Sambo
СамбоA Soviet wrestling style in the kurtka with throws and locks on the arms and legs, without chokes. A sport since 1938, FIAS has had full IOC recognition since 2021, not at the Olympics.
Quick Facts
RussiaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Comparisons
Catalogs & Databases for Sambo
About Sambo
Sambo emerged in the Soviet Union in the twenties and thirties, when the Red Army and other services developed it for close combat. The name is explained as an abbreviation of the Russian samozashchita bez oruzhiya, self-defence without weapons. It has no single founder: the pioneers were Viktor Spiridonov, who in 1923 co-founded the Moscow Dynamo and organised a self-defence section there, and Vasily Oshchepkov, the first Russian with a 2nd dan in judo from the Kodokan. Oshchepkov died in prison in October 1937 during the Great Purge. His student Anatoly Kharlampiev presented sambo to the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sport, which recognised it as an official sport on 16 November 1938.
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Sport sambo is wrestling in the kurtka with throws, holds and locks on the arms and legs. The FIAS rules allow painful holds only against an opponent on the ground and forbid chokes. A throw scores 4, 2 or 1 points depending on the landing, and a hold for 20 seconds 4 points. Total victory is brought by a clean throw (perfect throw), a submission or a lead of 8 points. Combat sambo adds strikes, kicks and chokes, and the competitor wears a helmet, gloves and shin guards. In sport sambo the fight takes place in a red or blue kurtka with a belt, in shorts and soft shoes. Sambo does not use coloured belts, and the title Master of Sport is awarded for competition results. The international wrestling federation FILA took over sambo in 1968, and the separate federation FIAS was founded in 1985. The World Championships have been held since 1973. In July 2021 FIAS received full recognition from the International Olympic Committee, and sambo is not at the Olympic Games. It was in the programme of the World Games in 1985 and 1993 and of the European Games in 2019 in Minsk.
History
Sambo arose in the RSFSR and the USSR in the twenties and thirties of the 20th century, when the Red Army and other services developed it for close combat. It has no single founder. Viktor Spiridonov (1882–1944) studied jujutsu by self-study from 1906, in 1923 co-founded the Moscow Dynamo and led a self-defence section there, and in February 1929 held the first jacket-wrestling championship there. Vasily Oshchepkov (1893–1937) became in 1917 the first Russian to receive a nidan at the Kodokan, taught in Moscow from 1929 and died in prison in October 1937 during the Great Purge. Oshchepkov’s student Anatoly Kharlampiev presented sambo to the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sport, which recognised it as an official sport on 16 November 1938 by decision no. 633. Sources state that the name sambo became established in 1947 on Kharlampiev’s initiative, but Spiridonov had already used a similar name.
Technique
Sport sambo is wrestling in the kurtka with throws, holds and painful holds on the arms and legs. The 2023 FIAS rules allow painful holds only against an opponent on the ground, in standing they are forbidden, and a leg hold must end as soon as the opponent stands up. Forbidden are chokes, locks on the spine and neck, holds on the fingers, heel twisting, leg knots, the knee lock against the joint and scissors on the knee and ankle. A throw onto the back scores 4 points, onto the side 2, onto the chest, belly or buttocks 1 point. A hold for 20 seconds scores 4 points, and for 10 to 19 seconds 2 points. Total victory is brought by a clean throw (perfect throw), a submission or a lead of 8 points. Combat sambo under the 2023 FIAS rules adds strikes and chokes, awards points also for a knockdown, and a match can end by knockout. Freestyle sambo was introduced by the American Sambo Association in 2004 and allows chokes.
Training
We have not been able to document the structure of an ordinary lesson or the ratio of throws and groundwork, as the FIAS rules describe only competition. Lapaeva et al. (Translational Sports Medicine, 2025) surveyed 61 injured adults, of whom 74% wrestled in sambo and 26% in judo. The injuries affected the knee in 39.3%, the shoulder in 31.1% and the elbow in 26.2% of respondents, most often an anterior cruciate ligament rupture (24.5%) and a meniscus injury (21.3%), and 44% were treated surgically. Rapid weight loss before a competition was associated with injury in competition (OR 5.59). The study examined only injured athletes and does not report results for sambo separately. We have not found the incidence of injuries in sambo. Tron, Ilyin and Bitsyura (2013) tested 94 combat sambo competitors aged 18 to 30, and tests of wrestling skills were most closely related to performance.
