Sambo

Sambo is a martial art, originated in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s, and considered as a national sport in Russia. The sport got its name from the Russian words "самозащита без оружия", what literally means self-defense without weapons. The sports got developed by the Soviet Red Army to improve their soldiers' hand-to-hand combat ability. It is a mix between Japanese judo and different kinds of international styles and traditional folk styles of wrestling. This martial art is organized in the Federation International Amateur Sambo (FIAS) which got split into an eastern one, controlled by Russia and the western one controlled by Western Europe and the United States. The 37 sambo world championships were won by the Soviet Union and later Russia 36 times, only in 1997 was Georgia able to defeat Russia.

This is the gear the athlete's wear, in official competitions is one wearing red and the other one wearing blue.