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Description

Sambo (Russian: сaмбо, pronounced [ˈsambə]) is a martial art with Soviet origins, an internationally practised combat sport, and a recognized style of amateur wrestling included by UWW in the World Wrestling Championships along with Graeco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling. It originated in the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union. The word sambo is an acronym of samozashchita bez oruzhiya (Russian: самозащита без оружия), which literally translates to 'self-defence without weapons'. SAMBO is a martial art and combat sport developed and used by the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. The sport is similar in many ways to judo and jiu jitsu but also incorporates different types of wrestling and various self-defence systems. Soviet martial arts expert Vasili Oshchepkov is credited as one of the founding fathers of SAMBO.

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