From Russia with locks.
"If sambo was easy, it would be called jiu-jitsu."
—Khabib Nurmagomedov
Sambonote (acronym for an expression translated as "Unarmed Self-Defense"note ) is a Russian martial art and combat sport. It is a direct offshoot of Judo mixed with several Eurasian wrestling styles, and as such, it is based around throwing the opponent to the ground and/or lock him with wicked joint locks and chokes, combined with minor striking. It was originally created as a military hand-to-hand style in the vein of Krav Maga, but very unlike the latter, it has adapted very successfully to sports competition, being a semi-popular fixture of Professional Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts. It also had the Working Title of "free-style wrestling"note but decided a name change was necessary so as to not confuse it with the English wrestling style with the same name.
Practitioners of it are sometimes called sambists, but this not usual because that is also how practitioners of the Brazilian music style of samba are called (the very similarity of the names is an endless source of confusion and bad jokes in real life), and also because sambo is an English word that was used as a slur against Africans, the art is also spelt as "Sombo" or "Cambo" in the USA and Britain, though they are now rarely used. Equipment in sambo consists of shorts, a loose jacket named kurtkanote (also called "sambovka"note to a lesser extent) and special wrestling shoes named "sambetki"note or "sambovki"note , as well as a number of protective gear pieces depending on the kind and level of competition.
The whole thing was the brainchild of two military hand-to-hand experts: Vasili Oshchepkov, an apprentice to Jigoro Kano and judo teacher for the Red Army, and Viktor Spiridonov, an expert in many forms of traditional wrestling who developed an interest in Japanese concepts due to a crippling war wound. Independently from each other, they started elaborating their own versions of a grappling style that would contain all what they knew and could find about how to wreck people. Added to the efforts of avid sportsman Anatoly Kharlampiyev (and to a lesser degree Ivan Vasilievich Vasilyev), a disciple to Oshchepkov who had the political connections to get it done, what is known today as sambo took a recognizable form in 1938, becoming the official fighting style of all of Russia and its native badasses. Ironically, Oshchepkov would later end up being accused of being a Japanese spy and executed after being arrested by a squad of his own trainees during Stalin's Great Purge;
he was posthumously declared innocent many years later, but by then it's not like he cared anymore.
In the sports aspect, despite looking more like judo without pants than wrestling, sambo was recognized as a wrestling style by Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA, now the United World Wrestling since 2014) in 1968, after which it spread to the whole world. It actually seemed on the way to be an Olympic discipline for a while, but politics intruded again in its way and due to the 1980 Olympic boycott that rose after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, sambo stayed firmly out of the Olympics, which many people regard as a good thing overall seeing what happened to judo and its infamous Olympic rule changes. Also, being still technically a hybrid of judo and wrestling mixed with striking, sambo also helped to make the Russian fighting scene a closed-knit circuit, with many wrestlers, judokas and even boxers and kickboxers often cross-training with each other in a regular basis; most sambists in Russia also compete as judokas or wrestlers and vice versa.
As it happened with Catch Wrestling, sambo became surprisingly popular in Japan, where the sports variation was first introduced by Russian-Japanese master Victor Koga. He taught its techniques to legendary pro wrestler Satoru Sayama, who introduced them in the style of Japanese pro wrestling named "shoot-style" and contributed to shape it as a fighting style full of leglocks and spectacular wrestling. Another shoot-stylist, Akira Maeda, traveled to Russia and recruited a bunch of sambo champions for his RINGS promotion, a pro wrestling circuit that evolved over time into mixed martial arts, also creating the first Russian MMA camp in the process and helping establishing the first combat sambo federation outside the former Soviet bloc. Therefore, just like shoot-style used to be the usual background of Japanese fighters, sambo is nowadays the background and main fighting style of most MMA fighters from the former Soviet Republics, as opposed to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that dominates the sports everywhere else. Fedor Emelianenko and Khabib Nurmagomedov are good examples.
Sambo styles
In competition, sambo is divided in several styles and rulesets.
- Sambo Wrestlingnote , or Sport Sambo: the most well known ruleset with very few changes over the years, with competitions now under the authority of the Fédération Internationale Amateur de Sambo note (FIAS). Also known as Traditional Sambo, Classic Sambo, or International Sambo, it is fought with little to no protections and over a circular wrestling mat. It is primarily a submission wrestling competition where most throws, takedowns and locks are allowed, with the notable exception of chokeholds, neck cranks, wristlocks, hammerlocksnote , toeholds, heel hooks and all standing submissions as they can only be applied when the opponent is grounded (the attacker can remain standing, but the grounded opponent cannot apply submissions on a standing opponent in turn), though with a time limit of 1 minute for groundfighting (technically this time limit is only applied when submissions are locked, so if the opponent escapes the submission or the applicant switches to another submission or a pin, the time limit restarts) with a total match length of 5 minutes. Closing guard is considered a form of stalling and thus more or less forbidden too, and deliberately pushing the opponent out the mat is weirdly discouraged as it is also considered a form of stalling unlike most wrestling styles. It also bans using the knees and elbows to push down on any part of the body of a grounded opponent (meaning no knee-on-belly). Sambists can win by submitting the opponent or by scoring points, which are earned through throws and pins (the cleaner a throw is and the longer the pinnote , the more points you will receive), and a picture perfect throw or an 8 or more-point advantagenote leads to "total victory"note , sambo's equivalent to judo's "ippon".
- Sambo Free Wrestling, Free-style Wrestling Sambonote or Soviet Free-style Wrestling: the original ruleset created by Vasili Oshchepkov in 1933. It was described as basically just judo (at least before the leg lock ban in 1916) with kurtkas and shoes as it still allowed chokes and standing submissions, which is why some refer to it as Oshchepkov‘s Judo or Free-style Wrestling Judonote . Unfortunately, it had to be replaced with the rules modern sport sambo in order to make it a separate art from judo as the Soviet government was cracking down on foreign influences at the time.
- Freestyle Sambo: a ruleset created in 2004 by the now defunct American Sambo Association. It could be described as sport sambo with less grappling restrictions, allowing all the submissions described above (though they still can only be done on a grounded opponent), allows closed guard and removes the 'total victory' win condition for throws, with picture perfect throws scoring 8 points instead of being an instant win condition (this was when point advantage wins was 12 points or more), making it more similar to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu than Judo, though with a 1 minute limit for groundfighting regardless of pinning or submission attempts. Once the ASA shut down in 2015, official competitions under the ruleset effectively ceased, though it does pop up every now and then.
- Rdojo Sambo: a ruleset created by Reilly Bodycomb for a nationwide network of ranked in-house sambo tournaments dubbed the Rdojo Sambo League which ran from the end of 2016 to mid 2017. It was basically a modified version of freestyle sambo as it replaces of the 'total victory' throws with them scoring 8 points, only allowed twisting leg locks like heel hooks and toeholds in "play-off" events and since these events were held in gyms with padded walls it was allowed to continue against the wall for 7 seconds. Competitors were permitted to wear a gi top, non-matching shorts, and wrestling shoes if they don't have kurtkas and sambo shoes.
