There are a number of martial arts styles and schools of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

origin. Traditional Russian fist fighting has existed since the 1st millennium AD. It was outlawed in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1832. However, it has seen a resurgence after the break-up of the Soviet Union. During the

Soviet era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

, the government wanted to create both military hand-to-hand combat systems and combat sports, resulting in the creation of

sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

. During the 1980s and after the

fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

the interest in the folk martial arts was reawakened. Through ethnographic study, many new styles based on the folk styles appeared.

Russian fist fighting

Russian fist fighting (

- Кулачный бой ''Kulachniy boy'' "fist fighting, pugilism) is the traditional

bare-knuckle boxing Bare-knuckle boxing (or simply bare-knuckle) is a combat sport which involves two individuals throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time without any boxing gloves or other form of padding on their hands. It is a regulated ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. The earliest accounts concerning the sport date to the 13th century.

Sambo

Sambo ( rus, са́мбо, p=ˈsambə; ) is a Russian

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

and

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opp ...

. The word "SAMBO" is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

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 The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. Intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts, sambo has roots in Japanese

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, international styles of wrestling, plus traditional folk styles of

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

such as: Armenian kokh, Georgian chidaoba, Romanian trîntǎ, Tatar

köräş 'HISTORY OF KURASH'' Kurash is an ancient type of upright jacket grappling which originated in the territory of modern Uzbekistan. According to the latest scientific research the age of Kurash is at least three and a half thousand years. Kurash is ...

, Uzbek kurash, Mongolian khapsagay and Azerbaijani gulesh. The pioneers of sambo were Viktor Spiridonov and Vasili Oshchepkov. Oshchepkov died in prison as a result of the political purges of 1937 after accusations of being a Japanese spy. Oshchepkov spent much of his life living in Japan and training in judo under its founder

Kano Jigoro Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

. The two Russians independently developed two different styles which eventually cross-pollinated and became what is known as Sambo. Compared to Oshchepkov's judo-based system, then called "Freestyle Wrestling," Spiridonov's style was softer and less strength dependent. This was in large part due to Spiridonov's injuries sustained during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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

Systema

Systema (, literally meaning ''The System'') is a Russian martial art. Training includes, but is not limited to: hand-to-hand combat, grappling, knife fighting, and firearms training. Training involves drills and sparring without set kata.

ARB

ARB ( rus, Армейский Рукопашный Бой; ; 'Army Hand-to-Hand Combat') is a Russian martial art of training for protection and attack receptions that incorporated many functional elements from an arsenal of individual hand-to-hand combat and martial arts from around the world, and has been used in real fighting activities.

References

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