Sambo (Russian: са́мбо, IPA: [ˈsambə]; самозащита без оружия) is a Russian martial art and combat sport. It originated in the Russian SFSR or Soviet Union.

The word “SAMBO” is a shortening of samozashchita bez oruzhiya, which literally translates as “self-defence without weapons”. Sambo is relatively modern, since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. It was intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts.

Sambo has two traditional training methods, 1 with a belt system and 1 without the belt system (simply blue and red belt).

The SAMBO and Combat Sambo rules can be different in different countries. Combat Sambo includes all of Wrestling, Grappling, BJJ, Traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu, Thai Boxing, Judo and more.