- Combat Sambo - Wrestling Sectionnote , FBSR Sambo Wrestling or WCSF Sambo Wrestling: a ruleset created and used by the Russian Combat Sambo Federation (Federatsiya boyevogo sambo Rossiinote or FBSR) and World Combat Sambo Federation (WCSF, for more see below) and is its version of sport sambo. It is actually very similar to freestyle sambo due to its lesser restrictions compared to the rules under the FIAS and its removal of the 'total victory' win condition for throws, but the main differences are that shoes are optional, only scores pins of 10 seconds, only allows 30 seconds to complete a submission, and allows standing submissions, though neck cranks are banned.
- Sambo For The Blind and Visually Impaired or just Blind Sambo: a ruleset that is the sambo equivalent of Paralympic (Para or Blind) Judo, recognized in 2015. Since the competitors are blind/visually impaired, they hold each other by the sleeve and lapel of the kurtka at the start of the match and have to wear custom combat sambo helmets that also cover their eyes. Other than that, it mostly keeps to the rules of sport sambo.
- Sambo For The Hearing Impaired or just Deaf Sambo: a ruleset that is the sambo equivalent of Deaf Judo, also recognized in 2015. It is just sport sambo but with competitors that are hearing impairednote .
- Sambo Parternote or Sambo Par Terre: a newer and weirder ruleset developed by Ivan Vasylchuk in 2019 that exclusively focuses on the ground game. Originally matches start with fighters sitting with their legs out and with their backs towards each other, then immediately turn around and go onto their knees when the match starts, later rule changes had fighters facing each other on their knees. Aside from a slightly different point system, it mostly keeps to the rules of sport sambo except throws can only be done when on the knees and allows for one minute to finish a submission and ten seconds beforehand to secure it. It also allows chokeholds (except for those that can be turned into neck cranks like guillotines (unless it's arm in), headscissors, or no-arm triangles) and a recent rule change now allows closed guard (though intentionally pulling guard is still a no-no and it doesn't allow squeezing the legs together, only hooking the feet together is acceptable).
- Combat Sambo - Parterrenote : yet another ruleset used by the FBSR and the WCSF, but is mostly for children. This version has the fighters start on their knees and only allows the groundfighting techniques of FBSR/WCSF-style sport sambo.
- No Kurtka Sambo: also known as No Jacket Sambo or Bez Kurtka Sambo, it is basically the No Gi version of sport sambo, though it is not very widespread. One variant used by the Sambo League USA does seem to be a No Gi version of freestyle sambo, except that it bans heel hooks and toe holds and retains the total victory win condition for throws.
- Professional Combat Sambo - Wrestling Sectionnote or Russian Grapplingnote : basically the No Gi version of the FBSR/WCSF-style of sport sambo.
- Professional Combat Sambo - Parterrenote : basically the No Gi version of the FBSR/WCSF-style of sambo parterre.
- Combat Sambonote : sometimes referred to as Sport Combat Sambonote to differentiate it from the style used in self-defense, police and military trainingnote . Official competitions (for civilian use) started in the mid 1990s, and allows all types of throws, submissions (including ones on standing opponents and most of those banned in sport sambo) and strikes (though the earliest ruleset from the Encyclopedia of Combat Sambonote book published in 1993 banned headbutts, heel hooks, toe holds, and all types of ground-and-pound, but it seems the influence of Vale Tudo/No Holds Barred Fighting/Mixed Martial Arts had the ruleset revised to include them).
- International or FIAS Rules: the most well known version. Essentially old Brazilian vale tudo with protective gear and quick-draw rules, it keeps the point system and time limit for groundfighting from sport sambo as well as the 'total victory' win condition for throws (though strikes don’t earn points, however, a knockdown resulting from strikes is regarded as a 4 point throw, with 2 knockdowns being enough points for victory, and uses a 10 count knockdown system). Its competitors fight with gloves, helmets and shin protections, which comes in handy for a ruleset that effectively (and unusually for a combat sport) is perfectly fine with headbutts, soccer kicks and even low blows; the only real techniques it forbids are pulling guard and sitting on the mat, as it is usually done in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as wrist locks. Unfortunately, in recent years the rules have become slightly more restrictive, the first major rule changes originally only removed soccer kicks and punches to a grounded opponent when the attacker is standing (though it still allows the grounded opponent to strike the standing one), neck cranks, heel hooks and toeholds and surprisingly even open hand and palm strikes, both standing and grounded, though more recent rules changes have removed low blows and ground-and-pound to the head when using elbows and headbutts.
- Light Rules: an even more restrictive version of the FIAS style used by some smaller regional organizations, most notably the British Sombo Federation. It farther removes headbutts and elbows altogether, along with knees to the head and standing submissions. Additionally, all strikes to the head are removed from the juniors division and below.
- LBS Rules: The ruleset used by the Liga Boyevogo Sambonote (Combat Sambo League or the Professional Combat Sambo League, in English) created in 2020, which is sort of a pro division for the FIAS style in Russia and other parts of Euroasia. Its main differences from the regular FIAS style is that it removes helmets and bans headbutts in all forms, replaces shoes with ankle supports, removes shin guards, uses a three knockdown system, bouts are three rounds of 3 minutes each with a 1 minute break in between, and removes the total victory throw win condition.
- FBSR Rules or WCSF Rules: a version of combat sambo created by the Russian Combat Sambo Federation established in 2001 and now under the authority of the World Combat Sambo Federation (established in 2004) for international competitions, both of which are organizations that are separate from and have no affiliation to the FIAS. Since these organizations and their affiliates are a lot smaller than the FIAS and its affiliates, their competitions are mostly limited to Russia and a few other countries in Euroasia like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, France, Moldova, Tajikistan and Iran. The main difference between this version and the others above is that it does not have the 'total victory' win condition for throws, only scores pins of 10 seconds, has a 30 second limit to complete submissions (though some professional level competitions will remove these time limits and remove pin scoring), and it does not use the helmet (unless one has a condition that requires one to compete or for children), which also means headbutts to the head are banned (but every other legal part below is free game), also shoes and shin guards are optional. It also bans neck cranks (but not chokes), low blows, soccer kicks, elbows and knees to the head of a grounded opponent (though still allowed to the head when standing), but allows wrist locks, as well as pulling guard and sitting on the mat (or at least does not mention them). It is mostly held in wrestling mats, but can also be contested in either a boxing ring or a MMA cage, making it essentially modern MMA with kurtkas.
- Combat Sambo - Fighting Sectionnote : another ruleset used by the FBSR and the WCSF. This version is basically more of a Kickboxing format, just with combat sambo gloves, kurtkas and the option to wear shoes and shin guards, and allows all the striking, throwing and sweeping techniques included in the above version, just with a limit in clinch-fighting and bans groundfighting and submissions.
- Professionalnote : basically any of the above FNSR/WCSF Rules, just without the kurtka.
- FBSU Rules: a slightly modified FBSR ruleset used by the Ukrainian Combat Sambo Federation (Federatsiya boyovoho sambo Ukrayinynote or FBSU). Its main differences is that helmets and shoes are mandatory, but headbutts and elbow strikes in all forms are banned. They also have 4 divisions; 1) Classicnote , which is full rules with the kurtka. 2) Pro-Fullnote , which is full rules without the kurtka. 3) Light Gi note , "light" rules with the kurtka, here fighters cannot punch to the head while standing, though they are still allowed in ground-and-pound, but are limited to only when the attacker is in the guard or has mount (and only when both knees are on the floor), as well as heel hooks and toe holds being banned. 4) Light No-Ginote , the other "light" rules division, just without the kurtka.
