo and sambo is now notably missing from the FILA website.^[18] At present, only FIAS sanctions international competition in sport sambo. In 2014 FIAS and FILA signed a cooperative agreement.^[19] While this does not place sambo back on FILA'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.^[20] 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 FILA. 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 rumors 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.^[21] 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).^[22] This close relationship is reestablishing the global popularity and media emphasis on sambo.

Uniform and ranking

Similar to wrestling, a sambo practitioner normally wears either a red or a blue competition outfit. The kurtka (куртка) or sambovka (самбовка) as it is called, looks similar to a Judo gi top and belt, but has wrestling style shorts and shoes which match the uniform's color. 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 wrestling ranking system used in Russia, a competitive rating system is used (rather than the belt color ranking system used in judo and 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,^[23] FKE,^[24] 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 ^[25]

FIAS World SAMBO Championships

No.	Year	Dates	City and host country	Champion
I	1973	November 9–13	Tehran, Iran	Soviet Union
II	1974	July 26–28	Ulan Bator, Mongolia	Soviet Union
III	1975	September 19–21	Minsk, Byelorussia, Soviet Union	Soviet Union
IV	1979	October 13–14	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union
V	1981	February 28 - March 1	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union
VI	1982	July 3–4	Paris, France	Soviet Union
VII	1983	September 30 - October 1	Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union	Soviet Union
VIII	1984	June 14–15	Madrid, Spain	Soviet Union
IX	1985	September 19–21	San Sebastián, Spain	Soviet Union
X	1986	November 21–24	Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France	Soviet Union
XI	1987		Milan, Italy	Soviet Union
XII	1988	December 1–5	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Soviet Union
XIII	1989	November 8–11	West Orange, New Jersey, United States	Soviet Union
XIV	1990		, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union	Soviet Union
XV	1991		Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Russia
XVI	1992	November 6–10	Herne Bay, England	Russia
XVII	1993	November 9–15	Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia	Russia
XVIII	1994	October 7–9	Novi Sad, Yugoslavia	Russia
XIX	1995		Sofia, Bulgaria	Russia
XX	1996	November 1–3	Tokyo, Japan	Russia
XXI	1997	October 10–12	Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia
XXII	1998	October 16–18	Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia	Russia
XXIII	1999	November 12–14	Gijón, Spain	Russia
XXIV	2000	November 25	Kiev, Ukraine	Russia
XXV	2001	October 20–21	Krasnoyarsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia	Russia
XXVI	2002	November 26–29	Panama City, Panama	Russia
XXVII	2003	October 18 November 6–10	Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (Combat Sambo) St. Petersburg, Russia	Russia
XXVIII	2004	June 16–21 September 25–26	Prague, Czech Republic (Combat Sambo) Chișinău, Moldova	Russia
XXIX	2005	October 21–23 November 11–14	Prague, Czech Republic (Combat Sambo) Astana, Kazakhstan	Russia
XXX	2006	September 30 - October 2 November 3–5	Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Combat Sambo) Sofia, Bulgaria	Russia
XXXI	2007	November 7–11	Prague, Czech Republic	Russia
XXXII	2008	November 13–17	St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia	Russia
XXXIII	2009	November 5–9	Thessaloniki, Greece	Russia
XXXIV	2010	November 4–8	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Russia
XXXV	2011	November 10–14	Vilnius, Lithuania	Russia
XXXVI	2012	November 8–12	Minsk, Belarus	Russia
XXXVII	2013	November 7–11	St. Petersburg, Russia	Russia
	2014	November 20–24	Narita	Russia
	2015	November 12–16	Casablanca	Russia
	2016	November 10–14	Bulgaria, Sofia	N/A
	2017	N/A	Russia, Sochi	N/A

Medal table (2006–2009)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	199	25	82	308
2	Belarus	12	11	19	42
3	Bulgaria	12	10	22	44
4	Ukraine	7	17	26	50
5	Kazakhstan	4	5	23	31
6	Mongolia	4	7	7	18
8	Georgia	3	2	9	14
7	Lithuania	2	4	11	17
9	Uzbekistan	1	8	15	24
10	Kyrgyzstan	1	2	4	7
10	Serbia	1	2	4	7
12	Tajikistan	1	2	3	6
13	Latvia	1	1	3	5
14	Moldova	1	0	5	6
15	Venezuela	0	3	7	10
16	Armenia	0	2	6	8
17	Azerbaijan	0	2	4	6
18	Japan	0	1	5	6
19	France	0	1	4	5
20	Romania	0	1	3	4
21	Estonia	0	1	3	4
22	China	0	1	3	4
23	Germany	0	1	1	2
24	Poland	0	1	1	2
25	Colombia	0	1	1	2
26	Israel	0	1	0	1
27	Greece	0	0	2	2
28	Spain	0	0	2	2
29	Czech Republic	0	2	5	7
30	Indonesia	0	0	1	1
31	Iran	0	0	1	1
32	India	0	0	1	1
33	Jordan	0	0	1	1
34	Canada	1	0	0	1
35	United States	0	0	1	1
36	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
37	Turkmenistan	0	0	1	1
38	South Korea	0	0	1	1
39	Slovenia	0	0	1	1
40	Portugal	0	0	1	1
41	United Kingdom	0	0	1	1
Total		245	111	208	426