Ranks and progression
Sambo does not use coloured belts. Instead, competition ranking applies, and for results the title Master of Sport is awarded, by FIAS, FKE, the International Combat Sambo Federation and the American Sambo Association. We have not found mutual recognition of titles between these organisations. A competitor’s path leads through the FIAS age categories from cadets (14–16 years) through youth and juniors to adults, and from age 35 to masters. The title Master of Sport in sambo is held, for example, by Oleg Taktarov, who also holds a 3rd dan in judo.
Who it suits
The 2023 FIAS rules have the categories cadets 14–16 years, youth 16–18, juniors 18–20, adults from age 18 and masters from age 35. The 2015 rules also had younger categories 11–12 and 13–14 years and required written parental consent for moving to the neighbouring age group. A match of adults and juniors lasts 5 minutes, of youth and cadets 4 minutes, of masters 4 minutes and over age 65 3 minutes. The rules of sport sambo forbid chokes in all categories. FIAS organises combat sambo only for juniors and adults. Women wrestle in the kurtka with a white T-shirt. We have not found a children’s injury study or a statement from doctors on sambo.
Competition
The international wrestling federation FILA adopted sambo as an international wrestling style, in 1966 according to FIAS and in 1964 according to Britannica, and in 1969 it held the first World Cup. The first world championship took place in 1973 in Tehran and was won by the Soviet Union. According to its own history, the separate federation FIAS was founded on 13 June 1984 in Madrid at an assembly of delegates from 56 countries, and its first president was Fernando Compte. In 1994–2005 it was split into FIAS East and FIAS West. FILA ceased to oversee sambo in 2008, and in 2014 the two federations signed a cooperation agreement. FIAS has organised the world championship in combat sambo since 2001, or 2002, as the sources differ on the year. From 2003 to 2006 the championships in combat and sport sambo took place in different cities, and since 2007 each year has had one host city for both forms. Combat sambo competitions are also organised by the World Combat Sambo Federation (WCSF).
Gear
In sport sambo, the 2023 FIAS rules prescribe a red or blue cotton kurtka of a special cut with a cotton belt, red or blue shorts and shoes of soft fabric. Women wear a white T-shirt under the kurtka. Hard objects are not allowed in a match, and a bandage or tape on the knee must be covered by an elastic sleeve in the colour of the clothing. In combat sambo, a helmet with an open chin and face is added, gloves for strikes and holds, shin guards, a mouthguard, for men a groin guard and for women a chest guard, all in the colour of the kurtka.
Philosophy
Sambo arose from a practical purpose. According to the World Games, it was introduced from the 1920s to improve soldiers' close-combat training. The international federation FIAS today describes sambo as a sport accessible to all, open to new ideas and supporting the Olympic ideal. Its president Vasily Shestakov said that the philosophy of sambo rests on education that develops ethics, determination and self-control. The FIAS Code of Ethics of 7 October 2016 names among its basic principles respect for human dignity, non-discrimination, non-violence, friendship, mutual assistance and fair play. It requires competitors to respect opponents, referees and spectators, to accept defeat with composure and not to dispute the decisions of referees. It forbids arranging the result of a bout and betting on sambo competitions. The code calls the winners and the other competitors models of the educational values of sambo.
Styles and schools
FIAS recognises three competitive disciplines, sport, combat and beach sambo, all for men and women. It also names other branches, for example fitness sambo, sambo for special services, for people with disabilities, or school sambo. According to the FIAS rules of 2023, sport sambo consists of throws, holds and painful holds, while chokes and strikes are forbidden. Competitors wear a red or blue jacket with a cotton belt, shorts and soft shoes, and women also a white T-shirt. A bout lasts five minutes for adults and juniors, and four for youth and cadets. Combat sambo adds strikes and chokes. Bouts are fought in a jacket, shorts, an open-chin helmet, gloves and shin guards. A knockdown is worth 4 points, and a bout is ended early by a knockout or two knockdowns. According to the European Sambo Federation, the first world championship in combat sambo took place in 2002 in Panama. According to the World Games, beach sambo has three-minute bouts without ground fighting and without penalties, and a bout lasts until the first scored technique. The first world championship in beach sambo took place in 2021.