- LPS Rules: a sort of professional version of the FBSU's "Classic" rules used by the Liha Profesiynoho Sambonote (League (of) Professional Sambo). The main differences are that helmets and shoes are not used, but shin guards are mandatory and is fought in three rounds of 3 minutes.
- CSL Rules: a ruleset used by the Combat Sambo League (not to be confused with the LBS above), an organization formed in 2025 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA to provide a structured, organized presence of combat sambo in the United States, and uses Florida's regulatory framework for amateur combat sports as their competitive standards. Fighters don't wear helmets or shoes, is fought in either a MMA cage, wrestling mat or "elevated platform", bouts are fought in three (five in championship bouts) rounds of 3 minutes each with a minute break in between and has a 20 second time limit for any groundfighting. It bans elbow strikes and headbutts in all forms, knee strikes to the head, standing submissions, soccer kicks, low blows, and heel hooks, but strangely toe holds are allowed and things like wrist locks and closed guard (and pulling guard) are not mentioned. It keeps the total victory throw win condition, but seems to not score pinning. It also has a No-Kurtka version.
- Commando Sambonote : what combat sambo is popularly known as in Japan due to Akira Maeda's promotion Fighting Network RINGS and the creation of the Japan Commando Sambo Federationnote in 1992 with RINGS wrestler Volk Han. Due to combat sambo not being internationally spread during that time, the Japanese decided to create their own versionnote , with the result being an amateur version of the shoot-style wrestling that was massively popular at the time. Bouts were fought on wrestling mats and fighters were bare knuckle and wore military-style camouflage t-shirts instead of kurtkas, knee pads, shorts and shoes, with no head gear and the option to wear or not Japanese shin guards called "leggers". Allowed techniques included punches to the body only and kicks and knees to anywhere but the head (though if a fighter opts not to wear leggers, they cannot kick), only palm strikes could target the head and all kinds of throws and submissions (on the ground) and also allowed closed guard, but disallowed ground-and-pound and elbow strikes. It died out due to the FIAS style becoming international in 2001 and the closure of RINGS and the Japan Commando Sambo Federation in 2002.
- International or FIAS Rules: the most well known version. Essentially old Brazilian vale tudo with protective gear and quick-draw rules, it keeps the point system and time limit for groundfighting from sport sambo as well as the 'total victory' win condition for throws (though strikes don’t earn points, however, a knockdown resulting from strikes is regarded as a 4 point throw, with 2 knockdowns being enough points for victory, and uses a 10 count knockdown system). Its competitors fight with gloves, helmets and shin protections, which comes in handy for a ruleset that effectively (and unusually for a combat sport) is perfectly fine with headbutts, soccer kicks and even low blows; the only real techniques it forbids are pulling guard and sitting on the mat, as it is usually done in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as wrist locks. Unfortunately, in recent years the rules have become slightly more restrictive, the first major rule changes originally only removed soccer kicks and punches to a grounded opponent when the attacker is standing (though it still allows the grounded opponent to strike the standing one), neck cranks, heel hooks and toeholds and surprisingly even open hand and palm strikes, both standing and grounded, though more recent rules changes have removed low blows and ground-and-pound to the head when using elbows and headbutts.
- Beach Sambonote : Yes really. Compared to the others above, the rules are modified in that the combat lasts three minutes and are held only in the standing position making it a throwing-only sport, basically turning it into beach wrestling with kurtkas, though unlike sport sambo, the rules allows fighters to grip the edges of opponent's shorts and the inside ends of the sleeves of the kurtka, both of which are slightly modified and ankle supports are used instead of shoes. Victory is awarded after a throw or when the opponent falls on the sand on any part of the body other than the feet.
- ARB (acronym for a term meaning "Army Hand-To-Hand Fighting"note ): a weird style invented in the 1970s by the Soviet Airborne Troops, though like combat sambo, it was accessible to civilians in the mid 1990s. While some of its practitioners will deny any relation to sambo, it is very clearly an offshoot of combat sambo, although it uses a tatami instead of a wrestling mat, judogis instead of kurtkas (though military uniforms with martial art belts are used instead in military competitions), helmets have face cages instead of being of leaving the face open, fights only have a time limit of 3 minutes with no additional rounds, grappling is limited beyond throwing (though it does not have the total victory condition for a single picture perfect throw as it disallows ones that are above the fighter's own height) and submissions (which can only start and end on the ground and it seems to only allow armbars and leglocks that are not wrist locks or foot locks), also pinning does not score points. Instead, its rules favor punching and kicking (it never actually mentions elbows and knees in its rules, but there seems to be a sort of gentleman’s agreement to not use them), making it vaguely similar to Karate and Taekwondo, though for some reason it bans kicks to the inner thigh, headbutts are only allowed while both fighters are standing (and they do not score points for some reason), soccer kicks and ground-and-pound are legal, and has a time limit of 10 seconds to either strike a grounded opponent or put on a submission which adds an additional 20 seconds to finish the submission.
- RPB or simply RB (acronym for a term meaning "Hand-To-Hand Fighting"note ): An offshoot of ARB, created by the KGB and the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) members of the Dynamo Sports Club in the 1980s and spread to the police system which is why it is also known as DVRB (acronym for a term meaning "Dynamo version of Hand-To-Hand Fighting"note ) or PVRB(acronym for a term meaning "Police version of Hand-To-Hand Fighting"note ). It was actually introduced to the Russian public before ARB and is probably the one that is seen outside of Russia and is commonly mistaken for ARB. Almost everything about it is the same as ARB except it is fought in either 3 or 5 rounds of 3 minutes, bans upkicks, "straight" kicks to the head, open hand and palm strikes, heel hooks, toe holds, hammerlocks (strangely only in competitions in Russia, international competitions don't even mention them), wrist locks, ground-and-pound, and headbutts, clearly states that elbow and knee strikes are illegal and using the elbows and knees to push down and/or pin the opponent is not allowed, but allows chokes (but only those using the gi lapels, forearm and shoulder, or lapel and shin, so things like triangles and gogoplatas are still banned), scores points for pinning, and it only allows 5 seconds to set up a submission on the ground and 20 more seconds to try and submit the opponent. Fighters' gear are also slightly different, with their helmets being open faced instead of having face cages and they eschew chest protectors. It also contains two stages with the second being the fighting. The first stage is where fighters must do a demonstration of self defense techniques against armed and unarmed opponents, with the techniques being assessed on a 10-point scale, any errors reduce the score. The fighting section also has a "Semi Contact" version which is mostly for children and beginners, where knockouts are banned but submissions are still allowed.