FIAS Hall of Fame

Champions

• Fedor Emelianenko (combat sambo), four-time world champion, European champion, and six-time Russian national champion.
• Murat Khasanov, 11-time world champion, seven-time European champion, 19-time Russian national champion.
• Irina Rodina, 11-time world champion.
• Svetlana Galyant, seven-time world champion.

Founders

• Vasili Oshchepkov
• Viktor Spiridonov
• Anatoly Kharlampiyev

Sambo fighters

Sambo fighters (sambo practitioners) are athletes who train, compete and coach under the rules of sambo.

American Sambo Association U.S. Sambo Archive

The American Sambo Association (ASA) has compiled the most extensive archive of American sambists competing abroad as well as U.S. based sambo tournaments held since 1973; as well as other important pieces of U.S. Sambo history dating back to 1968.^[26] The database currently has over 1400 entries. Only verifiable results have been included in the database (no word of mouth reports are included). To be listed in the ASA archive, verifiable evidence of an athlete’s participation and/or placing must be provided; this can include official results, photos on the podium, magazine or newspaper articles, certificates, passbooks, awards, etc.

Champions

• Fedor Emelianenko, four-time World Combat Sambo Champion and six-time Russian National Combat Sambo Champion in the +100 kg division. Two-time Russian national Judo bronze medalist, he was the last heavyweight champion of the former PRIDE Fighting Championships and was the consensus #1 ranked Heavy weight MMA fighter in the world for over seven years.
• Marko Kosev, Bulgarian national and the first and only one five-time world combat sambo champion.
• Vitaly Minakov, four-time Sambo World Champion, four-time Russian National Champion.
• Alexander Pushnitsa, three-time Sambo World Champion, two-time European Champion, nine-time champion of the USSR, Merited Master of Sports of the USSR.
• Rasul Mirzaev, World Combat Sambo Champion in Tashkent 2010.