Today
In July 2021 FIAS received full IOC recognition after roughly three years of provisional recognition. Sambo is not at the Olympic Games, and the claim that it was a demonstration sport at the 1980 Olympics is a common error. It was in the programme of the World Games in 1985 in London and in 1993 in The Hague, in June 2021 it returned among the members of the IWGA, and in June 2019 it was at the European Games in Minsk. At the 1964 Olympic judo tournament the USSR won four bronze medals, and the medallists included the USSR sambo champions Oleg Stepanov and Ārons Bogoļubovs. Oleg Taktarov won UFC 6 in 1995. Fedor Emelianenko won four world titles in combat sambo (2002–2007) and in 2003 the Pride heavyweight title. Khabib Nurmagomedov is a WCSF world champion in combat sambo from 2009 and 2010. In the USA the rise of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the nineties slowed the growth of sambo.
In culture
For the 85th anniversary of sambo, the film Legend of Sambo by director Andrey Bogatyrev opened in Russian cinemas on 16 November 2023. It is set in Moscow in 1936 and portrays the founders of sambo Viktor Spiridonov, Vasily Oshchepkov and Anatoly Kharlampiev. According to the agency TASS, the director stressed that it is not a documentary but a film about the people who created the sport. The Soviet director Yuri Boretsky dedicated the film Nepobedimyj of 1983 to the memory of Anatoly Kharlampiev, and it is set in the 1920s.
Did you know
Britannica translates the name sambo as self-defence without weapons, and according to the World Games it is a Russian abbreviation. According to the European Sambo Federation, the art was at first called sam, free wrestling or samoz, and the official name settled in the 1940s. FIAS celebrates 16 November 1938 as the birthday of sambo. The first open European championship took place in 1972 in Riga, the first world championship in 1973 in Tehran, and the first world championship for women in 1983 in Madrid. The year in which the international wrestling federation FILA recognised sambo differs among the sources: Britannica gives 1964, FIAS 1966.
Styles & Branches
A competitive form of sambo that adds strikes, elbows, knees and chokes to throws and joint locks. Under the FIAS rules, bouts are fought in a helmet and protectors from age 18.
Standing sambo on sand under the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS). Bouts last three minutes, a throw onto the sand wins, groundwork, joint locks and chokes are not allowed.
Self-defence system of Viktor Spiridonov, who from 1923 led a section in the Dynamo society. It is one of the sources of sambo, and the abbreviation sambo is attributed to him.
Frequently asked questions
What is sambo?
According to Britannica, sambo is a form of wrestling and self-defense that arose in the Soviet Union in the 1930s from elements of several regional styles and resembles judo and free wrestling. The FIAS describes it as a system of unarmed self-defense that combines wrestling with martial arts from around the world.
What does the word sambo mean?
The name sambo is a Russian abbreviation of words meaning self-defense without weapons. According to the European Sambo Federation, the official name became established in the 1940s.
What is the difference between sport sambo and combat sambo?
Sport sambo consists of throws, holds and painful locks, and strikes and chokes are not allowed in it. According to the 2023 FIAS rules, combat sambo allows strikes and chokes, competitors wear a helmet and gloves, and a knockdown is worth 4 points.
Is sambo an Olympic sport?
Sambo is not on the Olympic program. The International Olympic Committee granted FIAS provisional recognition in November 2018 and full recognition in July 2021. Sambo is on the program of the World Games, most recently in 2025 in Chengdu.
When did sambo originate?
FIAS names 16 November 1938 as sambo's birthday, when the Soviet All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sport recognized it as an official sport. It had been developing since the 1920s, however, as close combat training for soldiers.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.