- URB (acronym for a term meaning "Ukrainian Hand-To-Hand Fighting"note in Russian) or URS (acronym for a term meaning "Ukrainian Hand-To-Hand Fighting System Spas"note in Ukrainian) or simply Spasnote : a weird style that is obviously an offshoot of RPB that is used in Ukraine since 2008 officially, though most practitioners will instead connect it to the fighting traditions of the Cossacks, particularly one that was also named "Spas". Fighters wear boxing gloves, t-shirts with sharovarynote (though some events will allow military uniforms) and sashes instead of the open finger gloves, judogi, and belts of RPB, but still have its version of the helmets and lack of chest protectors. Its rules are almost the same as RPB, but with a few differences as it allows elbow and knee strikes to the body (though not to the head and strikes are not allowed to be thrown from the clinch) and it allows 10 seconds to set up a submission on the ground and 10 more seconds to try and submit the opponent, but does not score pins and since fighters do not use the gi, chokes are by shoulder and forearm or forearm and shin only. It also has the total victory win condition for something referred to as "chystyy kydok u strybku"note which roughly translates to "Clean Jump Shot", which are apparently something similar to the flying headscissors takedown or tijerasnote in pro wrestling and used in other martial arts like Vovinam, Capoeira, Wushu, Silat, etc.
- PRB (acronym for a term meaning "Full Contact Hand-To-Hand Fighting"note ): a style created by Sergey Borisovich Ermakov who had been developing it since 1976 and presented it internationally in 2003 as Full Contact Fighting (FCF). It is fought more like combat sambo just without the kurtka, helmets, and shoes and it originally had fighters wear judogis, gloves, and shin guards only and it doesn't allow headbutts, elbows, and forearms to the head (but are allowed on the body, though pro rules allow elbows and forearms to the head), low blows, and kicking to the inner thigh (though pro rules allow them) or wrist locks, while also only having a 20 second limit to apply and finish submission holds, making it look like a sort of Russian version of Full Contact Ju-Jutsu. It eventually began using a No Gi version (though originally it was conceived as the pro division and was fought in gi pants instead of fight shorts and shin guards were still worn) known as Full Contact Fighting MMA (FCF-MMA), which eventually became the more used and favoured ruleset used by its host federation; the International Federation of Full Contact Fightingnote . This newer version even got a pro division with competitors removing the shin guards and just wearing fight shorts and gloves, while also allowing elbows and forearms to the head and kicking to the inner thigh. Matches are held on a traditional wrestling mat, not a cage or ring like normal MMA fights. The older version is now separately organized under the International Association of Amateur Full Contact Fighting which is based in Ukraine and headed by Anton Kulebiakin, who interestingly is also the president of the International Full Contact Ju-Jutsu Federation (not to be confused and is not affiliated with the Ju-Jitsu International Federation nor the Combat Ju-Jutsu International Federation) and the founder of Zenryoku Ju-Jutsu.
- New ARBnote or ARC (acronym for a term meaning "Absolutely Real Combat"note , with the first two words being in English written in the Russian alphabet): a simplified variant of ARB that was created in 2020 by Denis Yurievich Batsun, mostly so that children from ages 8 to 17 can compete in it unlike regular ARB, though it also has adult competition. It differs from regular ARB as it allows an additional round of 40 seconds if the fight is ruled a draw, bans headbutts, but allows knees and chokes. It also has two versions, 1) ARB In Kimono note , which has fighters wear judogis. 2) ARB Without Kimono note , the No Gi version which also scores points for pinning, which is why the style as a whole is also known as ARB-MMA.
- Samboudnote (acronym for an expression translated as "Unarmed Self-Defense... by Strikes"note ): another weird but very obscure style developed in 1970s, first at the Dzerzhinsky Military Academy (which currently goes by the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces) and later at the Moscow University of the MVD as UPO (acronym for a term meaning "Shock Disarming Techniques"note ) and was also said to have been taught to the Belarusian military. It was described as combat sambo with a heavy emphasis on striking instead of grappling, which was very limited as only strikes were used to finish off opponents and believed to be ineffective when dealing with multiple opponents, which made it vaguely similar to karate and taekwondo even more than ARB, especially in its competition form as it resembled Bōgutsuki Karate (full contact with all-round protective gear). Aside from training manuals published by its creators, there is very little information about the style as it never received official recognition by the Soviet army (which probably just classified it as either combat sambo or ARB) and some believe it was actually just a form of karate due to the USSR's 8 year ban on karate in the 1980s, during which several so-called "hand-to-hand fighting" styles popped up, which were actually karate groups that tried to get away with practicing karate under acronyms like NAPIZA ("attack and defense"), ZAINAPA ("defense and attack"), NAZABO ("unarmed attack and defense"), etc. Furthermore, many former practitioners later became karate and taekwondo practitioners, with one of the most notable being Georgiy Mikhaylovich Astaf'yev, the guy who brought Kyokushin to Siberia and Novosibirsk and was also a former "absolute" champion in Samboud among officers and cadets of the KGB of Novosibirsk in 1977 and 1978. Currently there are no official schools for this style and is mostly known as a curiosity among people interested in Russian martial arts, self-defense and hand-to-hand fighting.
- Samoz note or Samnote (acronym for an expression translated as "Self-Defense"note ): a style that was used before sambo was officially created and was a major part of its development. Created by Viktor Spiridonov who as listed above was a co-creator of sambo, his style was described as vaguely resembling Aikido due to its focus on stand-up grappling with emphasis on wrist and elbow locks above throws, sweeps and trips, though it did contain striking from arts like boxing and savate, as well as leglocks, head and body scissors and even spinal locks should the fight go to the ground and unlike modern aikido had randori-like training as he believed competition is the highest degree of training and the last stage of a fighter’s improvement and held the first competitions in 1929 at the now famous Dynamo Sports Club (of which he was among the founders), with them being described as mostly being a form of jacket wrestling. While the style in its original form no longer exists, aside from sambo and its derivatives listed here, it also formed the foundation of what is now famously known as "Systema" and all its own variations.
- Universal Fightnote or Unifightnote for short: another weird style that came about in the middle of the 1990s, originally called Russian Fightnote . It was originally a Soviet military training regime that somehow got turned into a combat sport by Olympic judo gold medalist Sergey Petrovich Novikov (also known as Serhiy Novikov), then got international attention when he started to promote this sport in a Russian television show program. It consists of two consecutive stages of physical challenge; the first requires the completion of an obstacle course that includes firing an airsoft or paintball gun and throwing a knife at a fixed target with the two fighters starting at the same time on parallel paths, the one who comes first gets one point though one automatically wins the match if the opponent cannot clear the course within a large enough margin, while the second stage is a one-on-one full contact fight in the ring or tatami mat in kurtkas and special cut long pants to match with headgear, gloves and footwear can consists of either special made shoes, foot guards or they can just go barefoot, the fight commences one minute after the first stage is completed with 3 to 5 rounds of 2 minutes, whoever knocks out or submits their opponent automatically wins the match. Techniques allowed in the second stage are actually quite similar to the RPB above. If the fight ends in the time limit victory is awarded to the fighter who scored more points in the biathlon. Tournaments are usually ten person elimination style with rest periods of at least 2 hours between two matches a day. It is broken down into three different divisions.
- Classic: basically the division that uses the rules mentioned above.
- Light: this division changes the fighting stage to basically jacket wrestling, with only throws being allowed and a clean throw wins outright.
- Pro: this division is kind of an anomaly as it is removes the obstacle course entirely and only includes fighting. Fighters wear short sleeved kurtkas and either long pants or shorts with gloves but without headgear. It allows striking on the ground, but only clean strikes are scored.
- Child: a version made for children from 10-13 years old in both Classic and Light divisions. It makes modifications to the obstacle course such as replacing the knife throwing with throwing tennis balls at a target instead. It also adds extra protection like chest protectors in the fighting stage and are fought in 2 rounds of 1 minute with the finals being 2 rounds of 1 minute and 30 seconds.