The World Sambo Academy in Kstovo, the venue of many sambo competitions

• Igor Kurinnoy, a Merited Master of Sport, three time Sambo World Champion, a five time Sambo World Cup Champion and director of Borec Sports Club.
• Andrei Arlovski, former UFC heavyweight champion. He was also the Junior World Sport Sambo Champion, as well as a silver medalist in the World Sambo Championship and World Sambo Cup.
• Vladimir Kyullenen, 1972 European Champion and USSR Champion, 1975 World Champion and USSR Champion.
• Ahad Rajabli, World Champion and multiple champion of Azerbaijan.
• Chris Dolman, 1969 World Cup Champion, 1985 World Champion and 1985 World Games Champion. Eight-time Judo champion of Netherlands, European Judo silver medalist, four-time Greco-Roman wrestling champion of Benelux. Also the first primary trainer for Rings Holland and Dolman Gym, the mixed martial arts teams for which Alistair Overeem, Valentijn Overeem and Gegard Mousasi all were members. Also trainer and co-owner of Chakuriki Gym.
• Volk Han, 1987 and 1988 USSR Champion, 1987 and 1988 Russian National Champion, Merited Master of Sports of the USSR. Multiple freestyle wrestling champion of Dagestan. Also the first primary trainer for the Russian Top Team, the mixed martial arts team for which Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander Emelianenko, and Sergei Kharitonov all were members.
• Andrei Kopylov, 1986 and 1991 Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR Champion, 1991 USSR Champion. Also primary trainer for the Russian Top Team.
• Ron Tripp, 1994 World Champion and 7 times World Medalist capturing 8 US National Titles and 6 Pan Am Golds during his career (both FIAS East and West). A Judo champion and current general secretary of USA Judo. Tripp was promoted to 10th degree in sambo in 1995 and became America's first International Distinguished Master of Sport in 1996. Also in 1996, he served as World Team Coach at the Tokyo World Championships. At the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships, he scored a total victory throw over Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie,^[27] the only time Gracie was defeated in competition.
• Clinton Burke, NCAA wrestling finalist and All-American from the University of Oklahoma, was a four-time finalist in world competition beginning in 1987, when he earned a silver medal in the World Cup in Tokyo. He won World Championship silver medals in three different weight classes (62 kg, 68 kg, and 74 kg), closing his career in 1993 as runner-up in the World Championships in Kstovo, Russia.
• Lance Campbell Sport Sambo World Champion (FIAS West). One of only eight grapplers selected to compete in the Ultimate Submission Showdown.
• Martin Clarke, The Father of British Sambo, Multiple time FIAS British Sambo Champion, World Games Silver 1985, World Silver 1986, World Masters Silver 1997. He is the only person in Great Britain to receive the FIAS Gold Medal for services to FIAS. He holds the rank of Grand Master in combat sambo and sport sambo.^[28]
• Amy Ehlenfeldt, an accomplished US judo player; she won the 1991 FIAS World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, becoming the first American woman to achieve victory over a female USSR competitor.
• Aleksander Emelianenko, Fedor's brother, is a five-time Russian National Combat Sambo Champion and three-time World Sambo Champion in the +100 kg divisions.
• Jason Gabrielson, Three-time World champion, one-time World Cup champion, Pan-American Games champion, Sixteen-time US Champion competing in all age groups (FIAS West). Only US lifetime undefeated champion. Was nominated for (but did not win) the American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo Award. Is also a champion wrestler and judo competitor.
• James Chico Hernandez, First sambo champion to be featured on a box of Wheaties Energy Crunch.^[29] He won the 2000 FIAS World Cup silver medal,^[30] FIAS Pan American silver medal,10 time USA AAU Sambo Champion, three-time British FIAS silver medalist,^[31][32] and bronze medal winner at the 2010 FIAS Championships of Scotland. 2009 American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo Award winner and he is the first sambo wrestler to appear in CNN/SI “Faces In the Crowd”.^[33]
• Scott Sonnon, Honourable Master of Sports in Sambo from the AASF,^[34] was nominated for (but did not win) the American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo Award, World University Sambo Games Silver Medalist (not an official University games event), USA Grand National and Pan-American Sambo Champion, and USA National Sambo Team Coach.^[35]
• Zurab Bekochvili, World Sambo Champion, Russian/U.S. Sambo & Judo Champion & a leading sambo authority in Florida, USA under American Sambo Federation. Zurab Bekochvili holds a notable victory in a 1993 sport sambo match against Scott Sonnon
• Igor Yakimov, World Judo Champion, as well a World Sport Sambo Champion and a medallist at the Combat Sambo World Championships
• Irina Rodina, Russian Women's Sport Sambo Champion, judo olympian, and mixed martial artist
• David Rudman, USSR, champion of the first International Sambo Tournament, at 70 kg,^[36][37] and first World Champion in the weight category up to 68 kg.^[38]
• Yury Rybak, Belarusian sport sambo champion, and World Judo silver medalist
• Andrei Kazusionak, Belarusian sport sambo champion, European Judo champion, and Olympian
• Blagoi Ivanov, Won the over 100 kg combat sambo gold medal at the 2008 World Sambo Championships, at 22 years of age he notably defeated Fedor Emelianeko, 4 time World Combat Sambo Champion.
• Sergej Grecicho, two time Lithuanian combat sambo champion, mixed martial artist
• Rumen Dimitrov, World Combat Sambo Champion, and mixed martial artist from Bulgaria
• Rosen Dimitrov, World Combat Sambo Champion, and mixed martial artist from Bulgaria
• Genrikh Shults, 6-times Soviet Sport Sambo Champion (85 kg), the first captain of the USSR national Judo team, European Judo champion (80 kg)
• Marko Kosev, 5 time World Combat Sambo Champion from Bulgaria.

