Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Sambo
Sambo is an acronym (in Russian) for “Self-Defense without Weapons”
(Samo borona bez oruzhija or Samozashchitija bez oruzhija).
Sambo is a Russian martial art that was created by Anatolij A. Kharlampiev,
Viktor A. Spiridonov, and Vasilij S. Oshchepkov in the 1930s in
the former Soviet Union. It is a fighting style that relies primarily on
throws, grappling techniques, and arm and leg locks. In many respects, it
is similar to jûdô, freestyle wrestling, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Sambo
is a synthesis of traditional wrestling styles and fighting systems practiced
by the peoples of the former Soviet Union, as well as Kôdôkan Jûdô. Today,
sambo exists as military sambo, sport sambo, and self-defense techniques.
It is practiced worldwide as a sport and combat system and is used
extensively by Russian police units and armed forces.
Sambo was developed to create both an unarmed combat system for
the Soviet military and police units and a sport system for Soviet citizens.
Following the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the newly formed Communist
government of the Soviet Union attempted to consolidate various cultural
elements of the peoples of the USSR into a monolithic cultural entity. The
Communist dogma of the period focused on different classes of peoples,
rather than nationalities, and one of the stated purposes of the Bolsheviks
was the elimination of classes. This was emphasized in the Soviet government’s
objective of creating a new “Soviet Man” from the more than 300
diverse nationalities living in the vast country. This led to efforts to create
“Soviet” music, literature, art, architecture, theater, and sport.
The creation of sambo was an attempt to create a true “Soviet” fighting
art consistent with the government’s objectives of creating one “Soviet”
culture from the disparate native cultures of the USSR. To promote this objective,
the fighting styles of various cultures were studied, observed, and
categorized, sometimes in a scientific manner, sometimes in a haphazard
way. Anatolij Kharlampiev, who was recognized during Soviet times as the
“father of sambo,” spearheaded some of these efforts. There is controversy
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