- RBM (acronym for a term meaning "Russian All-Round Fighting"note , which is what it is known as internationally): another weird style that mixes the modern combat sport approach and military fighting techniques of sambo with those of historic Russian folk styles of combat. Developed by Maksim Shatunov since 2003, it comprises of various styles of unarmed fighting, grappling, stick, bayonet and knife fighting, all of which are put to the test under full contact sparring. It features an "octathlon" of competitive fighting rules, with tournaments spread among two days; the first day features the first four events and the second features the last four. Fighters wear a jacket that sort of resembles a dobok from taekwondo, martial art belts, black gi pants, and shoes in every ruleset, headgear and gloves when striking and weapons are involved, shin protection when kicking is involved, chest protectors depending on age of competitor when striking is involved and always when weapons are involved, and a body armor jacket when stick and bayonet fighting. The events in order are;
- 1) Bayonet Fightingnote : fighting with a fake bayonet on wooden carbines, 2 minute time limit, first to 5 points wins, points are score by pushing the opponent out of the area, disarming the opponent, knocking down the opponent, and stabbing the opponent on protected parts of the body. Fighters are not allowed to striking with other parts of the carbine except for the bayonet blade, along with cutting blows with the bayonet, piercing blows with the bayonet on unprotected parts of the body, and any strikes or grappling with their own bodies are banned.
- 2) Stick Fightingnote : is actually fought more like saber fencing as the "stick" has a hilt and guard like a sword, 2 minute time limit, first to 5 points wins, points are score by pushing the opponent out of the area, disarming the opponent, knocking down the opponent, and hitting the opponent on protected parts of the body. Fighters are not allowed to stab with the stick, and any strikes or grappling with their own bodies are banned.
- 3) Knife Fightingnote : 2 minute time limit, first to 5 points wins, points are score by pushing the opponent out of the area, disarming the opponent, knocking down the opponent, stabbing or cutting the opponent on protected parts of the body. Fighters are not allowed to strike with the knife handle, and any strikes or grappling with their own bodies are banned.
- 4) Great Russian Wrestlingnote or simply Wrestlingnote : divided into three types each with 3 rounds of 2 minutes;
- 1. Beltnote : both hands always on opponent's belt, victory comes from putting opponent under oneself either on their back or side.
- 2. One-Handednote : one hand is always gripping the collar of the jacket, but allows for the other hand to get an additional grip to complete a throw, victory comes from putting opponent under oneself either on their back, side, or knees.
- 3. Freestylenote : the style's version of sport sambo, though it also allows standing submissions and chokes. It is possibly based on Vasili Oshchepkov’s original ruleset for sport sambo.
- 5) Kick Fightingnote : instead of just using the legs to kick and block, it interestingly allows clinching, leg catches and arm grabs (but all of those are only allowed with one hand, for no more than five seconds), kneeing, blocking with the hands, kicks from the grounded position, even soccer kicks and stomps (ones to the head of a prone opponent is considered a technical knockout).
- 6) Fisticuffsnote : based on traditional Russian bare-knuckle boxing that allows all sorts of punches (above the waist of course) like backfists (spinning or otherwise), hammerfists, elbows, forearm, shoulder, open hand and palm strikes, rabbit punches (punches to back of the head), fibbing (grabbing the headgear, the jacket's collar, or the back of the neck of the opponent, then pummelling them with the other hand), clinching and arm grabs (all three for no more then five seconds), and even ground-n-pound.
- 7) Hand-to-Hand Fightingnote : the style's version of ARB. It mostly focuses on striking with grappling limited to clinching, leg and arm grabs (for no more then five seconds), while soccer kicks and stomps to the head of a prone opponent is considered a technical knockout.
- 8) Storm Fightingnote : the style's version of combat sambo. Bouts are held in 3 rounds for beginners, 5 rounds for juniors or 7 rounds for adults with each round lasting 20 seconds.
- It also has another competitive format in the form of a Pentathlon; the first event is a 3km cross country run. The second is firing an air pistol from three different positions (standing, kneeling or sitting, and lying down). The third is a 100 or 110m obstacle course which features 10 obstacles that include logs, rope, fence, snake, ladder, burrow, window, wire, ditch and wall, and can be completed in any order with only 4 attempts are allowed, at all 10 obstacles, if the competitor makes a mistake for the fourth time, he is removed from the stage and doesn't score any points. The fourth is knife throwing which features throwing three knives in a row from stationary targets at 3, 5, and 7 meters away with the thrower having 10 seconds to hit the chest area. The fifth and final event is a 2 minute no holds barred fight. Fighters start standing opposite each other at a distance of 3m, with a wooden club in the middle of that distance that can be used as a weapon against each other. Fighters wearing helmets, MMA gloves, shin guards, shoes and groin cups. Almost all fighting techniques like punching, kicking, headbutts, elbows, knees, throws, sweeps, and submissions are allowed except targeting the spine, low blows with the club, biting, small joint manipulations, throwing the opponent on their head and twisting submissions. Winning is done by submission, knockout, kicking or stomping on a grounded opponent in the head, striking with the club to the head of a grounded opponent, striking 3 blows with the club on the opponent's head in the standing position, hitting 3 kicks to the opponent's head in the standing position, throwing or knocking down the opponent to the ground while remaining on his feet 3 times, based on points or judge's decision.
- Stenkanote : another weird style developed in the late 2000s by Valeriy Maistrovoy. Like RBM above, it is based on Russian traditional fighting sports, modernized by the influence of sambo and gets its name from one called "Stenka na senkou"note , which involves two teams of people linking up to form "walls" of themselves and fighting the other team to break up the other team's wall. Competitors wear kurtkas over customized camouflage shirts and gi pants, and can also go barefoot or wear shoes. There are three main rulesets for international competition;
- 1) Bor'ba: wrestling, throwing-only rules.
- 2) Sam na Sam: one-on-one full contact fighting, though it is just wrestling that also allows kicks and bare handed open hand and palm strikes, victory is earned by forcing the opponent to the ground, either though knockdowns, throws or sweeps and trips.
- 3) Stenka na Stenku: elimination style team fighting, teams usually consist of either 3 to 5 fighters in competitions. Before the fight begins, teams will first have their fighters stand in formation facing the other team, once the fight starts they can separate and attack any other member of the opposing team, with all members of both teams fighting at the same time and even allows gang ups on single fighters. Eliminations occur when fighters are forced to the ground by either knockdowns, throws or sweeps and trips. The fight ends when all members of one team are eliminated, with the survivor’s team winning. Techniques allowed are the same as Sam na Sam above.
- There are also several minor rulesets that are usually used in regional competitions and/or training sessions;
- 1. Bor'ba Za Vorotok: one-handed wrestling, competitors have one hand gripping the opponent's kurtka at all times, allows switching of hands gripping the kurtka though previous hand must let go immediately after, victory comes from unbalancing opponent till part of body that isn't the feet touch the floor or forcing them out of the marked area.
- 2. Odin na Odin: the style's version of ARB, fights lasts 2 minutes, victory is earned by KO or forfeit, only punches, kicks, knees and throws are allowed, as well as ground-and-pound (but not soccer kicks) with competitors also wearing open handed gloves and shin guards.