Other notable sambo fighters

• Khabib Nurmagomedov is a Russian mixed martial artist. He competes in the UFC Lightweight division. He is a former sambo world champion
• Dennis Siver is a Russian-German mixed martial artist. He competes in the UFC Featherweight division.
• Amir Sadollah is American mixed martial artist. Fights as a Middleweight in the UFC. Has a black belt in sambo.
• Gokor Chivichyan is an Armenian judo, wrestling and sambo instructor, who resides and teaches in the USA
• Hiroshi Hase, Japanese Olympic wrestler-turned-pro wrestler who learned sambo in an expedition to the Soviet Union in 1989.
• Takayuki Iizuka, Japanese pro wrestler who learned sambo in an expedition to the Soviet Union in 1989.
• Dean Lister, an American mma fighter (UFC) and 2x ADCC champion has a background in sambo.
• Alexey Oleinik, Ukrainian mixed martial artist, and combat sambo competitor
• Ibragim Magomedov, a Russian mixed martial artist.
• Victor Nemkov, Russian World Cup champion, and emerging mixed martial artist .
• Oleg Taktarov, UFC 6 Champion, UFC '95 Ultimate Ultimate Tournament finalist, and actor.
• Megumi Fujii, a current MMA-fighter. She is known as the "Princess of Sambo."
• Sergei Kharitonov, a former PRIDE Fighting Championship competitor.
• Satoko Shinashi, an accomplished Japanese mixed martial arts competitor often called the "Queen of MMA."
• Oleg Prudius, a Ukrainian professional wrestler best known for performing on WWE's RAW Brand as Vladimir Kozlov, has experience in sambo among other martial arts.
• Professional wrestler Dave Taylor was a sambo champion in England and is a third-generation practitioner of the sport.
• Szudoczki J. Rustam, Russian (Chechnya) Combat Sambo Grandmaster, 2 times European Champion, 9 times WCC street fighting champion.
• Jalali Damirov, Azerbaijanian Sambo Grandmaster. 3 times European Sambo Champion, 10 time's Azerbaijan Sambo Champion, International sambo championship 2nd. place
• Manish Yadav (sambo wrestler) from India won bronze medal in 1st South Asian Sambo Championship in Nepal (2011). He won Gold in Indian Senior National Sambo Championship in 2012 and won bronze in 26th Dutch open sambo wrestling in 2017 in125kg category.He has represented India in world sambo championship at Casablanca (Morocco) 2015 and Sofia (Bulgaria) 2016 and two Asian champion ship both were held in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) 2012 and 2014.

Fictional sambo fighters

• Boris Ivanov and Alexander Kareda from the manga Shijō Saikyō no Deshi Ken'ichi (aka History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi) both use command sambo.
• The fictional character Blue Mary of the King of Fighters video game series uses a stylized version of sambo.
• Sergei Dragunov of the Tekken series uses the military version of sambo (aka combat sambo)
• Bayman and Leon of the Dead or Alive game series both use combat sambo.
• Cyrax and Sektor use sambo in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
• Zangief of the Street Fighter series uses a variation of sambo and integrates it into pro wrestling.
• Abel from Street Fighter IV is a sambo practitioner.
• Mikhail Bakunin of the TV series Lost appears to use sambo, probably due to his military training before joining the DHARMA Initiative.
• Michael Westen uses sambo as part of his under cover operation in the Burn Notice episode 'Comrades'.
• Rumble Fighter, an online fighting game, allows players to purchase a version of sambo.
• Igor, main character in Paulo Coelho's book The Winner Stands Alone uses sambo on some occasions.
• Valery Ilyuchin from the manga Shamo is a three time sambo world cup winner in middleweight.
• Colonnello from the manga and anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn! was a master of sambo as well as karate.
• Yuri Boyka, played by Scott Adkins in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and Undisputed III: Redemption uses a variation of sambo.
• Koba, declared to be a world sambo champion, who was a character played by Kurt Angle in the movie Warrior.
• Solokov, a character in the novel Reamde by Neal Stephenson uses sambo techniques during the story.
• Captain Strong in the Japanese version of EarthBound references it with his "sambo-mambo martial arts". In the American version, this was changed to "Mambo-Tango-Foxtrot martial arts", most likely because of the word "sambo".
• KGB spy Illya Kuryakin - Man from U.N.C.L.E. - In the Dossiers of Members of U.N.C.L.E is credited to be "Russian Sambo Champion RNS 1953".

Name controversy

Although sambo is a Russian acronym, exponents of the sport in the English-speaking world have faced problems concerning the word's (linguistically unrelated) racial overtone. Sambo representatives opted to use the alternative spelling Sombo to avoid offense.^[39] However the name had unwanted associations in other languages, too. In Spanish, it means intoeing or pigeon toe, to refer to someone who has legs like this. In Swedish, "sambo" is the term for an unmarried couple living together on permanent basis. To avoid further confusion, FIAS references the sport with an acronym spelling: SAMBO.^[40]

References

Sources

• FILA Sombo Rules – 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 July 19, 2008.
• LA Talk Radio's Kip Brown discusses sambo on In The Can – Aired September 13, 2008.
• G4 Network's Attack of the Show covers sambo Aired October 1, 2008.
• Russia Today covers the 70th Anniversary of Sambo on YouTube – Aired October 22, 2008
• Slate.com covers sambo training in Russia, the 2008 FIAS World Championships, and Fedor Emilianenko – published February 23–27, 2009
• Injury shake up unearths political controversy at USA SAMBO Open Published May 3, 2010

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sambo.

Organizations

• International SAMBO Federation
• Asian SAMBO Federation
• European Sambo Federation
• USA Sambo
• Commonwealth Sambo Association

Others

• Listing on US and international sambo schools, practitioners, and organizations
• RMAX Sambo Video Clips, Articles and Technique Tutorials
• Photoalbum (SAMBO, information database) | ru
• Made in Russia: Sambo
• Nepobedimyy (1983) on IMDb