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Upravlenije; State Intelligence Agency) was the military secret police responsible
for military espionage and intelligence operations. Today military
sambo is still the self-defense system taught to select army units and to
agents of various intelligence services of the Russian Federation. It is a martial
art designed for combat situations.
Military sambo includes choke holds, strikes with the hands and feet,
disarming techniques, and elbow strikes, in addition to sport sambo techniques,
described later in this entry. Choke holds are attempts to cut off the
air supply, blood supply, or both from the torso to the head. This is usually
achieved through blocking the windpipe or squeezing the carotid arteries.
Although not legal in sport sambo, these devastating techniques can be
very effective in combat situations.
Although striking is secondary in sambo, military sambo practitioners
are taught strikes and how to use them to their advantage, especially when
setting up for a throw or a hold. A strike by the elbow into the face or a
stomp with the edge of the foot along the shin can often disrupt an opponent
enough to allow a finishing hold. In addition, practitioners are taught
unarmed combat techniques against knives, clubs, and firearms. Learning
how to disarm an opponent is critical in combat situations, and military
sambo practitioners are expected to be proficient in this skill.
Self-defense sambo is taught to the city police (“militia”) and civilians
interested in protecting themselves. It is not as involved or complex as sport
or military sambo, and consists primarily of techniques to handle certain
types of physical attacks. An analogy would be that of a person taking a
basic self-defense course or rape-prevention course.
The rules of sport sambo were codified during the 1930s, and the art
was formally recognized as an official sport of the Soviet Union in 1938. In
1939, the first sambo championships in the USSR were held in Leningrad
(St. Petersburg). In 1968, the art was recognized by the International Amateur
Wrestling Federation (FILA) as a discipline of wrestling, and in 1973
the first world championships were held in Teheran, Iran. Sambo was also
a demonstration sport entry in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Sport
sambo continues to grow as an international sport and is practiced worldwide.
Although it is most popular in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe,
and nations of the former Soviet Union, the number of sambists in the
Americas, Japan, and the Middle East is growing. Sport sambo can be seen
in the United States in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) competitions and is
also an event in the Pan-American games. There are also All-European
sambo championships as well as All-Russian and World Cup championships.
The growth of sport sambo has provided impetus for discussions
of its inclusion in the Olympic Games as a medal event.
Sport sambo is similar to jûdô in many respects. Sambo practitioners
Sambo 511