- 3. Stenka-Tsepka: team fighting mostly for training and recreation purposes, the standard version has two teams compete against each other in a close row, teams at minimum have two people each, though for fun and training, depending on the space of course, teams can also consist of twenty or more people as long as there are the same number on both teams. Team members will hook themselves by intertwining their hands at the elbows with the fighters standing next to them and form a tight formation together like a wall or a chain. Fighters have their the left feet in the front, while raising their arms as high as possible (since their hands are grasped at the elbow of their comrades) to protect their faces and grab their opponents with any free hands. Once the fight begins, both teams will move towards each other and to earn victory, must either attempt to break the other team's formation, force at least one member of the other team to touch the ground with any body part that is not the feet, or push the other team out of the marked area, with at least one member's foot enough to count. Another version has teams wear caps and to win the teams must take the caps off the heads of the opposing team.
- Aquathlonnote : not to be confused the multisport race consisting of continuous run and swim elements. Also known as Underwater Wrestling (which is arguably the more accurate translation of aquathlon), it is another weird Soviet wrestling style created by Igor Ostrovsky in the early 1980s, possibly inspired by Suijutsu, the Japanese martial art of combative swimming. It takes place in a 5-metre square ring within a swimming pool, and is made up of three 30-second rounds, with a fourth round played in the event of a tie. Competitors wear a swimsuit, a diving mask, fins made of rubber or polyurethane, a water polo cap and two ankle bands to which 2 coloured ribbons are fixed, with the goal being to take possession of the opponent's ribbon fixed on the ankles or grab the opponent's ankles, and bring it above the surface to win the round. Also competitors are first positioned on opposite sides and within the first 6 seconds of the round, the competitors must enter though a ring gate that is fixed in place, for this they receives 1 point, but can be prevented by the opponent from go though it and whoever does not let the opponent into the ring within 6 seconds wins the round. The winner is the one with the most points after 3 rounds. There are three referees in the water, one head judge and two line judges. The judges usually wear flippers, a diving mask and a snorkel. It now has five competition rulesets;
- Classic: the original format, with competitors being prohibited from striking each other, using submission holds, intentionally tear off the opponent's equipment, tearing off their our ribbons, and to snatch back the ribbon from the opponent's hands.
- Freestyle: almost the same as classic though flippers and diving masks are not used and competitors are instead positioned in the middle of the ring, two meters apart between them, disregarding the ring gate from classic, with the only way to score points is to take possession of the opponent's ribbon fixed on the ankles or grab the opponent's ankles, and bring it above the surface.
- SCUBA: competitors wear a diving mask, a 10kg weight belt, and diving cylinder with a breathing valve and they are positioned in the middle of the ring two metres apart between them, and feet touching the bottom of the pool. The goal is to push the opponent outside the ring area, which earns 1 point, which stops the clock to reposition and repeat until the round is over.
- Combat: takes place in not only underwater, but also afloat, above the water surface, both with or without diving gear, utilizing dummy weapons like rubber knives, bayonetted rifles, etc. and barehanded fighting, combined with grappling, choking and submission techniques in order to neutralize or submit the opponent allows intentionally tearing off the opponent's equipment. It is used in the training of rescuers and special forces soldiers.
- Gymnastics: underwater gymnastics and acrobatics exercises, as well as exercises on special underwater simulations.
- KC (acronym for a term meaning "Kombat Self-Defense"note , though English speaking countries use "Combat Self-Defense" as seen with the World Combat Self-Defense Association): a system that began development in 2006 before it got officially codified in 2010 solely for combat sports geared towards MMA and its competitions allow for representatives of other styles to compete. It is usually held on wrestling or tatami mats, but can also be done in a ring or cage. It is divided into several forms of rulesets;
- Demo-Defense: a category meant for demonstration of techniques instead of one-on-one combat, with the techniques being assessed on a 10-point scale, any errors reduce the score. It has 3 forms;
- Self-Defense: a demonstration self-defense techniques against armed and unarmed opponents.
- Attack-Tests: a demonstration and application complex consisting of three rounds of 30 seconds. Fighters, accompanied by assistants, shows off their technical skills in different areas of fighting in each round. The first round tests boxing skills on pads based on combinations with dodging and bobbing. The second round tests kicking and knee striking, also with dodging and bobbing. The third and final round tests wrestling skills based on throws and ground fighting.
- Shadow-Fights: a demonstration and application complex that tests all the areas of fighting and lasts about 30 to 60 seconds depending on competition requirements.
- Mix-Wrestling: submission grappling rules that consists of two rounds of 2 minutes each (1 minute and 30 seconds for ages 18 and under). The first round has fighters in either gi tops or kurtkas, while the second round is no-gi.
- Oriental-Combat: basically Kickboxing rules, specifically K-1/Oriental rules.
- Safe-Point: basically point-fighting with throws and three second clinching, fighters wear MMA gloves, helmets with plastic face covering, chest protectors, shin guards, either gi tops or kurtkas, and either shorts or gi pants.
- Safe-Combat: the most well known and definitive format of the system. Fighters wear the same equipment as Safe-Point above (except for chest protectors for boys above the age of 12 and some events will allow fighters to wear t-shirts instead of the gi top or kurtka) and bouts consists of two rounds with each rounds duration based on what class they fight in. Е-class use 45 seconds, D-class use 1 minute, С-class and B-Class use 1 minute 30 seconds, А-class use 2 minutes, though breaks between rounds are 30 seconds. Allowed techniques include punches, kicks, knee and elbow (to the body) strikes, along with sweeps, takedowns, throws, submissions (on the ground only) and ground-and-pound (though D-class bans it while E-class bans groundfighting in general) though only 3 strikes to the head are allowed before the fighters are stood up, kicks, elbows and knees allowed to the body and legs of a grounded opponent, while groundfighting for submissions has a 10 second limit, and it also uses the 10 knockdown count. Strangely, chokes were originally banned due to concerns that the plastic face covering of the helmets would make them too dangerous to use, but were eventually allowed.
- Mix-Combat: basically amateur MMA rules including going shirtless and helmets are open faced, just done in 2 rounds of three minutes each (tournament finals however use three rounds) and uses the same point system as Safe-Combat as well as its allowed techniques.
- Free-Combat: same as above, but disallows ground-and-pound.
- Light-Combat: same as above, but knee strikes are limited to the body, punches to the head must be light contact with only a series of three punches to the head at a time are allowed and bouts are two rounds of 1 minute 30 seconds each with a 30 second break in between.
- Demo-Defense: a category meant for demonstration of techniques instead of one-on-one combat, with the techniques being assessed on a 10-point scale, any errors reduce the score. It has 3 forms;
- KE (acronym for a term meaning "Complex/Comprehensive Martial Arts"note ): a weird format created in the 1990s, though was only officially codified in 2003. It actually consists of two versions, both of different origins, yet both came together under the same federation due to their similarities. Both are fought on either a tatami or wrestling mat.
- SP (acronym for a term meaning "Sports Applied"note ): This version was developed in 1996 at the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and is the more well known one. Bouts consists of two rounds of 3 minutes each with a one minute break in between. The first round has fighters wear boxing gloves, headgear, shorts and chest protectors, with the option of wearing shin guards and even wrestling shoes, allowed techniques consists only of punches and kicks above the waist (no kicks with the shin) and no clinch-fighting, making it similar to American Full Contact Rules though it bans "straight" and "chop" kicks to the head and uses a two knockdown system. The second round has fighters remove the gloves, headgear and chest protectors (and shin guards if used, though it also lets one keep on their wrestling shoes if used), and its rules are basically no kurtka sambo as it bans chokes, neck cranks, wristlocks, hammerlocks, heel hooks and toe holds, and submissions can only be done on the ground with a time limit of 1 minute for groundfighting and no closed guard, but it requires two picture perfect throws for 'total victory' instead of one. The winner is also determined by the largest number of points scored or by knockout in the first round or submission in the second.
- UP (acronym for a term meaning "Universal Full Contact"note ): This version was developed in 1992 at the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Bouts consists of three rounds of 2 minutes each with a one minute break in between. Fighters wear boxing gloves, shorts, with the option of wearing shin guards or not and different events will mandate headgear or not. Allowed techniques are basically all the allowed techniques of the other version above, just mixing both of the rounds together into a more combat sambo-like bout, with a few differences like a 10 second limit to turn clinching into throws and for submissions to be locked on with groundfighting before a reset to standing position (though with a time limit of 30 seconds to complete the submission instead of 1 minute), also ground-and-pound and striking in the clinch is not allowed. Winning is generally the same as the above though fighters can also win with three knockdowns or three picture perfect throws spread over seperate rounds.
- Submission Arts Wrestlingnote : a Japanese submission wrestling system developed in the 1980s by Hidetaka Aso, whose competition rules are based heavily around sport sambo, but also mixed in other influences from judo and catch wrestling. Was previously just Submission Arts for about a year before adding "Wrestling" at the end and is also known as SAW for short. It is very similar to Freestyle Sambo, years before that format ever existed, with a slightly different point system and No-Gi, as fighters wear t-shirts and compression shortsnote with a belt around their waists (no holding of the belt allowed) and no shoes, though some events in the 1990s had fighters wear customised amateur wrestling singlets with the style's name on it and modern bouts allow fighters to wear other fight shorts. Matches last 5 minutes (championship bouts have two rounds, both 5 minutes), does not have the total victory throw condition with picture picture throws being 5 points (the only other action that earns this many points is by lifting a grounded opponent complete off the ground), uses a 10 point or more advantage system instead of 8 (or 12)note and pinning for 20 seconds scores 3 points, while 1 point is given for a 10-15 second pin. Allowed techniques include all types of throws and submissions can only be done on the ground, with the only banned ones being neck cranks that involve holding only the neck with hands (like can openers), though it also prohibits pulling guard and other defensive postures that don't apply any technique and/or display no intent to attack, also unlike sport sambo one can get points from pushing the opponent out of the wrestling mat (not applicable for bouts in a ring). It is mostly found in only in Japan, with a few other select places like Australia and Puerto Rico.
- SAW Special Rulesnote or SAW SP Rules: a ruleset that adding striking when standing only. Originally it was based on shoot style wrestling, with fighters being bare knuckle and wearing "legger" shin guards, with punches to the body only, though palm strikes were allowed to the head, and kicks and knee strikes to anywhere but the joints, but it eventually switched to using MMA gloves to allow punches to the head. It also has a version that have fighters wear judogis, which is referred to as Japan Sport Jiu-Jitsu Rulesnote or Budo Jiu-Jitsu Rulesnote .
- Combat Wrestlingnote : the "other" Japanese submission wrestling system based heavily on sport sambo and other grappling influences like catch and Olympic wrestling developed in the 1990s by Noriaki Kiguchi. Similar to SAW above, it is disallows standing submissions, scores throws and pins, does not have the total victory throw win condition, and is No-Gi with fighters being topless (though modern bouts allow them to wear rash guards) while wearing only shorts and wrestling or sambo shoes. Its main differences is that it scores taking the mount position, getting back control and locking on submission attempts, has a groundfighting limit of 30 seconds if fighters don't improve their position or attempt a submission, prohibits headscissoring, neck cranks, heel hooks (they used to be legal, but were eventually taken out), hip and spinal locks, uses a 12 point or more advantage system, bans the closed guard (unless it is the semi-finals or finals bouts), and quarter-finals bouts last 4 minutes, semi-finals bouts last 5 minutes, while finals bouts last two rounds of 3 minutes each (in Japan, international competitions however use a fixed 4 or 5 minute bout). The style has long with associated with the Shooto promotion as Kiguchi trained with Sayama and many Shooto alumni first competed in combat wrestling before going on to fight in Shooto (and some competing in both at the same time), and the style eventually became an international sport in 2014 with the International Combat Wrestling Federationnote (FICW, for some unexplained reason).
Appearances in media
- Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight!: Appears during the first round of the Tournament Arc: Olga Zelenskaya practices sambo against Filipino fighter Michelle Batista, who specializes in silat. The fight is portrayed as an exercise in Combat Pragmatism: Batista ends up breaking Zelenskaya's arm after she tries to cheat by striking at Batista's nose and pubis against tournament rules.
- The High School Exciting Story: Tough manga features some practitioners of sambo based on real life wrestlers.
- Kengan Ashura: Kengan Omega features Tokumichi Tokuno'o (or Nitoku), a Brilliant, but Lazy Japanese fighter who learned and mastered sambo at 20 when he went to study literature in Russia. Despite being one of the best fighters in the world and could have a fortune by fighting in the Kengan tournaments, he is a Starving Artist, as he only fights for the bare minimum money to continue writing and publishing his books (which were all flops).
- Nikolai from Undisputed II: Last Man Standing is all but stated to be a former sambist. Sambo is also implied to be among Yuri Boyka's martial arts.
- The incredibly grappling-rich John Wick series stars an eponymous character played by Keanu Reeves whose main fighting style is a combination of sambo grappling and Center Axis Relock shooting. Throughout the movies, he disposes of innumerable mooks with a combination of Gun Fu and grappling moves, and at one point in the first movie gets to take part in a full-fledged grapplefest with a Dark Action Girl. The third film reveals that he's a Belarusian sambist.
- In the third Never Back Down film, a Russian PRIDE veteran is brought to train Brody in sambo leglocks. Only that he's actually a mole sent to cripple him.
Live-Action TV
- Burn Notice: Discussed in "Comrades", where protagonist Michael Westen deliberately picks a fight with Mafiya enforcer Ivan to shore up a Trojan Cellmate Ploy to break up a human trafficking operation: he explains in his narration that "If you say you're Russian, but fight like an American, you can consider your cover blown. Which means you'd better know Sambo, the mixed martial art of Russia."
"Of course, you also have to win the fight. A great cover I.D. doesn't help much if you're dead."
- Jason Chambers and Bill Duff of Human Weapon traveled to Russia to train in various styles of sambo, with their trip culminating in Bill going up against a fighter handpicked by MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.
- Fatal Fury and its derivatives The King Of Fighters features Mary Ryan, better known as Blue Mary, who was trained in sambo by her lover Butch, a secret serviceman. She utilizes a lot of flying jointlocks.
- Tekken features Sergei Dragunov as a Spetsnaz agent and combat sambo practitioner investigating the events of the games in Japan. His fighting style is a rushdown powerhouse with a lot of throws, strikes and takedowns.
- The Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation and its many derivatives had many sambo fighters doing pro wrestling for them, starting with renowned Dutch champion Chris Dolman. Its outshoot Fighting Netork RINGS had entire teams of those, with names like Volk Han and Andrei Kopylov standing out in its Russian branch.
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling mainstay Hiroshi Hase learned sambo in the USSR and used several of its moves. His trainee, Kendo Kashin, got a lot of his moveset from the same place.
- The late Fumihiro "Sambo" Asako was a sambist turned wrestler in FMW.
- Goldberg had some sambo influence on his moveset, including some rolling leglocks he learned in tapes.
- Tom Howard, an American wrestler with a sambo background, made usage of his sweeps and leglocks in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling ZERO1.
- Kaientai Dojo junior Makoto Oshi also had a background in sambo, and uses its suplexes in the ring. He even used to go under the name of Sambo Oishi.
- Boris Alexiev, the old shooter gimmick of Santino Marella, was billed as a practitioner of sambo (and several other styles).
- After he was moved to WWECW, Vladimir Kozlov started wearing red robes and gear reflecting his real life sambo background, although he used little actual sambo in his wrestling style.
- In the The Clone Wars, the clones' hand-to-hand fighting style was patterned after sambo, including the signature Victor Koga Roll entry.
Tropes associated with sambo
- The Ace:
- Alexander Fedorov, a legendary sambist who won gold at the first European and World Sambo Championships.
- The half-Japanese, half-Russian Shoichi "Victor" Koga, who is said to have never been beaten in competition.
- Murat Ruslanovich Khasanov, the only male 11-time world champion in the heavyweight division in sport sambo and is additional an 8-time World Cup Winner, a 7-time European champion and a whooping 19-time Russian champion. Considered to be one of the greatest practitioners of Sambo, was captain of the Russian National Team in Sambo for over a decade, he did not suffer a single defeat from 1997 to the end of his career and is now a member of the FIAS Hall of Fame.
- Irina Rodina, the only female 11-time world champion in the women's heavyweight division in sport sambo, making her the most titled female practitioner in the sport and is a member of the FIAS Hall of Fame. She is known to pro wrestling fans as the winner of All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling's U★TOP Tournament in 1996.
- Svetlana Galante, a 7-time women's world champion, 8-time winner of the women's World Cup in the 72 kg division and another member of the FIAS Hall of Fame.
- Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, the most prolific FIAS Combat Sambo competitor as a 6-time world champion.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Sport sambo's ruleset emphasizes explosive entries into throws and takedowns, strong top control, and fast submissions (as those can only be applied when the opponent is on the ground already).
- Based on a Great Big Lie: For many years the official story of sambo's creation was solely credited to Anatoly Kharlampiyev and while he has made legitimate contributions to the sport such as the current ruleset for sport sambo and established it as a sport since 1938, etc, he left out the influence of his trainer Vasili Oshchepkov's own system based on Judo and Viktor Spiridonov's Samoz which inspired the name of his sport. It took the collapse of the USSR and extensive research by sambo historians to uncover the truth, though some have theorised that Anatoly had to cover up history in order to legitimise sambo as the USSR had his trainer jailed and executed under the belief that he was a spy for the Japanese and the government was cracking down on foreign influences at the time and would have never been approved as a sport unless he covered up the judo influence.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: A few practitioners of other grappling arts (usually judokas) have had success in sambo competition.
- Chris Dolman was a Dutch judoka and amateur wrestler, student of the great Jon Bluming himself and regular training partner of Olympic gold medalist Wim Ruska, who had never even heard of sambo before his first tournament which was the 1969 World Cup. He processed to win it and then went on to win the World Championships in 1985, the first non-Russian to do so. It is also reported he relied on his judo and amateur wrestling expertise and whatever he could learn in sambo tournaments until the 80s and since there were no sambo competitions in The Netherlands until the 90s, he spent that time competing in Israel (though he also made a short detour to the USA) where he formally trained in the sport under Israeli pioneer Josef Roytman and cleaned house.
- Kaneo Iwatsuri, an apprentice of Masahiko Kimura once entered a sambo competition in the form of the Moscow International Sambo Tournament in 1969 and won in his division.
- Nobuyuki Sato, a prolific judoka and two-time world judo champion also took home gold at 1972 European sambo championships.
- Clothing Combat: Like judo, the kurtka is a weapon. Its lapels and sleeves can be used to choke out either the wearer or his opponent. Subverted in sport sambo since it bans chokes, but other formats like combat sambo allow them.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Despite sambo's reputation for its appeal for leglocks, sport sambo bans heel hooks. Originally combat sambo allowed them, but recent rule changes have taken them out too.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Played With as the reason the Japanese took to sambo as they did similarly with Catch Wrestling was a series of matches in 1962 between a team of Russian sambists versus a team of Japanese judokas under judo rules held in Japan, with the Japanese team barely coming out on top by one match, with the rest of the Japan seeing this and thought "those Russian dudes were awesome, we definitely need to learn what they do." and sent Victor Koga to learn their methods and set up the Japan Sambo Federation in 1965, the first sambo federation outside the Soviet bloc.
- Girl-Show Ghetto: While sport sambo had women competing in it since it became an official sport, combat sambo competitions for women only began in 2015.
- Handicapped Badass: Like judo, sambists rely on sensing their opponent's weight through their limbs rather than on sight, so visually impaired people can enjoy the sport with only slight modifications to the rules (contestants must remain gripped up at all times). Official competitions for them only started in 2017 though.
- Martial Artists Are Always Barefoot: Subverted, like amateur wrestling, sambo mandates the use of shoes in competition. The World Combat Sambo Federation does however allow fighters the option to either wear shoes or go barefoot under their rules.
- Mirroring Factions: In 1993, the 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 and held separate competitions. In 2005, FILA reached an agreement with FIAS "West" and re-assumed sanctioning over sport sambo (but not combat sambo) in the west. However, in 2008, FILA again discontinued sanctioning sambo and with FIAS "East" gaining full control of its Western branches to become the official and only FIAS today.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Ivan Vasilievich Vasilyev, another student of Oshchepkov and the father of Combat Sambo, does not get mentioned as much as Spiridonov, Oshchepkov, and Kharlampiyev in most tellings of the history of sambo.
- One-Hit Kill/Instant-Win Condition: Has its own version of Judo's Ippon throws, which is translated into English and known as "Total Victory", the main difference from judo's version is that the thrower must remain standing.
- Rival Dojos: Sort of, before its official creation, contrary to popular belief, the co-founders of sambo Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov never actually developed the fighting system together or even met. In fact Spiridonov opposed Oshchepkov's methods and objected to the police and militia being taught this version of self-defense and even tried to have Oschepkov's instruction program shut down, with some speculating that he may have been the one that got Oshchepkov arrested. It was also reported that a few students of Oshchepkov beat a few of Spiridonov's in sparring and when Spiridonov heard of this, he forbid his students from further interactions with Oshchepkov's.
- Rolling Attack: Sort of, sport sambo popularised the use of rolling in takedowns, since submissions can only be done on a grounded opponent.
- Use Your Head: Combat Sambo allows headbutts as long as the helmets are on both fighters. Subverted with the version used by the World Combat Sambo Federation as they don't use helmets.